The Bull Sharks wheelchair rugby team got on a roll at the Sydney Slam over the weekend, cruising through the tournament undefeated to claim their first piece of silverware.
The Sydney Slam was the third and final stop on the Wheelchair Rugby Australia National League competition and Bond’s performance pushed them to second overall behind The University of Queensland who were named champions on a countback after winning two more games than Bond across the three tournaments.
Key Bull Shark player Brayden Foxley-Connolly also went on to win the individual all-star award for Wheelchair Rugby Australia’s best high pointer in the league.
The Wheelchair Rugby classification system allocates players as high pointers, mid pointers and low pointers determined by their type of disability.
Bond went into the final game on Monday tied for first place alongside UQ and Melbourne.
After defeating the Tuggeranong Vikings by 20 points in their final game, Bond faced an anxious wait on the results of tiebreakers between the remaining teams before being named the 2023 champions of the Sydney Slam.
“It was always going to be a pretty tight finish between us, UQ and Melbourne,” said Bond wheelchair rugby coach, Ben Newton.
“Heading into our final game against the Vikings we put it all on the line and set ourselves up really nicely for the tiebreakers.
“It was excellent to see the team win this tournament but one of the biggest highlights for me was just watching them play a really strong team game.
“They were moving the ball extremely well, playing really unselfishly and also just to see them finish the league off strongly was really great.”
As the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby Australia National League competition has now drawn to a close, selected players will look forward to the national championships where state teams will battle it out in hopes of gaining selection for the Australian Steelers team.
After such a strong season, the Bull Sharks should be well represented in a Queensland squad that will be considered the team to beat given UQ and Bond were the two highest ranked sides in the league.
“Over the next week or so, Queensland will finalise selection for two teams, a division 1 and division 2, who will then compete at nationals in five weeks’ time,” Newton said.
“Following the National Championships, athletes will be selected for the Australian Steelers team to attend the Asia/Oceania Championships in Japan.”
This competition will also be the first chance for the Australian Steelers to qualify for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.