Wheelaroos prepare for home World Cup in Wollongong
Australia's fourth-ranked wheelchair rugby league team will compete for its first world title, with matches receiving prime-time free-to-air coverage.
Wollongong will host the 2026 wheelchair rugby league World Cup, where Australia's Wheelaroos will seek their first title. The Australians enter the tournament ranked fourth globally and will contest three group matches before the knockout stages.
The wheelchair event forms part of the broader Rugby League World Cup, alongside men's, women's and physical disability competitions. With free-to-air broadcasts scheduled in prime time, Australia captain Bayley McKenna said the exposure could attract more supporters to the sport.
This will be the wheelchair tournament's fifth edition. England and France have each won two of the previous four titles. Australia coach Brett Clark said the home event offered a chance to demonstrate the sport at its highest level.
Teams play five-a-side on a court the size of a basketball court, using tags in place of tackles and AFL-style handballs rather than kicks. Matches have two halves of 40 minutes.
Each side can have up to two non-disabled players on court at once. McKenna, 26, is Australia's youngest captain and its first non-disabled skipper. He began wheelchair sports alongside his father, who has a disability.
Squad member Liam Luff, who lives with hereditary spastic paraplegia, said allowing disabled and non-disabled players to compete together helped bring more people into wheelchair rugby league.
