Wheelaroos player Brad Grove has made a name for himself with a gutsy public challenge to push his wheelchair over 1000 km in the months leading up to the 2022 World Cup.

Brad, who features in the Wheelchair RL West Tigers Team, has actually been involved as a disability player since the early days of WRL in Australia, playing in the inaugural NSW competition in 2010.

The new sport had a special appeal for him back then. He says, “I started playing Wheelchair Rugby League in 2010 as soon as I saw the sport was starting up. I wanted to be involved in something that wasn’t full of politics and had a genuine pathways program.”

Victorian born Brad saw that the sport offered wheelchair athletes a broad array of opponents and teammates. “As it is without a classification system – like in Wheelchair Basketball – Wheelchair Rugby League ensures that players can compete against a range of people and are rewarded for improving,” comments Brad.

is pastimes include camping, fishing, shooting, four-wheel driving, metalwork and engineering. His favourite television show is Vikings and he follows the Melbourne Storm NRL team. Brad’s weekly efforts for his gruelling ‘Push Your Limits Project’ fundraiser also keep him busy.

Brad’s campaign is designed to encourage other abled and disabled players to return to Wheelchair Rugby League after enduring years of interruptions and restrictions because of the pandemic. Funds raised will also go towards supporting junior development.

He is looking forward to the opportunities the World Cup will provide, “to showcase the competitiveness and professionalism of our athletes to help build the sport of Rugby League.”

As well as his fundraiser, Brad’s mission for 2022 is, “being able to compete with and against the world’s best Wheelchair Rugby League players.”