First time I've watched it (BBC2 now). What a fast, tough and skillful game it is. I didnt know it but you don't have to be disabled to play it. E.g England's star player Brown. England do look a class above the Aussies.
It’s brilliant! There have been a few games on sky over the course of the season and it’s absolutely captivating. Skilful, powerful and pretty hardcore at times. I love it.
2 minds about it. Definitely great to watch but I don’t get that you don’t have to be disabled. if your able bodied get on the pitch and play the proper game. Why are able bodied folk preventing disabled folk from representing their country / clubs at the only sport they are to do
I understand your point but I guess they are making it truely inclusive , there aren’t many sports where the able bodied and disabled play on an equal basis
Imagine being in an accident and being paralysed from waist down . Thin thinking I’m not gonna let this ruin my life. Working your ****** off to be good at this sport then missing out to some guy fully Fit guy who’s some reason has decided he’s gonna learn to use a wheel chair . Honestly find it odd
Is this tongue in cheek? Obviously having a mixed team of abilities has a lot of advantages, including keeping the game flowing. There was an excellent programme on channel 4 about Adam Hills involvement in Warrington Wolves, some of them travelled hundreds of miles to play.and train.
Does this mean that Johnny Knoxville's medals in the Paralympics are valid and he wasn't really a ringer as the Paralympics is now latest buzzword "inclusive" ? ( I know the Ringer is fiction).
That’s the point though. It has been made a wheelchair sport, not a disabled sport. Your legs are pretty irrelevant in it so it makes no odds whether you have them or if they function or not. My dad was disabled, I sort of technically am myself. Equality isn’t about special treatment and having things solely for disabled people. Sometimes it’s necessary - practicalities like bigger parking spaces, toilets etc, sometimes though it’s nice to just be an equal. I think this sport is a breath of fresh air. Able bodied and those with some mobility restrictions on an even keel, competing in the same sport in the same way without need for ‘reasonable adjustment’. Male and female as well. Upper body strength, skill, technique, and being absolutely mental enough to plough into another person in a wheelchair with your wheelchair - caring little if you fall over, or if they do. It’s brutal, it’s a brilliant watch, and it’s absolutely great. It is worth noting that wheelchair rugby league is separate to the wheelchair rugby which features in the Paralympics - that version as I recall was only four a side, nowhere near as crazy and played with a round ball. There are rules for that regarding disability of course.
