CP Society members compete in the inaugural Rugby League World Cup

Earlier this year, a group of rugby league players from New Zealand competed in the inaugural Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup in England.
Among the Physical Disability Rugby League New Zealand team are six members of the Cerebral Palsy Society.
Congratulations to Jed Stone, Matthew Slade, Kent Stroobant, Phil Milne (Vice Captain), Delta Taeauga and Daley Manu on being selected for the team and representing New Zealand.
A number of those players received funding from the CP Society’s Individual Grant programme to help get them to the UK.

PDRL New Zealand spokeswoman and Tour Manager Sandra Hickey reports back on the tournament.

Touchdown in Manchester 21st October 2022.

The 2021 Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup, also known as the 2021 PDRL World Cup, was the first world cup for physical disability rugby league.

The tournament was held from October 23 to 30, 2022 in Warrington, England, alongside the main tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

The tournament was originally planned as part of the 2021 Festival of World Cups, which was due to take place in the summer of 2021, but was rescheduled following the postponement of the festival.

October 22, we were treated to a welcome by the Mayor of Warrington and other officials.

We got to present her with a signed PDRLNZ playing jersey and we in turn received a lovely glass engraved memorial plate for the occasion.

This was the first time we got to see the competing teams which were in attendance also.

NZ Captain Harley Roach, Warrington Mayor Jean Flaherty NZ Head Coach Raymond Greaves.

NZ v Wales kicked off the competition on October 23 with New Zealand’s own Daley Manu making history as the first try scorer for the Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup.

Daley Manu

During the game, just on half time, we lost our Vice-Captain Philip Milne to a broken clavicle which sadly took him out of the rest of the tournament. Wales went on to snatch the win 28-26.

NZ Vice Captain Philip Milne

Day 2, October 25, NZ versed our old foe Australia coming away with a 34-26 win, bringing a huge boost to the team morale.

The changing sheds were on fire with celebrations and the roof was almost lifted when we got word that Wales 28-26 win over NZ was overturned after a successful *appeal by NZ due to a rules breach by Wales.

The match points were awarded to New Zealand and as a result, we were assured our place in the finals.

NZ V Australia PDRL

Day 3, October 28, NZ came up against a very strong English side and with two of our key players out due to injury it was a tough outing.

Despite further injuries, and the likelihood of jeopardizing our participation in the grand final if we forfeited the game, we fought with every ounce of passion and pride as players continued to fall, only able to field 8 players in the second half; we went down 50-2.

NZ v England PDRL

Grand Final, October 30, after a spirited match between Samoa and France warmed up the crowd we came up against a strong England side at the Halliwell James Stadium.

Having already lost our Vice Captain to a broken clavicle at the beginning of the week, minutes into it we lost our Captain with what we later found out was a fractured foot and a torn LCL.

NZ Captain Harley Roach

Despite the things that came against us throughout the week, the team turned up, fought hard, with passion and pride and gave their all.

England won the inaugural Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup 42-10 over New Zealand.

The impact we have made around the world, not just on the Rugby League people but on all people, from this event is the biggest achievement.

What we have created does not go unnoticed by us and we will strive to recruit more players and continue to offer this to more physically disabled persons to create unbelievable memories such as these.

From us all, a big thank you for your support. Each one of you has played a part and we couldn’t have done this without you. From our hearts to yours we thank you so much!!!

* Wales had committed an unintended technical breach. This breach was in regard to the ability classification level of the players on field; in PDRL, ability is divided into three categories, and denoted by specific sock colours. There can be only a specific number of players per sock colour on the field at a time.

For more information about the Physical Disability Rugby League New Zealand team, check them out on Facebook.