Wales are preparing for their first ever Wheelchair Rugby League Finals Day, which is to be held on Saturday at Wrexham University.

Two matches will take place – first is the Wheelchair Challenge Cup between home side North Wales Crusaders and Torfaen Tigers at 11.30am. Then, at 1.40pm, it’s the first WRL Wheelchair Invitational League Grand Final between two English sides – Argonauts from Kent and Hereford Harriers.

At the end of the regular season, the top two sides qualified for the league’s Grand Final, with the top two Welsh sides competing for the Cup and potentially playing in two matches in the same day, which is a common occurrence in Wheelchair Rugby League.

Argonauts qualified for the final as league leaders and they also have the league’s top try scorer in Irish international Fred Nye with 24. His club and international team-mate Peter Johnston is next with 16 tries.

Hereford will provide stiff competition and they’re expected to be led by Wales international Gary Preece, third on the try-scoring list in the league with 14, but top with regard to goal scoring, having landed 60 in four games, his 116-point total also topping the league charts in the regular season.

In the Cup, players to look out for will be Welsh internationals Lee Sargent at Torfaen and Stephen Halsey at North Wales. At 56 and 52 points respectively, they’re fourth and fifth in the point-scoring ranks in 2023. In all competitions in England, Wales and internationally, Halsey has scored 718 points this season.

WRL’s head of Wheelchair Rugby League Stephen Jones is delighted with how the season has panned out and looks forward to welcoming all to the country’s first-ever Wheelchair RL finals day.

He says: “The WRL Wheelchair Invitational League has been the success story we knew that it would be.

“We’ve had nearly 100 people involved in the league, that’s players, coaches and volunteers, with players’ ages ranging from eight to 70. We’ve had adult men, adult women, boys, girls, non-binary and transgender players.

“We’ve had players with many types of disabilities, some with one leg, some with no legs, some who can’t ever get out of a wheelchair, and as we are totally inclusive, some who have no disabilities as we’re allowed two able-bodied players on each team. We feel we’ve included everyone this season.”

North Wales Crusaders came from behind to lift the Wheelchair Championship trophy at the grand final in Manchester.

Crusaders beat Wigan Warriors A 46-40 to end their season with a 100 per cent record.

Following the victory, head coach and player Harry Jones told the club’s website: “I’m so incredibly proud of the team and players, but in all honesty I’m not surprised that we were able to not only claw back the deficit but to take home the victory.

“We came to Manchester with one goal, play our rugby and we did just that, we were able to identify who Wigan’s stronger players were and where they would try and isolate and as a coach, I couldn’t be happier for the side.

“This season, I have been able to call-up a number of our development, under-18s and complete newbies into the side and it’s worked extremely well for us and I couldn’t be prouder for how our more experienced players have handled this season and how they’ve welcomed these players into the squad.”