Panthers are 2025 Betfred Wheelchair Super League Champions

Halifax Panthers completed a clean sweep of the domestic honours in the 2025 Wheelchair Rugby League season by holding off a determined London Roosters challenge in the Betfred Wheelchair Super League Grand Final in Manchester.

The Panthers lost last year’s Grand Final to Leeds Rhinos but have bounced back to dominate this season, with the return of Halifax-born England star Jack Brown from Australia transforming their attack.

Brown, who had already won the Player of the Match award in their Challenge Cup Final victory over the Roosters in May, completed a personal double with a four-try performance, dazzling the crowd at the Belle Vue Sports Village with his chair and handling skills.

He formed a devastating combination with England team-mate Rob Hawkins, who collected 16 points from three tries and two goals.

The Roosters had taken a 6-0 lead when their teenage wing Casper Wass touched down from Joe Coyd’s long pass to the left, with Coyd curling over a cool conversion.

But the game turned on the sin-binning of another of London’s England contingent, Mason Billington, following a clash with his international team-mate Hawkins - with lead referee Rebecca Whiteley showing what was thought to be the first yellow card shown in a Wheelchair Super League Grand Final.

The Roosters coped well when Billington was off, conceding only one try to Hawkins. But the Panthers seized control in the second quarter with three tries from Brown and a second for Hawkins, and although the newly-appointed England captain Lewis King scored the Roosters' second try, they still trailed 28-10 at the break.

King scored his second, again created by the hard-working Coyd, to reduce the arrears to 12 points early in the second half, and the Panthers were never able to relax as the Roosters ended with seven tries with Jason Owen dummying over for one and the impressive Wass ending with a hat-trick - much to the delight of his father Matt, who was also in the Roosters squad.

But Halifax kept their noses in front, with their veteran captain-coach Wayne Boardman drawing a huge cheer from their supporters and his team-mates as he touched down late on.

“It’s the perfect way to end a great season,” said Boardman, who will join Hawkins and Brown in the England squad for the four-match trip to Australia this autumn.

“Halifax has a great pedigree in Wheelchair Rugby League, with more Grand Final appearances than any other club. But we hadn’t won the Grand Final since 2022, so it’s a good feeling for all of us to be lifting that trophy again.”

Tom Coyd MBE, the Roosters and England coach, said: “Congratulations to Wayne and the Panthers for a great season, but I’m proud of the efforts of our guys tonight and all through the season. We’ve got some young players who have come on so much this year – for Casper Wass to score three tries in a Grand Final is fantastic.”

Halifax Panthers: Tries – Hawkins 3, Brown 4, Boardman; Goals – Boardman 3, Hawkins 2.

London Roosters: Tries – C Wass 3, King 2, J Owen. Goals – Coyd, J Owen 3.