Hornets wheelchair team out to make history in Sunday's Grand Final

This Sunday, Rochdale Hornets' wheelchair team face North Wales Crusaders in the Betfred Wheelchair Championship Grand Final.

The fixture will take place at Belle Vue Leisure Centre (2:30pm kick-off). Tickets can be bought here.

Ahead of their season finale, we spoke with head coach Pete Hird to reflect on the campaign as a whole, and the feeling in camp as preparations continue for Sunday's Grand Final. 

Pete, congratulations on reaching the Grand Final for the second time in as many seasons. What does this moment mean for you and the team?

It’s another moment for us to create a bit of history for Rochdale Hornets.

We would love to see the building with Hornets supporters who might still not have seen us play. With it being in Manchester again, it’s no too far to travel, so come on and support us on Sunday afternoon.

It's been another really strong campaign from your side. What do you put your success in 2026 down to?

I think a lot of the success this year has been created in the past four years.

When I came in, the plan was always to be in this position within five years, and losing out last year really has driven the squad on this season to go one better.

North Wales are your opponents in this year's Grand Final. You've had two really close games against them already this season, so what kind of challenge do you expect them to pose?

We know North Wales in the same way that they know us.

I’m expecting them to come out strong, as always, but we’ve played them twice already this season and come out on top. If we stick to our structure and strategy, I'm confident we'll get the job done.

How have preparations gone in the build-up to this year's final, and what has your message been to the players?

The squad have trained really hard this week, with reserves stepping up to help the intensity of the session.

We had a chat after training about what happened last season, and how we can rectify those mistakes.

This is probably the most prepared squad I’ve ever taken into a game - they know the expectations required in this one.

Finally, last season's Grand Final was a tough one to take. As a group, how determined are you to make amends this time around?

Again, we spoke about last season and how we make amends in this one.

There are players in the squad that are ready to put some demons to bed come Sunday afternoon.