Warrington Wolves Physical Disability Rugby League team will take on South Sydney Rabbitohs in the inaugural PDRL World Club Challenge on Thursday, August 30 at ANZ Stadium, Sydney ahead of the NRL fixture between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers.
Warrington have been at the forefront of the game’s development and played the first PDRL game against Leeds Rhinos on Sunday, February 4. Since then the game has grown massively opening up opportunities for people with both physical and learning disabilities to play Rugby League.
Australian comedian and TV presenter of The Last Leg, Adam Hills, has been a key member of the Warrington Wolves PDRL team and instigated a fixture in Australia for the team to play against South Sydney PDRL.
This international fixture against Souths is an amazing opportunity to make a wider audience aware of this variant of the game and allows Warrington’s team to play the game they love on a huge stage whilst enjoying a unique experience Down Under.
On the game, Adam Hills said, “Playing Physical Disability Rugby League has been one of the best experiences of my life.
“I’m really excited to show off Australia to my teammates and show off PDRL to a wider audience.”
Director of Warrington Wolves Foundation, Neil Kelly said, “We’re proud to be the first team to be playing in the inaugural PDRL World Club Challenge, it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to be part of and the squad can’t wait to travel to Australia in what will be a once in a lifetime experience. We hope the fixture will remain to expand the sport overseas for years to come.”
Rabbitohs General Manager of Football, Shane Richardson, said: “The players in the Physical Disability Rugby League are an inspiration to us all.
“They continue to play the game they love, at all ages and abilities, and the games are always well supported by our Members and fans when they play curtain raisers to our NRL fixtures.
“As a Club we’re really looking forward to welcoming Adam and the Warrington team in August for what is shaping up as a great game of footy.”
Whilst Warrington will be the UK’s representative this year it is proposed that another PDRL team will be selected to represent the competition in 2019.
The group needs to raise £50,000 for the trip and are looking for businesses or individuals willing to support them.
Adam Hills is also producing a documentary around the journey of PDRL and the Rugby Football League will be promoting this at the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup final in August.
