2016 Women's Challenge Cup

The 2016 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 12 teams during the summer of 2016. The Challenge Cup was won by Thatto Heath St Helens who beat Leigh Miners Rangers 6–62 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by the Thatto Heath Reserves team who beat Whitley Bay Barbarians 0–44 in the final. Both finals took place on 31 July 2016 at the Provident Stadium, Bradford.

Round One
The first round took place on 8 May:
 * Leigh Miners Rangers 58 – 0 Brighouse Rangers
 * Normanton Knights 4 – 62 Thatto Heath St Helens
 * Rochdale Hornets v Oulton Raidettes
 * Selby Warriors 16 – 22 Army RL
 * Stanningley 6 – 58 Bradford Bulls
 * Featherstone Rovers – Bye
 * Lindley Swifts – Bye
 * Wigan St Patricks – Bye

Quarter Finals
The quarter finals took place on 12 June:
 * Featherstone Rovers 10 – 36 Thatto Heath St Helens
 * Oulton Raidettes 4 – 48 Bradford Bulls
 * Wigan St Patricks 6 – 22 Leigh Miners Rangers
 * Lindley Swifts v Army RL – postponed

Semi-Finals
The semi-finals were played on 13 July and 17 July:
 * Bradford Bulls 16 – 20 Thatto Heath
 * Leigh Miners Rangers 16 – 14 Army RL

Final
The final took place on 31 July at Provident Stadium in Bradford. Thatto Heath were reigning champions having won the cup in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It was a first Challenge Cup Final appearance for Leigh Miners Rangers who had won the Plate final at the 2015 Grand Finals day. The score was Leigh Miners Rangers 6–62 Thatto Heath.

Challenge Shield
The Challenge Shield was competed for by the teams that lost in the first round of the cup and additional teams from the Merit League.

Shield Round One
The first round took place on 12 June:
 * Selby Warriors 24 – 0 West Leeds Eagles
 * West Craven Warriors 0 – 24 Normanton Knights
 * Whitley Bay Barbarians 38 – 0 Brighouse Rangers
 * Thatto Heath St Helens Reserves v Stanningley – postponed

Shield Semi-Finals
Selby Warriors withdrew from the competition resulting in a walkover for Whitley Bay Barbarians. The other semi-final was played on 17 July:
 * Normanton 8 – 34 Thatto Heath St Helens Reserves
 * Whitley Bay Barbarians – Bye

Shield Final
The final of the Shield took place on 31 July at Provident Stadium, Bradford, before the Challenge Cup final. The score was Whitley Bay Barbarians 0–44 Thatto Heath. Several of the Thatto Heath players were also named in the team for the cup final.