Ashes wheelchair rugby league: Jack Brown talks about sacrifices for England

Brown is one of two undisabled players in England’s squad for the Ashes tour. He first took up wheelchair basketball and then played rugby league, sharing the sport on equal footing with his younger brother Harry, who lost his legs to meningitis when he was a child.

They were both part of the England team that won the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup in 2008, and were runners-up in 2013 and 2017, before Harry focused on basketball, helping Great Britain win silver at the Paralympics in Paris last year.

International wheelchair rugby league rules allow two of a team’s five players on the field to be non-disabled, and Jack has become a stalwart for England.

But he was not playing regularly in Australia due to strict eligibility rules.

“I’ve been training with a lot of the top players in Australia, but in terms of representation, the eligibility rules are very strict there, so they’ve been adjusted,” he said.

“If you don’t qualify for Australia, you don’t qualify for country of origin, and it keeps going down.”

This meant that throughout his time in Australia, Brown only played during his trips to England. And although he helped his country lift the World Cup in 2022, he didn’t feel it would work out in 2026. Which meant returning home and giving up lucrative welding.

“I was doing a little welding shop at first, but the goal was to try to get into the mines there,” he said.

“It was about a team mentality, where you go through really bad periods and you’re in some really bad places and some dirty places, and you’ve got to get through it together.

“It was a big decision to come back to England, because we had a lot of things there and I still have a lot of close friends there.

“But I had to be realistic with myself. I was really lucky to still be alongside those England players while I was there, and I think it was selfish of me to think I could maintain that level by just playing one game a year.”

For Brown, international success means more than just money.

“I’ve set up a couple of businesses with close friends who are in driving and maintenance, so I’ve got my finger in some jars, but that’s not the big thing at the moment,” he says.

“My only focus at the moment is making sure I can get to every training on time, get to every game on time, and the work will take care of itself. I can always make more money.”