Wheelchair RL phenomenon continues as Leeds Rhinos sessions ‘booked up’ across city

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup was the first ever to hold and run the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments at the same time which was a huge step towards inclusivity and equality in the game.

Wheelchair rugby league was introduced to many people for the first time and drew huge attention, with many rugby union supporters even commenting on how much more representative it was of rugby than their own version, commonly known as murderball.

The huge passion for the sport was helped massively by the impressive England side who went on to defeat two-time champions France and avenge their 2017 final loss.

A sold out crowd of 4,526 watched that final at Manchester Central, a world record attendance for a wheelchair rugby league match.

The brilliant thing is that the passion hasn’t stopped there with the end of the tournament. Leeds Rhinos Foundation announced four “Come and Try” sessions, of which three are already booked out.

Of the four sessions made available only one at Roundhay School on Wednesday the 30th remains open to attend, with the three other sessions fully booked.

That’s a huge achievement and shows the accessibility of the sport is there for people who do want to try it out as it’s a game that can mix able and disabled people, and also at the lower level can be open gender too. 

Ed Bates, the disability officer at the foundation, is available to contact for those who want to sign up and attend that final session before it also gets fully booked up.

“Been such a massive response that only our Roundday session remains available. Get in touch via email to avoid disappointment” he tweeted.