Wheel Blacks playing for keeps

By JERRIE ANDREWS - The Southland Times | Wednesday, 17 October 2007

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Dan Buckingham is on two missions this week.

The 27-year-old Southlander wants the Wheel Blacks to retain the Chris Handy Cup – wheelchair rugby's version of the Bledisloe Cup – in a five-test series against Australia in Invercargill that starts tonight.

And in the process he wants to raise the profile of the sport and disability in the south and the opportunities that are available.

Buckingham has grasped ample opportunities since he was confined to a wheelchair after breaking his neck in a rugby game in Dunedin in 1999.

Just one year after that he was back in the game – albeit a different version. "I think the big thing that attracted me (to wheelchair rugby) was the opportunities for travel ... it definitely opened a lot of doors there," he said.

Buckingham took on the role of "Mr Wheelchair Rugby" in the past two years, becoming the New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby president, organising tournaments and playing at international level.

He admits it has taken its toll and, after recently squeezing himself out of the presidency, he is looking forward to concentrating on his game.

"I ended up just being too involved and lost a little bit of drive ... (I want to) get back some of what I've lost over the last couple of years," he said.

Originally from Tokanui, Buckingham moved to Dunedin in the late 1990s, then Christchurch to further his career with the Wheel Blacks. He maintains Southland is home and he is excited about the prospect of playing at Stadium Southland.

The annual fixture against Australia is also a precursor to next month's Oceania championships, but Buckingham and Australian captain Steve Porter agreed that would take no gloss from this week's series.

"We get on quite well off the court but I must admit when we are on the court we are both there to win," Porter said.

"There's a lot of rivalry there, a lot of pride and we go pretty hard at it. It's the only full-contact chair sport, chair-to-chair contact that is, and it's very fast, very intense and quite a tactical and strategic kind of game. It's great to watch because of the physical aspect."

The Chris Handy Cup was originally donated for 10 years and this week's series will see the end of it as it stands, with a New Zealand rugby player being sought to see it out for another 10 years.

Porter, who has represented Australia since 1994, is expecting a traditionally close battle.

"We are playing the Kiwis.

They're ranked No 2 in the world, right now they're one of the powerhouses."


The trans-Tasman battle starts tonight at 7pm. The teams meet up again tomorrow at 11am and the Wheel Blacks will play a celebrity match at 1pm against Sting players, with Southland athlete Jessica Hamill putting in an appearance.
The teams will play two more games on Friday at 11am and 7pm and the series will wind up with what could be the clinching game on Saturday at 2pm. All games will be hosted at Stadium Southland.

Entry is a gold-coin donation for adults and is free for children.

Kiwis get one over Aussies

By JERRIE ANDREWS - The Southland Times | Thursday, 18 October 2007

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The Wheel Blacks went 1-nil up in the Chris Handy Cup five-game series against Australia in Invercargill last night and gave the Southland crowd a taste of trans-Tasman rivalry at its best.

Right from the haka it was game on.

There were hard hits, spills, the occasional sin-binning and plenty of passion in the 40-32 Kiwi win.

The New Zealanders had a slight edge over their Australian wheelchair rugby counterparts from the outset, going to the first quarter break 11-8 up on the back of some impressive attacking work from local lad Dan Buckingham, who scored 11 of the side's 39 points.

Buckingham was all over the loose ball and worked well defensively throughout the game.

The Australian side made the most of its bench and made frequent substitutions, allowing the strength of captain Steve Porter and 18-year-old Ryley Batt to shine through.

Although Batt faced limited game time because of some equipment issues, he still scored a massive 15 points and looked hard to stop at most times.

The Australians fought back in the second quarter to go to halftime 16-20 down, but any chance of a close match was dashed as the Wheel Blacks stretched out to a commanding 31-24 lead in the third quarter.

Spurred on by a crowd that got increasingly louder, the home side maintained its momentum to win convincingly.

Wheel Blacks coach Grant Sharman was thrilled with his side's start to the series.

"It's always good to get the first win in the Chris Handy Cup," he said. "I think the fact we stuck on task was good. They made a few substitutions and didn't get as settled, we had a settled line up and that was probably a difference."

Sharman admitted the Australian youngster Batt was one of the best players in the world, but said the New Zealanders knew that heading into the match and had been preparing to line up against him. He credited Buckingham and Jai Waite with working well together and said Sholto Taylor, Geremy Tinker and Tim Johnson also had strong games.

"I'm thrilled to be in Southland – Dan's been so keen to bring us here.

The stadium's great, the crowd's great, I'm just thrilled," Sharman said.

The Wheel Blacks and Australia line up for game two of the Chris Handy Cup at Stadium Southland tomorrow at 11am.

At 1pm the Wheel Blacks will play a celebrity match against Southern Sting players and on Friday the cup series continues with a double-header, one game at 11am the other at 7pm. The series concludes on Saturday at 2pm.

Australian wheelchair rugby star thrilled to finally be in the chair

By JERRIE ANDREWS - The Southland Times | Friday, 19 October 2007

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It took Ryley Batt 12 years to get into a wheelchair.

Despite being born with a limb deficiency, the young Australian preferred to cart a skateboard around instead.

"I didn't want to get in a wheelchair, I thought they were for really disabled people," he said.

That was until he met some of the boys who were playing wheelchair rugby.

Now 18, and one of the stars of the Australian wheelchair rugby team, Batt says he's thrilled to be in the chair and he's making the most of every opportunity.

"The coach, Brad Dubberley, he used to be a player with the same classification as me (3.5). I grew up in the same town as him and got introduced to the game when I was 12. I've learned everything I know from him," he said.

Batt was thrust into the national team when he was just 13 years old, only one year after he started playing the game.

He's still the youngest in the team and after a strong showing in both of the Chris Handy Cup matches in Invercargill this week, he's clearly one of the best.

"I've got stomach muscles – most of us don't – but I can throw the chair around a bit more.

"I've also got a bit of weight," he said.

After losing the opening game on Wednesday night, the Australians went down 32-33 in yesterday's second test in the five-game Chris Handy Cup series.

But they proved they've got the goods to beat the Wheel Blacks after leading for most of what was a noticeably physical game.

Batt again stood out, particularly in the first half, propelling his side to a 9-7 lead in the first quarter and by half time they were still up 17-16.

But New Zealand's Sholto Taylor wasn't about to let the series get tied up and put in his best performance of the week to score eight points as well as shining on defence.

By three-quarter time the Wheel Blacks were back in front 23-22.

After exchanging points throughout the final quarter, a vocal crowd of about 500 people erupted into cheers when Southlander Dan Buckingham scored the winning point with just seven seconds left on the clock, giving the Wheel Blacks a 2-nil lead in the series.

Wheel Blacks coach Grant Sharman said they expected the Australians to come out firing, but was thrilled to be up by two games.

"I think Ryley adds that physical dimension ... they took Ryley off and we had Sholto waiting for them," he said.

"In big games usually there's only one or two points in it, so we drill that, looking to maintain control.

"It came down to one point and we scored last so I'm really pleased.

"I think people might get a surprise (in today's games) as to how we play, certainly with that 2-nil advantage we'll be trying things and go from there." The Wheel Blacks will play Australia twice today. The first game is at 11am and the second at 7pm.

The series concludes tomorrow with the final match at 2pm.

Wheel Blacks gain unassailable lead

By JERRIE ANDREWS - The Southland Times | Saturday, 20 October 2007

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It was one up, one down for the Wheel Blacks yesterday, but the one up was enough to give New Zealand a series win over Australia in the wheelchair rugby test series in Invercargill.

The Wheel Blacks sealed the best-of-five Chris Handy Cup series win with yesterday morning's come-from-behind 38-36 win over Australia, giving them an unassailable 3-nil lead.

The Aussies got one back last night with a 44-36 win, but too little too late.

Yesterday morning's trans-Tasman clash was yet another passionate and physical outing for the two teams, which have wowed Southland crowds this week with their physicality and determination in some tight games.

The Australians came out firing and led the game for most of the match.

Up by four goals at one stage, it looked as though the boys in gold were about to upset the Kiwi's bid for three consecutive wins.

But with three minutes left on the clock, a composed New Zealand team – something New Zealanders have seen in small doses this year – gave the Southland crowd a reason to cheer, winning the game by two points.

Wheel Blacks coach Grant Sharman put the win down to patience and composure and said it put the home side in unfamiliar territory.

"Normally we're 1-2 down (in the cup series) at this point," he said.

"Championship games are won in the last quarter and sometimes in the big games you lose sight of that and panic sets in. But the guys are getting good at getting the job done."

Australian coach Brad Dubberley said while his team had played well for most of the game, it needed to maintain that for the full 32 minutes.

Both coaches agreed the close matches were ideal preparation for next month's Oceania zone championships in Sydney, where they will vie for a place at next year's Paralympics in Beijing.

The final Chris Handy Cup game will be played today at 2pm at Stadium Southland.

City could be NZ team base

By JERRIE ANDREWS - The Southland Times | Monday, 22 October 2007

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Stadium Southland could become the official home of the Wheel Blacks.

That's the word from Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt who said yesterday he had been in talks with Wheel Blacks management about the concept and he was confident the stadium could become the team's new base as it heads into its lead-up to next year's Paralympics in Beijing.

"They've got about eight training camps towards Beijing next year and certainly, from a stadium management point of view, we would welcome the Wheel Blacks for next year and beyond," he said.

The stadium hosted the five-test Chris Handy Cup series between the Wheel Blacks and Australia last week and attracted more than 3000 spectators.

The series culminated in a 4-1 victory to the New Zealanders, after a 38-37 win in Saturday's final match, and Skelt was more than happy with both the on and off-court results.

"It's probably been one of the most successful test series we've run in the sense of the huge support from the Southland public," he said.

"We have had fantastic crowds and (the players) have been fantastic role models for young people ...

they're awe-inspiring really."

"Now we've got a huge opportunity to grow this sport and the support base as well – we really want to make Stadium Southland the Wheel Blacks' home."

Wheel Blacks coach Grant Sharman was excited by the prospect and said manager Barry Hislop would be holding more discussions before some number crunching ultimately decided whether Southland would see the team on a regular basis.

"We have had a great week," he said.

"I really can't stop raving about being in Invercargill. The stadium is fantastic, it's got everything we need and then some.

"The hotel (Ascot Park) is great and there's been fantastic community support."

Sharman said he had spoken to members of the team and they were all keen to head back to Southland.

"If it's possible to do it, from the high-performance side of it, I think it's great," he said.

Southland's own Wheel Black Dan Buckingham, who starred in last week's cup series, said the week in Invercargill had been great and he was keen to return to his home turf for future games.

The Wheel Blacks' focus now turns to next month's Oceania zone championships in Sydney, where they will be playing for a place in the Paralympics.