The England Wheelchair Rugby League Squad for the the European Wheelchair Rugby League Championships has been announced and now we need to raise our competition fees for the players: Please help use raise the much-needed money to get England to the tournament.

Building The England Wheelchair Rugby Squad

Following a seven-month process, which began in December 2014 with an invitation to every wheelchair rugby club and player in England, the squad has been whittled down to a final 12 and features a mixture of youth and experience.

The line-up includes two newcomers to the England Squad; Tom Halliwell from the Leeds Rhinos is included for the first time after impressing at the trails and he is joined by fellow debutant Sebastien Bechara, who has travelled from France for every training session whilst playing for the Catalan Dragons.

The European Wheelchair Rugby Championships will take place at Medway Park in Gillingham, the scene of the groundbreaking Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in 2013, and will run from 23-26 September 2015.

The England squad have three more sessions, including a weekend camp, prior to the competition and will be looking to make up ground and overtake the excellent team from France, who are the current World Champions.

What England Wheelchair Rugby League Chair, Martin Coyd, thinks

“I am very excited about the potential within this group. Players and coaches have grown in confidence and capability through the first half of 2015 and they are looking great.”

“We have some of the best players in the world mixed in with some fantastic talented youngsters who will add the unpredicatble to the play whilst learning loads as we build towards 2017.”

“Wheelchair Rugby League continues to grow across the British Isles and we are very aware of the developments and improvements in the Celtic Nations who will add spice to the competition.”

“France are great and are setting the standard but we are getting better too.”

“There was a State versus State game in Australia just a month ago when Queensland played New South Wales and all of the nations are working towards the 2017 World Cup in Sydney.”

“We have interest in The Netherlands, Serbia and Malta, proving the unique attraction and culture of this version of The Greatest Game”

‘We have got here with a great effort from The RFL, the Clubs who make up our domestic competition, the fifty odd players who trialled, the coaches and volunteers, our families and supporters and a big vote of thanks to our sponsors Lendlease.

The England Wheelchair Rugby League Squad

• Adam Barnett (Medway Dragons)
• Sebastien Bechara (Catalan Dragons)
• Wayne Boardman (Halifax) Vice Captain
• Jodie Boyd-Ward (Leeds Rhinos)
• Jack Brown (Halifax) Captain
• Joe Coyd (Medway Dragons)
• Harry Brown ( Halifax)
• Tom Halliwell (Leeds Rhinos)
• Nathan Holmes (Halifax)
• Martin Lane (Swindon St George)
• Robert McLeod (Swindon St George)
• James Simpson (Leeds Rhinos)

Non-Travelling Reserves:  Kieran Henry (Mersey Storm), Scott Jones (Swindon St George)

Support Staff

• Martyn Gill (Joint Head Coach)
• Mark Roughsedge (Joint Head Coach)
• Tony Ellis (Assistant Coach)
• Lyndsey Northeast (Sports Therapist)
• Andy Gardner (Team Manager)