2024 PREVIEW: WRL Invitational League

The Wales Rugby League Wheelchair Invitational League which was launched in 2023 consisting of five founding clubs; Cardiff Blue Dragons, North Wales Crusaders and Torfaen Tigers of Wales along with English sides, Argonauts and Hereford Harriers.

The competition which ran towards the tail end of the year culminated with a Grand Final in Wrexham which saw Kent based side, the Argonauts claim the trophy in a highly competitive game against Hereford Harriers.

Such was the success and popularity of the first season, where all games are available to watch on YouTube, this year’s campaign has been extended and all sides will now play 12 games in the regular season, compared to the four that they all played last year.

Stephen Jones, the head of Wheelchair RL in Wales said: “We’re delighted that the WRL Wheelchair Invitational League is kicking off for a second season. Part of the feedback that we had was that sides wanted to play a longer season and more than one game in a day, so we’re delighted that we’ve been able to accommodate that.

“We now have an even spread of sides, with two in North Wales, two in South Wales and two in the south of England, but that’s just the start. We’ve had interest from other clubs already for 2025, so watch this space for more expansion as we continue to develop players ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which we’ve already qualified for.”

As part of the competitions expansion into this year, the Crusaders will field a second team into the competition – similar to how the side entered the RFL competition(s) in 2023. Each side will host two triple headers and travel away four times.

Rather than using the name Crusaders ‘A’ which the club has actively used since introducing a second team back in 2019. The Crusaders teams will be named, North Wales Crusaders and Crusaders Celts – paying homage to the first ever professional Rugby League team in Wales, Celtic Crusaders as well as leaning into the heritage of Wales, which can also be seen with the traditional Celtic designs on the sides away jersey.

Bucking the trend of a clubs second team being utilised as a ‘development’ side. The team will instead be utilised to split the clubs players into two fairly evenly matched sides, with each team being allocated their own coaches and players only being able to field for that particular team.

Talking about the new Crusaders Celts side, Crusaders Player/ Head Coach Harry Jones said: “Coming into this season we at North Wales Crusaders wanted to concentrate on player development and to do that we knew that a consistent level of game time was key. Having two teams in the RFL setup the past few years has worked wonders for development, but with the available game time in that set-up dwindling from season to season, we needed to find a way to get our youngsters and newbies some game time, thus the formation of a second team from North Wales in the Welsh competition.

“Last season, turning up to a gameday with a squad of 15-20 players all needing game time was a hugely positive problem for us to have. We’ve split the teams as evenly as possible, with internationals, fringe players and newbies on each side.

“As my international time is coming to an end, I want to help develop the next generation of Wales international players and by entering a second team into the competition, I believe this is the best opportunity to do so.”

Full club fixtures for the Wales Rugby League Invitational League can be found here.

News on the squads for each Crusaders team will be announced soon.