Wheelchair RL

 

Wheelchair RL has arrived and with a bang (sometimes literally). It has men, women, able and disabled playing. As the game at the top develops, the physicality is increasing and that tends to favour men. There have to be at least two disabled on the court at any time so that is important to keep to the point of why it was started in the first place. 

So is the game going too far in the physical side of things? Below the top flight, there is much less intensity and more about having some fun so that is still catered for. As long as remains so, then it will thrive. Get too rough in lower levels and something would need to be done.

 Here are my top trivia picks:

1) England has made all four finals, winning two of them.

2) France and England share the most trophy wins with two apiece. 

3) 34,400 spectators came to watch the WC games in 2021, a record. 

4) Three nations have been at all four WCs, Australia, England and France. 

5) New Zealand is a strong RL nation but has yet to attend a Wheelchair WC.

6) The winners have scored the following percentages per match: 2013 - 84%, 2017 - 74% and 2021 - 79%.

7) Scotland is the only side not to win a game with nine losses over three tournaments. 

International Test Match Comparison : Kangaroos vs Wallabies

How many international test matches were played by the two oval ball codes in Australia? Rugby Union puts much greater emphasis on internationals so obviously the Wallabies will have played more. Looking at the data going back to the 1960's in decade blocks is how I did it below. The 2020's are for four years so that number is lower.

The increase in international RU matches must surely have reached a peak. Covid did knock it back in 2020. Back in the 1960's, the nearest neighbour NZ didn't want to play the Wallabies becuase they were of mediocre standard. 

As for the Kangaroo RL side, it's had a constancy. They actually played more tests in the 60's than RU but how that has changed. RL is a sport based around pro clubs with a little time begrudgingly allowed for test matches. 

Winning has been something the Kangaroos always did better than their RU counterparts. It's a more popular sport and has always been professional which did entice players RU players across to the light side. Going pro in the mid 90's encouraged one Wallabies player to proclaim RL would be dead in a short time.

The reality is RL in Australia has strengthened while RU has faltered. The win rate of the Wallabies reflects that from its peak in the 1990's to less than 40% so far this decade. Admittedly, the 2020's is a short period to draw conclusions on but the 2022 win rate was 36%, so yet another poor season for the side in yellow. 

Others in the series are as follows. Simply click on the country name to go there: England, France, New Zealand.

The WC Festival

I was thinking about how in ice hockey many top NHL players don't go to their WC. They still have it anyway and it's popular. It also means without the best always there, the winner is more variable. So I thought about a RL WC festival held a year before a WC, a comp where all the players with NRL or SL contracts are excluded. A WC for the semi pros and amateurs. 

Australia would be made up of Qld and NSW comp players, home nations sides from the Championship and the French from Elite 1. It would be a great leveler and would give nations without access to full pro players a chance do better. One sided games would be far fewer yet the standard would still be entertaining. I'd watch it and enjoy many of the games more than at a full WC. 

For countries like Greece - that sent a side over to this WC to get mercilessly walloped three times - a chance to compete and gain greater benefit from the experience. It would motivate people in emerging RL nations to take up the sport and hopefully get picked to represent their nation. Any profit would be shared among the nations involved. 

Pie in the sky I know but I like putting out ideas to challenge the status quo. RL needs to do more to encourage the sport in 'emerging' nations and to encourage international RL generally. We need to try different things otherwise we'll keep getting what we already have, a few good nations and a bunch of stragglers totally outclassed.

Pic: ERL.Ireland v Serbia.