English sides, the Argonauts and Hereford Harriers ‘A’ will be the only non-Welsh sides to enter the inaugural Wales Invitational Wheelchair Development League, which is due to take place later this summer.
The Argonauts, who are based in Dartford, and the Harriers have been invited to enter the competition due to their links with the Welsh national team and overall drive to develop not only their own clubs but the sport in general.
The Harriers have a pedigree of producing Welsh talent, producing seven players that went on to play for the Welsh national team whilst a further 10 current and former Welsh internationals have featured for the Harriers through the years.
Alan Caron, Hereford and Wales head coach said: “As a club that sits on the border and has a number of international players for Wales, we are looking forward to being part of the Welsh Wheelchair Rugby League competition in its first year.
“We are proud to be working with the WRL in its development for all players of the Hereford club and look forward to seeing all player development moving forward for the nation.”
The Argonauts have a history of producing players for all four home nations, including, Richard Carver who accrued six appearances for Welsh and Pete Johnston Jnr who captained Ireland during last year’s World Cup.
The Argonauts are twice former Challenge Cup Finalists but lost their Super League spot ahead of the 2022 season due to the launch of RFL side, London Roosters.
On their inclusion in the competition, Argonauts player-coach, Fred Nye said “It’s a great honour to be invited to the first-ever Welsh Wheelchair league”.
“We are excited to be participating with inspiring like-minded teams, Who want to further the sport in the right direction?”
On the addition of these two sides to the competition, Wales Rugby League Wheelchair Development Officer, Stephen Jones said: “It is with great honour that we invite both of these sides to enter the competition in its inaugural year”
“Both of these teams have been hurt by the powers that be in recent times, with Hereford not being granted promotion and the Argonauts losing their Super League spot, so we wanted to provide these teams with an outlet in which they can get back to enjoying their rugby and doing what’s most important, developing the game.
“All teams involved in this competition have all got the same goal, to develop the sport. Winning the competition isn’t at the foremost of everyone’s mind but development is, and that is what is important.”
Full details on the league fixtures will be announced in due course and for sponsorship opportunities, please contact Stephen Jones on: stephen.jones@walesrugbyleague.co.uk.