Former soldier, James Simpson, rebuilding his life with help from rugby league and the Leeds Rhinos Wheelchair team

No longer able to serve in the forces, Leeds-born Simpson took up the wheelchair game as a way of keeping fit and for “something to do”.

A decade on, he is now not only a star player with Leeds Rhinos, who finished top of the wheelchair game’s Super League last year and won the Challenge Cup, but also an England international and ambassador for the 2021 World Cup.

That role led to an invite to Buckingham Palace for the tournament draw, conducted by Prince Harry and, looking back, Simpson says the sport has played a “massive” part in him being able to move on from the horrific events of 2009.

“It has totally changed my life; I train for the game and I constantly think about the game,” Simpson said of wheelchair rugby league, a unisex, nationwide and fast-growing version of the code.

“I think, after being in the Army for so long and getting injured, it gave my life a new direction I would never have taken and gave me a sense of purpose.

“For me, wheelchair rugby league - and rugby league as a whole - is huge. Every single day of my life is built around wheelchair rugby league or rugby league.”

Simpson, who was serving with the 1st Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, also lost three fingers and suffered damage to an arm in the explosion, which “feels like it was about 30 years ago”.

He said: “I went through some old photos the other day and it was so long ago it almost feels like I have forgotten about it.

“Looking at the pictures was bringing it back and it was like a whole different life.”

A Rhinos fan as a youngster, Simpson did not play the sport on a serious basis until after being injured.

He now has ambitions to go into coaching and began helping with Guiseley Rangers’ under-10s just before the sport shut down owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We played our first game of the season the week before,” he recalled. “I am from Guiseley and I want to give back to the club and get involved, but now that’s been knocked on the head.

“That was something I was really excited about, I had done my level twos [coaching course] and safeguarding courses, I did one day and then it was over for the rest of the year, potentially.”

Coaching offers Simpson an opportunity to stay involved with rugby league when he retires from playing.

He pointed out: “I am 34 this year, so next year at the World Cup I’ll be 35 and probably the oldest in the squad, if I get selected.

“I have only got a few years left in me, so coaching is definitely the next step on the ladder.

“If I can coach at Leeds that’ll be even better, because I know the players and how the team works and it would be a massive honour.

“Coming on board with Guiseley Rangers is taking me out of my comfort zone.

“I think, if I can coach a bunch of under-10s, able-bodied, I should be able to coach wheelchair in a few years.”

Simpson’s partner Josie is a nurse and, based on her and his experiences, he is full of admiration for the work being done by the NHS during the Covid-19 crisis. Other than being unable to play or coach his sport, Simpson has been unaffected by the outbreak.

“I am really good, just staying out of the way and battening down, like we are supposed to,” he confirmed.

“There’s a couple of players who have underlying health issues and they went into voluntary self-isolation when it all started a while ago. They have been staying out of the way for a month now.”

The wheelchair season had barely got rolling when a halt was called, to Simpson’s disappointment.

He said: “One of our players has had a baby and another’s got a baby on the way so we have had to rejig the team and change things quite a bit.

“We were going into this year with a new-look team and we’d had a really good pre-season, trialing things out and then we played one game, away to North Wales, and it was all over.”

Simpson is hoping the sport can restart by the end of July, but admitted: “That might just be me being optimistic.

“Some of the players think we might not come back at all, because the Grand Final is in September and we have got nine games left, without the Challenge Cup. Getting those nine games in is a big ask. I want it to come back, but it’s a tough one.

“I hope we do get some domestic fixtures, even if we have to totally rejig the season.”

Rhinos have a score to settle, having been beaten by Halifax in last year’s title decider. Halifax brought in several players specially for the final and the rules have now been changed to prevent that in future.

Simpson said: “You’re not allowed to bring players in just for the final, you have to play for the team a certain amount of games. They’ve brought that in and cleared up a bit of the able-bodied and disabled grey area.

“With the World Cup next year, they need to make sure there’s nothing going to jeopardise anyone internationally.

“Every year we get a little closer to perfecting [the sport’s rules].

“We learn something every year and we are slowly evolving the laws of the game to where they are eventually going to be perfect for what we need.”

Internationally, the period between now and the World Cup is crucial for England, but scheduled Tests versus France in June are almost certain to be cancelled and this autumn’s Ashes against Australia - the Wheelaroos - is also in doubt.

“I hope they come over at the end of the year, that’s the one thing we are really holding out for,” Simpson said

“They were going to have two games against us [England] and another couple of games as well.

“That was all pretty much nailed on to happen so, hopefully, it still goes ahead.”

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