Eagles vs Bulls Wheelchair Preview

17/03/2023

After a positive showing from both the “Red” and “Gold” teams entered into the RFL’s Wheelchair RL 4’s event last weekend, Sheffield Eagles kick off their Betfred Wheelchair Championship campaign later today against Bradford Bulls, with a 13.45pm kick off at Forge Valley School.

The Eagles have come a long way from their games against the Bulls last year which saw them suffer 4-110 at home and 106-4 away and will hoping to put in an improved performance.

Head Coach Greg Brown will hand a team debut to Stuart Wilkinson, whilst Ian Kelly, Lisa Kelly-Pride and Stephen Reilly will make their leagye debuts having featured in friendly matches for the club.

Unfortunately he will be without Lottie Davis-Browne who is following concussion protocols following a fall in training, Jenny Pearson who is unavailable due to illness and Vicky and April Brooks who are both injured. Impressive newcomers Ben Simpson and Joe Wink-Simmonds also miss out due to work commitments.

Nonetheless, Brown is confident of his squad, which also features some of his most experienced campaigners who have been working hard over the winter to improve their game.

“We’ve trained a lot and played three friendlies and the Wheelchair 4’s since our last competitive game at the end of last season” noted Brown.

“We’ve recruited some players and they’ve bonded well and I’m looking forward to seeing how far we have come as a club since our last games against Bradford in 2022.

"We’ve got a bit of an injury list mounting which is unfortunate, but it shows the depth of the squad that we have developed and I’m looking forward to those players overcoming their injuries to be available for selection in the next couple of weeks.

"We have a quick run of games, with Wigan Warriors ‘A’ next week and Mersey Storm the week after, so the whole squad will be seeing some action over the next month for certain.”

Eagles: 2. Jack Johnson, 3. Chris Haynes, 5. David Butler, 8. Stuart Wilkinson, 9. Emma Pearson, 10. Stacey Roulson, 12. Shaun Orton, 14. Stephen Reilly, 21. Lisa Pride-Kelly, 22. Ian Kelly.