READY TO REPRESENT
TOWNSVILLE’S Davin Bretherton and Peter Arbuckle have earned their places at the upcoming Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in France, now they need your help to get there.
The pair is closing in on the funds needed to buy stateof- the- art wheelchairs that will allow them to compete against the world’s best, but with two weeks to go before heading overseas they need the community to rally behind them.
Arbuckle and Bretherton, who are ex- servicemen, have set up Go Fund Me pages to meet the cost of purchasing their sleek new chairs, and are hopeful of getting over the line.
“It just enables us to compete at our best without worrying about the equipment side of things,” Bretherton said.
“It’s a World Cup and we want to do the very best for our country, and we’re play- ing some very experienced teams who have been playing together for 10- 11 years.
“It’s about trying to get past people, because this is a very physical sport.”
Arbuckle added: “It’s like using a mountain bike to go in a road race,” he said.
“We basically need the wheelchair equivalent of a road bike.”
The pair recently represented Australia at the Invictus Games in Canada and have completed a handful of training camps in Sydney with their Australian team.
They are the only Queens- landers in an Australian squad full of New South Welshmen, but Arbuckle said team unity was strong.
“Things are starting to get real and we have one more training camp in Sydney next weekend, and that will be the culmination of all our preparation,” he said.
“We’ve been playing a development team and that will give a good gauge of where we’re at.”
A page has also been set up to sponsor the Australian team.
“If there’s any corporate sponsors out there who can help the team we would be very thankful as well,” Arbuckle said.
The draw for next month’s World Cup was released yesterday, with Australia drawn in a pool group featuring England, Wales and current world champions France.
“We’ve got France twice, and England and Wales are also very strong wheelchair rugby league nations,” Bretherton said.
To sponsor Bretherton and Arbuckle type their names in at gofundme. com, and to donate to the Australian team visit nrlwheelchair. com. au