England Wheelchair Rugby League confirm touring squad of Australia ahead of Ashes series

It’s not just the England men’s side that are preparing to face Australia over the next few month, with England’s wheelchair rugby league team preparing to face the Kangaroos for their own Ashes series.

Ahead of their trip Down Under, head coach Tom Coyd has announced his side, and their squad numbers, ahead of the first wheelchair Ashes series since 2019, in which England were healthy 2-0 winners.

The side doesn’t involve 2022 World Cup winning captain Tom Halliwell, who misses the series due to injury, Halliwell, who plays club rugby for Leeds Rhinos, has sat the majority of the year on the side lines, but hopes to be back ahead of a World Cup campaign in 2026.

In his absence, London Roosters’ Lewis King has been given the colloquial armband, and he will be joined by fellow World Cup heroes Rob Hawkins and Jack Brown.

Veterans of the wheelchair game, Wayne Boardman and Seb Bechara are also included, as is Nathan Collins, the electric Rhinos playmaker who also had an impressive World Cup campaign.

Joe Coyd, brother of head coach Tom, and Mason Billington, who both play for the Roosters with captain King, are also selected, and there are two debutants in the squad as Castleford’s Luis Domingos and Finlay O’Neill look to make their first international bow.

Coach Coyd explained that the squad selection on gameday will be incredibly difficult, which is a testament to the calibre of wheelchair rugby league players the league has to offer.

He said: “We’ve picked 10 players who are all very capable of representing England at the highest level and who will all be desperate to be in that first Test team on October 30.

“The battle for places will start in earnest when we land in Sydney and head out to Penrith to start our preparations for the first State game against New South Wales.”

England Wheelchair rugby league squad to tour Australia: 1. Nathan Collins, 2. Rob Hawkins, 3. Joe Coyd, 4. Lewis King (c), 5. Mason Billington, 6. Wayne Boardman, 7. Luis Domingos, 8. Jack Brown, 9. Seb Bechara, 10. Finlay O’Neill