BWhcSL | Round 1 Round Up

The Betfred Wheelchair Super League kicked off the 2026 season on Saturday (11 April) with four hard fought battles between the eight sides.

2025 winners Halifax Panthers headed to the Sedbergh Sports Centre where they met Super League newcomers Bradford Bulls in a triumphant battle.

The Panthers made an immediate impact, opening the scoring in the first few minutes as Rob Hawkins crossed and Wayne Boardman added the conversion.

Despite being up against a strong lead, the Bulls fought back, getting their first points on the board at the 21st minute mark when Scott Pryah broke through the Halifax defence.

The determined Bulls continued to push, adding two further tries from Daniel McGrath and Keiron Johnson in the last ten minutes, but their intense effort fell short as the Panthers conceded little control and left Bradford with an 18-99 victory.

2025 runners-up London Roosters met Hull FC on Saturday (11 April) as they started on their campaign for glory.

The Roosters came out firing in the first half with Joe Coyd making an immediate impact, completing a hat-trick inside the opening 15 minutes.

London continued their momentum, but FC attempted to fight back as Josh Edwards scored a converted try leading into the second half.

The second 40 saw the battle heat up as both sides traded tries throughout.

Edwards added another for FC whilst Liam Stancliffe also got on the scoresheet, but further tries for London’s Mason Billington, Lewis King and Joe Coyd meant the Black and Whites just couldn’t close the gap created in the opening stages.

The third game of the weekend came from Edinburgh Giants and Leeds Rhinos who met at the Pleasance Sports Complex.

The Rhinos got off to a flying start, going into the second half with a huge lead at 0-64 having prevented the Giants from putting a single point on the board.

Edinburgh, whose reserves beat the Rhinos with little effort in their earlier game, attempted to close the gap in the second half, taking their tally up to 12 after some strong effort, but it wasn’t enough to make a comeback and the Rhinos left with an emphatic victory at 12-116.

Closing out the opening round were Wigan Warriors and Sheffield Eagles, who met in a triple-header alongside their respective Reserves and Development teams.

The Warriors took an early lead as Jack Heggie linked with Adam Rigby to score a converted try at the fourth minute mark – the first of a later hat-trick.

Another try for the Warriors came just three minutes later when Chris Greenhalgh crossed the line, but the Eagles hit back as Ben Simpson narrowed the score to 10-6.

Soon after, the Warriors regained control as Rigby and Heggie combined again to extend their lead. Toby Burton-Carter quickly followed up with a try of his own and not before long the Warriors began to make their ascent.

Sheffield continued to fight, adding a further two tries to their tally in the final six minutes, but it wasn’t enough to take on the Cherry and Whites who won three games from three in their home crowd triple header.

Betfred Wheelchair Super League Round 1 results:

Bradford Bulls v Halifax Panthers – 18-99

Hull FC v London Roosters – 30-70

Edinburgh Giants v Leeds Rhinos – 12-116

Wigan Warriors v Sheffield Eagles – 75-20

A full list of fixtures for the Betfred Wheelchair Super League can be found here.