Dahl, Torres and ‘Keighley Queens’ – the making of Kildunne

The pivotal team in Ellie Kildunne’s journey doesn’t exist.

Even the actress can’t recall what they were called. Or, more accurately, what they were called.

“Keighley Queens” is her best guess.

Kildunne had appeared at a trial for Yorkshire’s under-15 team. Although she wasn’t invited, her mother recognized the date and took her along.

Asked which team she played for, a club-less Kildunne had to improvise. The Keighley Queens or a similar group was born.

Before then, Kildunne had two clubs.

Having tagged along with her neighbours ‘ two boys at the age of six, she would cross town and codes to play both league for Keighley Albion and union for Keighley on weekends.

She would scorch past once-scornful boys while being the only girl on the field.

She recalls, “I just loved the pressure of proving myself.”

“I wanted to make a statement. ‘ You laugh while looking over your shoulder, but hold on a minute.

Similar preconceptions in secondary school had been overturned by her. Arriving as an 11-year-old, she told the PE staff she would be playing rugby, not netball.

For the B team, she was pushed out on the wing. She was named the year’s back by the season’s end.

But her progress hit a familiar roadblock. There were no longer many rugby options for young women, and the genders split after the referendum.

At that time, “I didn’t know that women’s rugby was a big thing,” says Kildunne.

By the time Kildunne arrived at that Yorkshire trial, she had moved on to football.

She was a childhood Liverpool fan who would run around the house while sporting a replica shirt to resemble Spanish striker Fernando Torres.

She relished the sense of teamwork there.

She was part of a Farsley Celtic team who travelled to Manchester City’s Etihad training campus and beat the Premier League giant’s academy side 7-1.

However, Kildunne remained enthralled by rugby.

You must have the dedication and drive to overcome obstacles when you have that feeling inside of you that you’re meant to do something special,” she said.

“There’s always another route. It’s probably X, Y, Z if it’s not A, B, or C.

Yorkshire was the word for Kildunne. Having been accepted to represent her county, she thought she had better find a real club to replace ‘ Keighley Queens’.

She became a West Park Leeds employee. Soon after playing Castleford. On the opposite team was Carla Middleton, the daughter of future Red Roses coach Simon Middleton.

Middleton Sr. said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Her team ran in tries and kicked goals from the touchline, going 30 points down, and she kept them in it almost on her own.” You don’t see that from many 15-year-olds”.

Three years later, Middleton made their England debut against Canada in a Barnet game.

This route passes through France, passes through a different time zone, and includes a car transporter train.

The online journey planner spoofs plenty of warnings when you plot a road trip from London to Monaco. Chief among them is the estimate that it will involve more than 15 hours at the wheel.

However, it was a drive Kildunne was considering in November of last year.

Her scheduled flight to Monaco, where she was in the top three players overall, was canceled due to the absence of her.

Instead of sharing the snacks and satnav duties, she and her partner ended up hitching a lift on a private charter flight laid on for southern hemisphere players involved in the autumn internationals.

She said, “It was undoubtedly the wildest thing ever.” I recorded a lot of videos of my parents.

“]South Africa wing] Cheslin Kolbe was a couple of seats behind me.

In a very, very small plane, Alun Wyn Jones appeared like a large man.

And then I realized how excited I was because there were so many people I wanted to speak with at the awards.

Kildunne, who scored 14 tries in nine Tests for the Red Roses in 2024, walked away with the award that night.

Her name has been sung loudest when the teams are announced at each England game of this Women’s Rugby World Cup.

When the match begins and she gets her hands on the ball, a bubbling mix of anticipation and excitement fills the stands.

More people have signs, T-shirts, and general feelings for her than anyone else.

Her talent is both exceptional and blatant.

While the finer points of Botterman’s breakdown work or Meg Jones ‘ defence are harder to appreciate, Kildunne’s ability with ball in hand needs no context or explanation.

She has a silken swerve, a galloping stride, and the courage to put them to use on the biggest stage, making it her supremely balanced runner.

She cut France open twice for outstanding individual scores in the semi-final victory.

But there is more to her popularity than that.

A motto for Kildunne is. It appears on the phone lock screen and on her walls.

She alluded to it in a social media post celebrating her world player of the year award win, finishing her message with” lukewarm is no good”.

The full quote begins with “If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead,” according to author Roald Dahl. Take it seriously, hug it, love it, and, above all, develop a passion for it. Lukewarm is no good. “

Kildunne has followed that advice closely.

She is passionate about her past.

” I’m a very proud Yorkshire woman, “she said on the eve of the tournament.

It’s important to adhere to your values and to remember who you are and where you came from, because that is who brought you here.

“That young girl picked up a rugby ball, it’s not just showbiz and the lights and the cameras,” said one witness.

She is passionate about her present.

“I just adore what I do and the people I work with on my team.” She says, “I’m happy to be a part of it.”

But she is also unapologetically ambitious about what’s next.

Her other interests include photography (she has been filming England men’s internationals while taking photos at pitchside), fashion (she designed a collection of campaign clothing), and podcasting (she and Breach founded Rugby Rodeo 12 months ago).

As the team traveled around England, she deliberately packed her gear so that she could piece together vintage outfits from local second-hand shops. She brought a second-hand keyboard into the pre-tournament training camp in the hope of learning piano.

She also has a number of commercial contracts, including big-screen ads for the tournament’s official beer and bespoke cheetah print boots that she wore in the semi-final victory over France.

Since the start of this year, the source of some of it has become clear.

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause impulsiveness and hyperactivity, was identified as a cause for Kildunne’s diagnosis.

She told GQ, “I was having trouble falling asleep sometimes.”

“My brain was working really fast or I wasn’t quite able to verbalise something that I’d seen on the pitch, so I was frustrated with myself.

I discussed my diagnosis with my parents. They said that because of their creativity, they would go from one thing to another and become who they are.

“I definitely think it’s a superpower – I’ve got the ability to focus on many things at once, but also hyper focus on the things that matter. And that is unquestionably what has made me a player and person.

And she has the chance to win the world championship on Saturday, easing her pain from the 2022 final, which she described as “my first real rugby heartache.”

Inevitably though, she also has other goals.

As the tournament grew before her, she said, “The biggest thing for me is staying close to the girls.”

When we are old ladies sitting around a pool or some other sunny together, these will be the things we will talk about in years to come. Those are the moments we will reflect on”.

From the Keighley Queens to the world’s queens?