McKenna stars as Wheelaroos start World Cup campaign with big win

Wheelaroos captain Brad Grove has outlined his team’s ambition to win the 2026 World Cup on home soil after beating New Zealand 98-4 in an historic trans-Tasman wheelchair Test in Auckland.

In a game of firsts, which opened with the first haka in wheelchair rugby league, the Wheel Kiwis were no match for Australia in their international debut as Bayley McKenna scored a record 44-point haul from five tries and 12 goals

However, New Zealand at least managed to score their first international try, through Jamie Tapp, and will be aiming to improve their defence in the second Test at Eventfinda Stadium on Monday.

Wheel Kiwis captain Jayson Hooker insisted the home team would be better for their first hit out, which is expected to lead to more regular Tests between Australia and New Zealand, while also encouraging other Pacific nations to play.

“It was amazing, the emotion was huge,” Hooker said. “We have come together on pretty short notice, we haven’t had much time to train together so it was all heart from us today.

“We had five hours training together. It was good to come out of it without a donut at the end.”

The Wheelaroos led 42-0 at halftime and went on with the task in their first international outing since the last World Cup in England in 2022.

With a series in the USA and a tour by France falling over this year, the Wheelaroos are focused on growing the game in the Southern Hemisphere to provide more competition.

After making the semi-finals of the World Cup, the Wheelaroos are No.3 in the IRL World Rankings behind England and France and Grove believes they can win the next tournament to be played in Australia at the end of the 2026 season.

“It’s been a while since the Wheelaroos have been together, but this is a great start for our World Cup campaign,” Grove said.

“We missed out in 2017, the World Cup got moved back to Europe so this will be the first time for the majority of us to actually play at home in front of a home crowd.

"We will start getting prepared for that and hopefully bring the World Cup home.”

The Wheelaroos had six different tryscorers, including McKenna and debutant Daniel Anstey, who scored five apiece, while Cory Cannane finished with a hat-trick.

Despite Australia's record winning margin, Grove was encouraged by the performance of the Wheel Kiwis and the future of the wheelchair game in the Pacific.

“To be honest this Kiwi team is fantastic so there is a lot to come forward from them,” he said.

“Obviously we want to be out there playing as many games as we can but starting the game here locally and in the Pacific is fantastic for us.

“Hopefully we have got Papua New Guinea, Fiji and all of those other islands coming on board so it will be great to see our Pacific nations tour shortly.”

Australia 98: Bayley McKenna 5, Daniel Anstey 5, Cory Cannane 3, Zac Schumacher 2, Peter Arbuckle, Brad Grove tries; Bayley McKenna 12, Dian Karim 3 goals.

New Zealand 4: Jamie Tapp try.

Player-of-the-match: Bayley McKenna

Halftime 42-0