Lewis King may have been on the losing side in the Wheelchair Challenge Cup final with London Roosters, but he remains full of optimism about the future of the sport in the capital.
“TOM COYD said to us after the game that you’re allowed one day to be disappointed,” said England international Lewis King, who was part of the London Roosters side who lost to Halifax Panthers in the exciting Wheelchair Challenge Cup Final in June.
Coyd, the head coach of the Roosters as well as England gave that talk to his side after full-time, when they had to refocus as they were hosting Halifax again in Super League a week later.
“He said you’re allowed one day’s disappointment and then we’ve got a crack on to think about the next job.”
King, who in 2023 was the first ever winner of the Wheels of Steel award, was hoping to help Roosters to their first ever trophy, but it wasn’t to be as Halifax put on an impressive performance to win 46-24 for their first Cup win in seven years.
“It was a good occasion,” he said. “We were so proud to get to the final as for the last three years, we’ve made it to the semi-finals. We’ve always struggled to get past that stage, so it was good to make it through at last.
“Obviously it’s a disappointment to lose on the day, but it was a great occasion to be on BBC iPlayer for Roosters’ first ever final and it’s just good to see the team progressing and moving forward.”
King, who scored a try in the final, first played Wheelchair Rugby League in 2016, turning out for Argonauts until 2021 and playing in the Challenge Cup Final with them that year when they lost to Leeds Rhinos. He transferred to the newly formed Roosters a year later.
He was introduced to wheelchair sports when in King’s College Hospital in London having rehabilitation for his spinal injury, caused by bleeding on his spinal cord, back in 2009.
“There was a fellow I met in there at the time, Dan Edwards,” King recalls. “We both had spinal injuries and he was from Dartford like me.
“We played a bit of wheelchair basketball in there as part of our rehab and then we sort of lost contact for a bit when we left hospital.
“But I noticed that on his social media he was putting up videos of wheelchair rugby league and I thought, well that looks quite good. So I messaged him and it went from there.”
The men’s game in London is probably at its lowest point in years, but the Roosters, along with London Broncos women, are keeping the flag flying for the capital.
However, there are changes afoot with Gary Hetherington taking over London Broncos and King hopes that one day, the sport of rugby league will go under one banner in the capital, although already, there are links.
“Martin Coyd and I went down to the launch they had recently at Australia House”, King said. “Gary Hetherington was there talking about a three to five year plan of what rugby league is going to look like in London and the south, those places outside of the typical rugby league areas.
“He was talking about the development of universities and getting real talented athletes around the capital, into rugby league, because we have so many athletes that go into different sports and if we can just dial them into rugby league it’ll make our sport bigger and brighter and we don’t want to miss those opportunities.
“At the moment we’re still independent as London Roosters. I’m not quite sure if everyone’s in a situation to go down the road of being under one banner yet – they’ll need to focus on what they’re doing and the same with us, but hopefully in the future that will come together.
“But without a doubt, we’re so supportive of each other. We’ve had so many good luck messages of from the Broncos and they’ve been sharing our posts to build those foundations.
“We need that support first and we’re really supporting each other and really pushing each other in what we’re doing in London.
“Rugby league should be big in the capital. We want London Broncos to be in the Super League and that’s where they should be.
“We just need to build the team and build the London brand and, I think, eventually they’ll get back there.”
King has been a regular for England since 2018, scoring one try in each of their five matches in the 2022 World Cup, which of course they went on to win.
This year, England are building more on their successes and last month, held a “Future of England” session where two sides, selected from capped and uncapped players, faced each other in a full-scale challenge match in the hope of joining the eight players already in the National Performance Squad.
King, already in that squad, went along to watch: “Tom Coyd invited me there to speak to the other players, as someone who’s been around the team and been in exactly the position they they’ve been in.
“I told the a story of what I learned, from when I was fighting for my spot in the NPS and just to pass on a little bit of motivation before that big game.
“That meant a lot because we’re one team and they’re going to be players who are going to be training alongside us.
“There’s so much talent there and I think Tom Coyd and Dave Banks had got a tough job on their hands to pick out the best of who played. It was really good to see the amount of numbers that we’re getting pulled through the pathway now.
“It’s exciting to see who’s joining us in the NPS and, of course, who will be involved for the Ashes tour in Australia. Obviously Tom’s not picked his squad for that yet, there’s still going to be a selection process or that probably in a couple of months’ time.
“When we have our first camp, we’re all going to be fighting for our spot on the plane. The work definitely does not stop, it’s only just beginning.
“You have to keep proving yourself, you’ve got to keep pushing forward and proving yourself as a as a player and an athlete and a person. We want to have someone behind us looking to take our shirt because otherwise you get complacent and you don’t keep progressing forward as an athlete and as a as a team player.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 510 (July 2025)