When Gary Hetherington outlined his ambitious plans for the revival of Rugby League in London in the grand surroundings of Australia House last month, one member of his audience was already looking forward to representing the capital in a Betfred Challenge Cup Final.
Lewis King, a passionate West Ham supporter from Dartford in Kent, has been a key figure in establishing London Roosters in Wheelchair Rugby League over the last three seasons – and on Saturday June 14, seven days after the Men’s and Women’s Challenge Cup Finals at Wembley, they will travel north to Wigan aiming to clinch their first major trophy.
King’s Roosters will be underdogs against a Halifax Panthers team who won the Wheelchair Challenge Cup in each of its first four seasons from 2015-2018 – but who have not been to the Final since.
So there will be a fresh feel to the first showpiece occasion of the 2025 Wheelchair Rugby League season – which culminates in England’s first trip to Australia for six years as they head Down Under to play two Tests against the Wheelaroos.
King, a try-scorer in England’s famous World Cup Final win against France in Manchester in 2022, is determined to secure his place on that trip – and his inclusion in the initial group of eight players selected for the National Performance Squad by Head Coach Tom Coyd confirmed that he is heading in the right direction.
But in the Challenge Cup Final, he will come up against a Halifax team including two members of the NPS – Jack Brown and Rob Hawkins – plus another six who are very much in contention for the remaining places to be allocated after a Future of England trial in York on June 15.
The latter group includes Wayne Boardman, Halifax’s long-serving player coach – the man who holds heritage number 1 for England Wheelchair Rugby League, having played in their first recognised international in 2008.
Having led Halifax to those four Cup wins in 2015-18, he is relishing the prospect of taking on the Roosters.
“It means a lot to us to be back in the Challenge Cup Final,” he explains.
“Halifax is a special club in Wheelchair Rugby League thanks to the work Malcolm Kielty did in establishing the sport in England, and now more than ever we feel that the Panthers want us to be a big part of the whole club.
“Those early Challenge Cups seem a while ago now but it was important to a Rugby League person like me when we had the Challenge Cup title to go for – it was a big part of making us feel part of Rugby League.
“We’ve come a long way since then, with the way the games are presented and coverage on BBC and Sky, and it’s exciting for us to be looking forward to playing the Roosters at Robin Park.”
Halifax beat Mersey Storm in that first Final in 2015, followed by consecutive wins against Leeds Rhinos in 2016 and 2017, both in Huddersfield, before a 62-18 demolition of Dundee Dragons at Bradford’s Richard Dunn Sports Centre in 2018.
There is one obvious reason why Fax are hinting at re-establishing that dominance in 2025 – the return of Brown, the inaugural winner of the Wheelchair Golden Boot as the world’s best player in 2019, after five years working in Australia.
But Boardman believes there is much more to it than that.
“Jack leaving for Australia definitely took the wind out of our sails,” he agreed. “He left a big hole and you can’t really replace him.
“But I think now we would be in a much better position to do that, because we’ve got so much strength in depth in our squad.
“To have eight players selected for the England trials showed that – twice as many as any other club. And we’ve also got Tom Martin and Joe Calcott who helped Ireland win the Celtic Cup.
“Jack has slotted straight back in, and we’re really looking forward to seeing what we can do this season.”
The Roosters are also packed with international talent - Coyd’s younger brother Joe starred in their thrilling Semi Final win against the Rhinos, and Mason Billington and Jason Owen earned their England debuts last autumn.
The club are based at Medway in Kent, on top of a pyramid of Wheelchair Rugby League in the south-east which also includes the successful Championship clubs Gravesend Dynamite and Woodlands Warriors, with recent expansion to Essex through Brentwood Eels – and additional activity in schools and Universities.
“I think us and the Roosters are the best two teams at the moment – we’ve showed that by getting to the Final,” Boardman added.
“The first 10 minutes could be fierce, seeing who can win the wrestle and dominate. But that’s what we all love about the sport. Bring it on!”
Tickets for the 2025 Betfred Wheelchair Challenge Cup Final at the Robin Park Sports Centre in Wigan are available for just £11 here.
There will be live coverage on BBC Sport from 2pm.
Wheelchair Challenge Cup Roll of Honour:
2015 Halifax
2016 Halifax
2017 Halifax
2018 Halifax
2019 Leeds Rhinos
2020 No competition (Covid)
2021 Leeds Rhinos
2022 Leeds Rhinos
2023 Catalans Dragons
2024 Catalans Dragons
