How Hawkins overcame illness to star for England
When Rob Hawkins replied to what he thought was an advert to play wheelchair basketball more than a decade ago he could not have imagined he would be a key part of an England side defending their Rugby League World Cup title.
Key points
- However, 25-year-old Hawkins, who was a big presence in the side to triumph in Manchester four years ago, has also had to overcome the odds - and a battle with chronic fatigue syndrome - to become one of the stars of the international game.
- "When I found out that I could play internationally it kind of drove my competitiveness back out that I didn't have since before the condition." Hawkins won the coveted IRL Golden Boot Award in 2024 and 2025 after being voted the International Wheelchair Player of the Year.
- I'd been doing running, football, started getting into other sports like rugby league and so I wanted to try and find something that interested me," Hawkins told BBC Sport.
However, having pushed England close in the 2025 Ashes, Hawkins says that while England will not underestimate their opponents, they are relishing the challenge in front of them.
Additional details
- The England and Halifax Panthers wing only took up rugby league in 2014 after being bedbound for 18 months, and following a quirk of fate.
- "We know they have been bringing a decent crowd in and that it is going to be a difficult game with the atmosphere and with the team that we're facing, but we also know that we are confident to basically go and do our game and stick to our game plan as well.
- His condition previously meant that he had to use walking frames or rely on family members just to get to the toilet, and he also missed two years of learning at high school.
- Australia claimed thumping wins over New Zealand and Scotland before their momentum was checked by a 69-34 loss to France, who were runners-up four years ago.
- "I saw something on television about wheelchair basketball so we tried looking for our local club, and what we thought was Halifax wheelchair basketball.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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