BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Exclusive: A group is planning to launch a new global Wheelchair rugby league competition in 2026 in the UK in the same vein as cricket’s The Hundred.
The competition, dubbed ‘The Wheelchair Rugby League Premier League’, is aiming to start in January 2026 and be held in venues across the UK and involve the best wheelchair rugby league players from around the world.
rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads understands this league would be run and controlled separately from the existing RFL Wheelchair Super League, and would involve creating four new teams that compete in a short round-robin format of three matches played over the space of a single week.
The teams would be mixed, with both male and female players, and would potentially see England national teammates competing against each other.
A strategy group has been established to plan out and design the new competition and it includes individuals from the RFL, commercial executives, England Wheelchair Rugby League general manager Martin Coyd, England national team coach Tom Coyd and a handful of existing players.
A key player is thought to be businessman Robert Brown, a long-time supporter of Halifax Panthers’ wheelchair Team. Brown is the chairman of the companies OnePlanet, Local Supply Chain and Fulcro Engineering Services, and on the board of several charities.
It is believed the group has already meetings with Sky Sports and the BBC about broadcasting the competition and is confident of securing outside investment to back it.
A draft could be established to assign players and coaches to each of the four new teams.
“Companies from the finance and insurance sectors want to fund it,” a source associated with the group told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
It is believed the group wants to supercharge wheelchair rugby league and help make it bigger and more popular following England’s dramatic World Cup win on home soil in 2022.
January is thought to be ideal time for the glitzy new competition because it would not directly compete with the seasons of the men’s, women’s or Wheelchair Super Leagues, and in winter as it would be held at indoor venues so adverse weather would not be a factor.
An RFL spokesperson confirmed that a group has been working on a plan for a new wheelchair rugby league competition for some time but declined to reveal further details.
