2024 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships
Grab your seats courtside to see Australia’s top wheelchair rugby stars battle it out in Adelaide for state glory and a ticket to the Paralympics
Fast-paced, full-contact, hyper-competitive; there’s nothing cruisy about wheelchair rugby – an edge-of-your-seat spectator sport that will have adrenaline levels soaring on court and off at Netball Stadium SA when the best players from around Australia and New Zealand, along with international stars, converge in Adelaide for the first time from 3 to 5 May for the 2024 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships.
A dynamic mash-up of basketball, rugby, and gridiron – once known as ‘Murderball’, wheelchair rugby is an intense, high-collision, tactical sport played in specially designed wheelchairs by people who are quad-impaired. Some participants have spinal cord injuries with full or partial paralysis of the legs and partial paralysis of the arms, others have amputations, cerebral palsy, or other neurological conditions. Each game sees two mixed-gender teams of four players – each classified based on their disability – face off in a bumper-bashing, ball-flying, wheel-spinning battle over four action-fueled eight-minute quarters.
Currently practiced in more than 40 countries, wheelchair rugby has been featured as a full medal sport at the Paralympics since 2000, with the Australian team reigning champions after defeating the US in Rio in 2016.
The largest annual wheelchair rugby event in the Southern Hemisphere, the Wheelchair Rugby National Championships are an unparalleled opportunity for long-time fans and first-time spectators to witness the game at its finest.
The Australian Steelers are currently ranked number two in the world and reigning World Cup and World Champions; when they hit Adelaide, these elite players and their teammates will be chasing glory for their state teams as well as vying against each other to catch the eye of selectors finalising the 12 athletes who’ll don the green and gold at this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
The line-up of state teams participating across Division 1 and 2 of the three-day Adelaide competition comprises the Queensland Cyclones, the NSW Gladiators, Victoria Protect Thunder, the WA Enforcers, the ACT Buccaneers, the Queensland Tornadoes, and hometown heroes – the SA Sharks – with representatives from Tasmania drafted into various state teams. New Zealand’s national side, the NZ Wheel Blacks, will ‘cross the ditch’ to add a little sibling rivalry to Division 1 while international heavyweights Jonathon Hivernat (France) and Park U-Cheol (Korea), will participate as part of a draft system, competing for Western Australia and Victoria respectively.
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For more information and all enquiries please visit the Wheelchair Rugby Australia website
What: 2024 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships
When: Friday 3 May, Saturday 4 May, Sunday 5 May 2024 | Friday & Saturday 9am – 6:30pm, Sunday 9am – 3pm Sunday (Gold Medal Final at 1:30pm)
Where: Netball SA Stadium, Adelaide
Who: Everyone
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
Image Source: Supplied – photo credit StephenTremain
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