EDINBURGH’S wheelchair rugby league club has launched a bid for a place in the 2025 Wheelchair Super League.
Following consultation with stakeholders, the Edinburgh Giants announced the news on Wednesday.
If successful, the Giants would be the first Scottish team to appear in the Super League in any variation of the sport, not just wheelchair rugby league.
In September, the Rugby Football League (RFL) confirmed an expansion to the Super League for 2025 from five to eight teams, after the sport’s best domestic season to date.
The decision to expand the league came from the increase in player numbers, with the aim of making the game “aspirational” and participation at its top level more accessible.
The sport saw an increase in its audience following the Rugby League World Cup in 2021, which saw men’s, women’s and wheelchair teams compete alongside each other for the first time ever.
The Giants are a community-based charity providing “inclusive sporting opportunities” for both disabled and non-disabled people.
Having only formed 20 months ago, the club is aware of the challenges that would lie ahead if successful, with well-established teams in the league boasting impressive talent.
However, it has had a strong showing this year, finishing second in the Wheelchair Challenge Trophy in April, an effort it was extremely proud of as a new club.
Regardless of the outcome, it believes the bid is testament to the hard work of everyone involved to boost infrastructure, partnerships and capacity to make it possible.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the club’s founder Martyn Gill said: “It is nothing short of outstanding what has been achieved by our club in such a short space of time.
“On the pitch we have reached a cup final and off it we have worked extremely hard to establish a club from scratch whilst developing some key strategic partnerships that have enabled us to progress.”
The club is set to find out if the bid was successful by December 13, quipping in its statement it could be the “perfect Christmas present”.
