Wheelchair squad named for Leeds Rhinos friendly
07/03/2024
Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair Rugby League team will face Leeds Rhinos on Sunday 10th March for a Mother’s Day special!
The game will kick off at 10am at Killamarsh Leisure Centre, marking a foray for the Eagles over the border into Derbyshire and as such the first Wheelchair Rugby League game to be played in the county and the wider East Midlands region.
Leeds travelled to Sheffield last year for a friendly with their “A” team, with the Eagles pipped to the post with a 24-30 final score, but this game will see players from across both clubs’ full roster, with England stars Nathan Collins, Tom Halliwell and Nathan Mulhall and Welsh international Jodie Boyd-Ward expected to start the game for the Rhinos.
The Eagles will also play the first period at full strength with both sides then rotating through players to give all club members game time at an appropriate level throughout the fixture.
For the Eagles, Martin Turner is in line to make his debut having joined the club earlier this year whilst Jenny Pearson will also continue her return having shown some dazzling form in last weekend’s “A” Team game against North Wales Crusaders “A” and Barry Grayson and Julie Fimusanmi will also continue to gain experience in the red and gold colours. Lisa Kelly-Pride also returns to this weekend's squad and is expected to feature against Leeds.
Ben Wilson, Helen Calder, James Birchnall and Christopher Brown who all featured last weekend against Crusaders, are all unavailable.
“I’m really grateful to Leeds Rhinos for bringing a wide ranging squad down to test us out across all levels at the weekend” said David Butler who will take charge of the team in Head Coach Greg Brown’s absence at the weekend.
“We’ve had a lot of support from James Simpson since we formed our Wheelchair team, both in terms of helping us with promotion and in terms of encouragement through some challenging times and its great that we have been able to get this game in the diary and we’ll of course be looking to pay a visit to Leeds to reciprocate in the near future.”
Spectators are welcome at the fixture but are advised that space may be limited.
Eagles team to face Leeds Rhinos
April Brooks – The Jagger Family
Vicky Brooks – The Jagger Family
Will Brooks – The Jagger Family
David Butler – Evogo
Barry Grayson – Evogo
Chris Haynes – Horizon Roofing
Jack Johnson – Heaton Green Dust Control Ltd
Lisa Kelly-Pride - Eagles Wheelchair RL
Jenny Pearson – Megan Roberts
Julie Fimusanmi – Captain LM Johnson RAF
Martin Turner – Penistone Round Table
Shaun Orton – St Albans Centurions Masters
Stacey Roulson - Evogo
Stephen Reilly – Dave Reilly School Of Motoring
Stuart Wilkinson – All Round (Design)
Ben Simpson – Beam Dyslexia
Joe Wink-Simmonds – Addison Project PLC
