Four of the twenty-nine athletes representing New Zealand at the Tokyo Paralympics this year are part of the NZ Rugby Foundation whanaū. One in the water and three on the Wheelchair Rugby court.

And it has only come about through a lot of hard work. “To have a chance to qualify, I was like, ‘right, we're not going to screw this up’,” said injured player and Wheel Blacks co-captain Cody Everson in an interview with Tokyo 2020, “Everyone was super switched on and we stuck to the game plan. We were super confident.”

If Everson thought qualifying was intense he also acknowledges the adversity ahead. “The main focus was going to be 2024 when we should be at the top of our game, everyone should have played together enough… so Tokyo was realistic for us but we know as well that we're building.”

Everson will be joined in the Wheel Blacks by his Rugby Foundation brothers Rob Hewitt and Nafi Lefono.

Overcoming adversity is something Paracanoeing athlete Scott Martlew knows plenty about.

Like many young athletes from all over the world, he had dreams of going to the Olympic Games. “I really began to get serious when I was 17-years-old… a matter of months later I had a life-changing injury and my sights then shifted to the Paralympics.” Said Martlew.

“Mentally it was very hard thinking about what I had lost and what could’ve been, the only way to overcome this was to think about what I still had and what I can make of it,” he explained.

The four athletes make up part of the 102 seriously injured players the NZ Rugby Foundation currently partner with.

“We are immensely proud of these guys and their families and friends who have provided such support to them over the years. Their commitment over the past few years has been a privilege to witness. They have all had to balance careers and family lives whilst training at all hours of the day and night.”  says NZRF Chief Executive Lisa Kingi-Bon.

All the NZ Paralympics events  will be on covered on Duke

Scott Martlew – Paracanoeing.

Injured in 2010 at age 17.  He was playing for Shirley Boys High 1st XV. He suffered a haematoma on his thigh. The resulting bruise quickly became infected and developed the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis. Miraculously surgeons saved his life, but it cost Scott his entire leg from the hip down. He went onto gain employment at Downer where he holds a successful role as a Quantity Surveyor.

Cody Everson – Wheelchair Rugby.

Injured in 2011 at age 15. Cody was playing wing, also for Shirley Boys High 1st XV. His injury is C6 complete tetra. 10 years on he now captain of the Wheel Blacks.  

Nafi Lefono

Injured in 2007 at age 21.  He was studying at Otago was injured playing for Alhambra RFC. Para C7 ASIA B. He was the first in the world to qualify as a Physiotherapist in a chair.

Rob Hewitt

Injured in June 2009 at age 24 playing for Waihou RFC in Te Aroha.  His injury is C6/7 dislocation tetra. Robbie works for the Waikato Rugby Union and plays an integral role in their Community team.

For those unfamiliar with wheelchair rugby here's a bit of a backgrounder. Wheelchair rugby originated in Winnipeg, Canada in the 1970’s and went by the name ‘Murderball’ due to the aggressive nature of the game. The sport was invented by a group of quadriplegic athletes that wanted an alternative to wheelchair basketball - allowing those with hand and arm function limitations to be able to participate as well. Born from the combination of sports like rugby, basketball and hockey, wheelchair rugby is today played in over 40 countries.

Article added: Friday 20 August 2021