Queensland wheelchair team chosen for interstate title defence

Queensland wheelchair coach Jack Brown has made some tough selection calls in his squad to contest the 2024 Wheelchair State Challenge after a hotly contested City versus Country clash.

Six players have returned to the state team from the 2023 triumph, with Shannon Buxton, Dylan Gawthorne, Jack Kruger and Tyson Barry chosen as the new faces after standout performances in Townsville on March 2. Veteran player Shaun Harre was unavailable.

Brown said it was “really hard work” to choose the side after leaving the City versus Country in Townsville with a few headaches as he worked to ensure the right players were given their shot.

The City versus Country concept meant everyone brought their most competitive and passionate effort to the selection trial, with Country taking the victory 56-42.

“It was more competitive than we thought it was going to be at the end of the day. It meant more to the players,” Brown said.

“There was just a fire for it. Everyone was fighting for a position.”

Brown said he was thrilled to see the depth Queensland had been able to develop in the past three years through a focus on providing a pathway for a growing player base and having a philosophy spreading down from the elite level.

“You can really see the process is working. We set out with a plan years ago to not just make Queensland play for (the Wheelchair State Challenge), we play to build a Queensland community, a Queensland team outside these players,” he said.

“It’s really showing in the performance of people at club level who have not directly benefited from training in Queensland camps and things like that, but the principles and playing styles are being trickled down to the level we can see is making the game a lot better and getting more people involved as well.

“There were a couple of really fresh players in the City side who have barely played and not too many sessions who took to it really easy as well and have a knack for the sport, and it was really good to see players who were in the (Queensland) team for the first time last year too how they’ve progressed into leadership roles and how they’ve gone on.

"Players like Dan Anstey and Brett Bazley, pulling through these new players and showing really good principles in the game and how they’ve held themselves, it’s good to see.”

Brown joined a chorus of Queensland Wheelchair Rugby League officials thanking everyone who supported and made the City versus Country happen, particularly members of the North Queensland Wheelchair Rugby League not selected who volunteered their time to run water and tees and retrieve tags.

Queensland will start their preparations for the Wheelchair State Challenge next month with a training camp on the Gold Coast, ahead of the Wheelchair State Challenge later this year.

2024 Construction Sciences Queensland Wheelchair team

Daniel Anstey

Pete Arbuckle

Tyson Barry

Brett Bazley

Shannon Buxton

Dylan Gawthorne

Jack Kruger

Bayley Mckenna

Cory Mostran

Zac Schumacher

Coach: Jack Brown

Assistant coach: Cameron Sullivan

Team manager: Jade Brown

Main image: Dylan Gawthorne and Pete Arbuckle battle during the 2024 City v Country clash in Townsville. See the full gallery of 50 photos at the Townsville Bulletin website (subscriber only link). Photos: Evan Morgan/Townsville Bulletin