How Halifax Panthers took a hacksaw to wheelchair rugby league history

The Panthers had just completed an emphatic 64-24 victory over rivals Leeds Rhinos in the Wheelchair Super League Grand Final in Manchester. They were celebrating not only that significant achievement but also a far greater historical milestone, namely the double treble – league leaders’, Challenge Cup and Grand Final in each of the last two seasons.

Halifax are the undisputed kings of the sport and already thoughts quickly moved onto how to better the achievement. The question was put to Jack Brown just moments after his six-try, man-of-the-match performance had steered the final away from Leeds.

“The treble treble,” he ventured.

“We're undercutting ourselves if we don't aim for that.

“If we aim to improve on what we've done this season, if another team can exceed that, so be it.

“That'll be the main goal but if we can get the treble, treble...”

Brown was quick to praise player/coach Wayne Boardman for the standards he drives from his Halifax team.

“Wayne is ridiculously strict in getting performance and getting improvement out of the players and the focus has always been making the game play better first,” said Brown.

“Double treble, it's the icing on the cake for me. It's been a side quest that you get from chasing the initial goal.”

Brown did not just catch the eye with his performance on the arena floor. He also drew attention for what he did at half-time, sawing a piece of his chair off to help him perform better in the second half.

“I had this chair redesigned recently,” explained Brown, an able-bodied player who comes from Halifax. “I'd broken a chair last game so we've designed it with different tyres on.

“These are a little bit bigger so they've been catching on the frame so we just needed to cut five mill off the steel. I think other sports would be smart and bring a grinder. We had a fine-tuned hacksaw but we made it work.”

On the importance of the wheelchair being right for an athlete, Brown added: “I can't remember who said the analogy but imagine if you went to watch the F1 and you expected Lewis Hamilton to win the race but you put him in a Ford Focus. You need a car that's fit for you and that does what it's supposed to do.”

The man responsible for piloting Halifax to the double treble, Boardman, was also asked what comes next in the wake of his side’s accomplishment.

“The treble-treble was the aim at the start of last season,” said Boardman. “I said to the players they were halfway there and the boys quickly corrected me. We're two thirds of the way there now, so we're getting there, but that's what our aim is.

“Keeping them motivated at times can be difficult. I'm not going to lie, it can be difficult in training even at a half pace sometimes. But I'm working on that one.”