Wales name three squads
Wales Rugby League have named three squads for forthcoming internationals this autumn.
Wales Wheelchair RL, Wales President’s XIII and the Wales Dragonhearts have all picked strong squads.
Steve Jones has taken over the coaching of the Wheelchair team from Alana Sargent, and they are set to compete in the 4 Nations tournament, against England, Ireland and Scotland, to be held at Kingsway Park School Leisure Centre, Rochdale, this coming weekend.
The President’s XIII team has been conceived as a way of briding the gap between the Wales senior side and the Dragonhearts team.
They will play West of England Lionhearts at Blackwood RFC this Sunday.
Paul Emmanuelli has helped picked the side, and he is looking forward to coaching them.
“Already this side has become very popular. We had 32 players turn up over the three training sessions, who were from eight different clubs and universities,” he said.
“I’d like to thank everyone that’s tried out but as always you can only pick 19 for the game.
“Myself, Daf Hellard and Gareth Howells have selected the side that we feel will do the best job for us.
“I’m looking forward to this one off game and thanks again to Will Brewer from the West of England who’s been great sorting the fixture out.
“We hope all the community clubs will get behind this fixture as well as the Dragonhearts game the week after.”
The Dragonhearts are the non-professional representative Welsh side. They are set to face Devon County at Cardiff Metropolitan University on October 2, before heading to Germany for a tour.
Coach Dafydd Hellard said: “We reaped the benefits from Wales Rugby League’s new link with the Scarlets (rugby union side) last weekend as we had an intense and very physical session at the Parc y Scarlets Training Barn and a gruelling session with Crossfit Llanelli.
“All the players were put through their paces and showed an amazing amount of work ethic as they all fight for a place to go on the trip to Germany.
“The Dragonhearts staff would like to thank both the Scarlets and Crossfit Llanelli for the use of their facilities. We were very pleased with the attitudes and effort from every single player and I’m sure they’ll now want to prove themselves in the match against Devon County.”
WALES WHEELCHAIR SQUAD v ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND
Mark Williams (Captain – North Wales Crusaders)
Stuart Williams (Vice Captain – North Wales Crusaders)
Martin Beddis (North Wales Crusaders)
Alan Caron (North Wales Crusaders)
Andrew Rhys Higgins (North Wales Crusaders)
Harry Jones (North Wales Crusaders)
Gary Preece (Hereford Harriers)
Geraint Price (Hereford Harriers)
James Roberts (North Wales Crusaders)
Gary Taylor (North Wales Crusaders)
WALES PRESIDENTS XIII (19-man squad) v WEST OF ENGLAND LIONHEARTS
Ben Jones (Valley Cougars, South Wales Ironmen)
Dale Tucker (Torfaen Tigers)
Dean Higgs (Valley Cougars)
Ethan Coombes (Valley Cougars, South Wales Ironmen)
Harry Boots (West Wales Raiders)
Huw Parkes (Bath & Wiltshire Romans, South Wales Ironmen)
Jake Thomas (Aber Valley Wolves, South Wales Ironmen)
John Lloyd (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
Lee Goddard (Valley Cougars)
Lewis Hughes (Bridgend Blue Bulls, South Wales Ironmen)
Luke O’Driscoll (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
Mike Edwards (Torfaen Tigers, South Wales Ironmen)
Mike Hurley (Valley Cougars)
Morgan Jefferies (West Wales Raiders)
Rhys Gant (Aber Valley Wolves, South Wales Ironmen)
Shane Lee (Valley Cougars, South Wales Ironmen)
Tom Davies (North Wales Crusaders)
Wes Cunliffe (Torfaen Tigers)
Zak Williams (South Wales Ironmen)
WALES DRAGONHEARTS SIDE v DEVON COUNTY
1. Louis Ford (Swansea University)
2. Jamie Marsh (Valley Cougars)
3. Josh Taylor (West Wales Raiders)
4. Sam Baker (Torfaen Tigers)
5. Mathew Davies (West Wales Raiders)
6. Curtis Ford (West Wales Raiders)
7. Bradley Williams (Cardiff City RL)
8. Louis Pengelly (C) (Torfaen Tigers)
9. Kieron Hooper (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
10. Rhys Davies (Valley Cougars)
11. Jonny Rae (Chester Gladiators)
12. Craig Lewis (Valley Cougars)
13. Aaron Lewis (West Wales Raiders)
14. Scott Giles (VC) (Valley Cougars)
15. Ross Price (Valley Cougars)
16. Daf Phillips (West Wales Raiders)
17. Ben Swift (Swansea University)
18. Yousif Sulliman (Valley Cougars)