Eagles travel to Wigan for Wheelchair friendly
08/12/2022
Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair Rugby League team return to action this Saturday, 10th December, with a friendly away at Wigan Warriors (11am KO).
The Warriors kindly travelled to Sheffield back in April to play the fledgling Eagles with a squad of newcomers. The Eagles are looking to return the favour this weekend with Greg Brown having 14 players available for the fixture.
“After all the excitement of the Rugby League World Cup and with the team not having played for a couple of months, we’re very grateful to Phil and the team at Wigan for hosting us in this friendly” said David Butler, the Eagles Foundation’s Chairperson.
“We’ve had a huge uptake in interest since the World Cup, so it’s going to give our new players a great opportunity to play their first game and I know Wigan have lots of players they’ll be handing debuts to as well.
“We’re thrilled that we can continue the momentum that’s been built over the last couple of months.”
Head Coach Greg Brown will have plenty of familiar faces available to him, with 2022 Player of the Year Vicky Brooks and Players’ Player of the Year Jack Johnson alongside Shaun Orton, David Butler, Emma Pearson, Will Brooks, April Brooks, Lottie Davis-Browne, Chris Brown and Chris Haynes all looking forward to pulling on the Red & Gold again.
He will also welcome back Jenny Pearson from injury and hand debuts to Stephen Reilly, Kalichi Fowell and Julie Finusamni, Julie becoming the latest Women’s Rugby League player to return to Rugby League in the Wheelchair discipline.
Ireland international Stephen Palin-Campbell will miss the game, as will Stacey Roulson, with both unavailable.
From Wigan’s perspective, they will also hand debuts to four new players while four others will feature that have only played one game previously - the game against the Eagles earlier in the year.
Warriors Coach Phil Roberts and Greg Brown will look to match playing strengths throughout the game to ensure both sides get the best out of the experience, with the focus being on playing and enjoying the game and the result being secondary.
“Our last training session of the year takes place on Monday 12th December and we’ll be having a few drinks after the Wigan game to celebrate the success of the team throughout the year” Butler continued.
“I’d like to put on record my thanks to everyone who has contributed to the growth of the team, especially to Greg Brown our head coach, to Shaun Orton who is our team manager, to Barrie Thomas and Sally Walters-Thomas who join us every week to referee and to all the players who help to set up for training, put everything away, drive the van and just generally do their bit to bring the team to life.
“We have enormous pride in the progress that the team is making and I look forward to that continuing next season”
Wheelchair Rugby League sessions take place at Pearson Building, Sheffield Hallam University, S10 2BP, Mondays from 6:30pm.
When training restarts following the Christmas break, a post will be published on the Eagles website and social media channels.
