PDRL returns this weekend
Physical Disability Rugby League returns in earnest this weekend, with more teams and players than ever involved in 2022.
The Eastmoor Dragons community club in Wakefield will be a familiar and welcoming venue for the Festival format which has been central to the development of PDRL over the last five years – but hasn’t been practical since 2019 because of the pandemic.
There will be six teams in the Physical Disability Super League – the original pioneers Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves, plus Wakefield Trinity hosting the Eastmoor Festival as part of the club’s first Inclusion Weekend, their neighbours Castleford Tigers, Wigan Warriors and newcomers Bradford Bulls.
At each Festival, each team will play two fixtures – and with a number of other Festivals arranged through the summer, by the end of the season each of the six teams will have played the other five twice, culminating in a Finals Day Festival.
This year there will also be a focus on junior players, with specific development activity at the Festivals.
Here are the details for the festivals taking place in 2022:
- Festival 1: 2nd April, Wakefield, Eastmoor Dragons ARLFC, 11am
- Festival 2: 24th April, Warrington, Victoria Park, time TBC
- Festival 3: 21st May, Castleford, Mend-A-Hose Jungle, time TBC
- Festival 4: 19th June, Leeds, venue and time TBC
- Festival 5: 23rd July, Wigan, venue and time TBC
- Festival 6: 13th August, Bradford, venue and time TBC
- Finals Festival: 9th October, venue and time TBC
2022 also holds the appeal of a PDRL World Cup, to be played alongside the Rugby League World Cup in England this autumn – and Shaun Briscoe, the former England international who is now Head Coach of the PDRL Community Lions, has already held one successful session with his squad at Hopwood Hall.
