Canberra’s Chris O’Brien (holding ball) has been one of the stars of the NSW/ACT wheelchair AFL team. Photo: Supplied.
A combined NSW/ACT AFL team of wheelchair players will feature two Canberrans and be coached by a Queanbeyan man at a national tournament in Queensland later this month.
The inaugural Toyota AFL Open is for footballers with an intellectual disability and for wheelchair AFL players. It will take place at the South Pine Sports Complex in Brisbane on 25 and 26 November.
Alessandro Sergi, a 21-year-old AFL development officer from Queanbeyan, will coach the wheelchair team – the Rolling Rams – which includes Canberra players Chris O’Brien and Bradley Burns.
“This year they opened the applications and I was lucky enough to get selected to be coach,” Sergi said.
“I love being able to get to coach a diverse range of people. I wanted a different experience coaching and to give myself another outlook in life.”
Sergi comes from an Italian soccer family but has been playing AFL since he was five years old. He previously coached GWS Giants development squads and promotes the sport in Canberra schools.
“I have an interest in seeing individuals reaching the highest level they can,” he said.
”I want kids to be the best possible version of themselves. I don’t really care what your main sport is; I think playing some AFL can help you develop skills in any code.”
He explained how wheelchair AFL works.
“The sport uses the fundamental rules of AFL. Obviously, there’s no kicking, but you classify a handball as a kick and an underarm throw as a handball. If you catch the ball from a handball more than three metres away, it counts as a mark.
“It’s technically non-contact, but the players go full pelt. There’s shepherding, and at times, the players clash and tip over.”
The Rolling Rams team was runner-up in division two at the 2023 Toyota Wheelchair AFL National Championships.
Players have been plying their craft at multiple wheelchair AFL training centres across the region, with offerings in Albury, Canberra, Wollongong, Sydney and Newcastle providing weekly access to facilities.
Six of the eight players have represented the Rolling Rams previously. Gungahlin Jet Chris O’Brien will be representing the squad for a third time, with the two debutants, Jess Cronje and Canberra’s Bradley Burns, ready to add depth to the squad. Cronje has an elite wheelchair basketball background and is a member of the Australian Gliders team.
The Inclusion Rams side (made up of players with a disability) has been selected from several tryout sessions across the state and territory and the new Inclusion Shield, a competition gala day for high school students living with a disability.
Fixtures and results for the Toyota AFL Open can be found on the Play HQ website.
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