# Chair skills, quick brain – how O’Neill adapted to wheelchair rugby league

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/chair-skills-quick-brain-how-oneill-adapted-to-wheelchair-rugby-league/
- Published: 2026-10-28T09:19:13+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-28T10:40:11+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Sport (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/articles/c5lyer2wvd3xo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Art, Culture, Sport, UK, World

## Key points

- A knee condition ended O’Neill’s running rugby league career.
- He adapted to wheelchair rugby and earned an England place.
- Halifax have won consecutive domestic trebles.

## Summary

Finlay O’Neill has moved from running rugby league to wheelchair rugby league after a knee condition ended his prospects in the running game. The 21-year-old says the switch became a blessing, and his rapid progress has earned him a place in England’s squad to defend their World Cup title in Australia.

O’Neill had to learn to manoeuvre a rugby chair while catching, passing and reading play, despite already bringing strong rugby awareness to the sport. Since joining Halifax Panthers, he has won back-to-back domestic trebles and made his England debut in 2025, including playing in the Ashes in Australia. He is one of five World Cup debutants; England begin against Wales before facing the USA and Ireland.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.