NEW ZEALAND’S Wheel Kiwis are set to compete in their first-ever Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, but it could have been so different.

Set to appear in the first-ever tournament in 2008, they were unable to raise a full side and were replaced by the one-off “South Sea Island Barbarians”.

But now they are here and ready, but they’ve not played an international match in two years, since their double-header of hammerings by the Wheelaroos.

Five players return from that squad, with five debutants added, which makes them complete unknowns as to how they’ll perform.

However, the debutants all have experience in the New Zealand Resident Wheel Kiwis sides that competed in the 2025 and 2026 LCA NRL Wheelchair Championships, where they’ve had a decent record, winning three out of six in year one, and then two out of six this time around. They could cause some shocks.

KEY PLAYERS

JAYSON HOOKER, a Kiwi living in Australia, was introduced to the sport 18 months ago by his wife, is a below-knee amputee. No longer able to play the running game anymore due to injuries, Hooker captains New Zealand in their first Wheelchair World Cup.

New Zealand’s vice-captain is Kauri Murray. He has previously represented the Rollerkiwis, the New Zealand wheelchair basketball team. A reaction to a polio vaccine at five months old left his right leg paralysed, but this didn’t stop him from participating in lunchtime rugby at school. Now he’s at a World Cup and leads his side in the haka.

COACH

EDIE GEORGE is the pioneering head coach of the New Zealand Wheel Kiwis, having spearheaded the programme since its 2024 maiden campaign. 

An accredited NRL player agent, he was previously head coach and chairman of NSW Wheelchair, having been involved in running rugby league from the age of 13.

SQUAD

Jack Brown, Ryan Charles, Hayden Delves, Nikia Fa’atau, Joshua Hirini-Barclay, Jayson Hooker, Kauri Murray, Pele Sulusi, Mitch Stone, Jamie Tapp.