England Wheelchair Head Coach Tom Coyd MBE has included three uncapped players in the 17-strong National Performance Squad for 2025 – with the clock ticking down towards selection for this autumn’s two-Test tour of Australia.
Luis Domingos of Castleford Tigers, Josh Edwards of Hull FC and Finlay O’Neill of Halifax Panthers have been called up after impressing in two trial events at the University of York – the second of them on Sunday – and in O’Neill’s case, with his 80-minute performance in the Panthers’ victory over London Roosters in last Saturday’s Betfred Wheelchair Challenge Cup Final.
Coyd has added a total of nine players to the eight who were selected in the first group of players for the 2025 NPS last month.
The other six include two more Cup-winning Panthers – Nathan Holmes and Wayne Boardman, the Halifax captain-coach – plus Mason Billington and Jason Owen from the Roosters, Chris Haynes from the 2025 Betfred Wheelchair Super League newcomers Sheffield Eagles, and Edwards’ Hull FC team-mate Tristan Norfolk.
Norfolk, Owen, Holmes and Haynes all played in the international fixture against Spain in Nantes last autumn, while Billington capped a stunning breakthrough season with the Roosters by winning two Test caps against France.
The NPS will gather for their first full session of the year in York on Saturday week (June 28), and will then play a behind-closed-doors trial on July 13, with Coyd planning to finalises his 10-strong squad for Australia in August.
“It’s exciting to announce this group and look forward to the challenges ahead of us,” said Coyd.
“Last weekend was such a positive one for Wheelchair Rugby League, with a high-quality Challenge Cup Final on Saturday followed by our Future of England match in York on Sunday – and in both cases, a big feature is the amount of new talent coming through, with seven clubs represented.
“Finlay O’Neill is only 20 and has only been playing Wheelchair Rugby League for a couple of seasons. He played the full 80 minutes for Halifax in the Challenge Cup Final and scored one of their tries, showing the rugby awareness he developed in playing the running game for King Cross Park.
“Josh Edwards also played the running game in Hull, and he’s formed a very effective one-two punch combination with Tristan Norfolk. It’s great to have two Hull FC players in our squad, reflecting the club’s development over the last few years.
“In the case of Luis Domingos, it’s welcome back to Wheelchair Rugby League, as he previously played for Leeds, but has switched his focus in recent years to Wheelchair Basketball before returning a very influential figure in the rapid development of Castleford Tigers in recent months. He’s a really exciting athlete in his chair and is now keen to test himself in Wheelchair Rugby League again after representing Portugal in Basketball – quite a coup for our programme.
“Adding the potential of these three newcomers to our existing base of players – which includes Tom Halliwell, who remains part of the NPS even though he has yet to play this year because of a shoulder issue – gives us real competition for places.
“The Betfred Wheelchair Super League kicks off this weekend, and we’ll be assessing club form as well as our two NPS sessions in June and July before making another tough decision to narrow the squad down to 10 for Australia.”
England Wheelchair National Performance Squad 2025
Those in bold are additions to the squad following the Future of England game in York on 15 June. Those with an asterisk are new to the England Wheelchair programme and potential debutants.
Sebastien Bechara (Catalans Dragons)
Mason Billington (London Roosters)
Wayne Boardman (Halifax Panthers)
Jack Brown (Halifax Panthers)
Josh Butler (Leeds Rhinos)
Nathan Collins (Leeds Rhinos)
Joe Coyd (London Roosters)
Luis Domingos * (Castleford Tigers)
Josh Edwards * (Hull FC)
Tom Halliwell (Leeds Rhinos)
Rob Hawkins (Halifax Panthers)
Chris Haynes (Sheffield Eagles)
Nathan Holmes (Halifax Panthers)
Lewis King (London Roosters)
Tristan Norfolk (Hull FC)
Finlay O'Neill * (Halifax Panthers)
Jason Owen (London Roosters)
England Wheelchair Ashes Tour 2026
Friday October 24 v New South Wales (Sydney)
Monday October 27 v Queensland (Sunshine Coast)
Thursday October 30 – First Test v Australia (Gold Coast)
Sunday November 2 – Second Test v Australia (Gold Coast)
