The second season of the Robert Rose Foundation Victorian Wheelchair Football League has been launched and the Bombers have high hopes for 2019.
Essendon legend Dustin Fletcher was on hand for the launch at the Holden Centre on Monday, and he said engaging with the players has given him an understanding of what the competition means for the community.
“It’s a great competition; it’s good fun and it’s pretty ferocious once they get on the court,” Fletcher said on Monday.
“You’ve got wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball, so to actually play footy is fantastic.
“A lot of them couldn’t have played footy before and now they have had the chance over the last two years to play in a proper competition.
“You can see by the smiles on their faces that they’re up and about.”
New VFLW Bomber Anthony Perito said being able to play the sport again in a new format has had an extremely positive impact on his health.
“I played football as a junior fellow and once I had my injury I wondered where my life would take me from there,”
“This has given me another perspective in life. I was down in the dumps with depression and anxiety and had a lot of weight gain.
“As much as it is great for your physical health, it’s a big improvement on your mental health as well.
“Some people have got the same sort of injury or there are people who are confined to a wheelchair, so we can bounce our feelings off each other and it’s a really tight-knit community.”
The Bombers finished fourth in the league’s inaugural season last year, but strong recruiting has the side eyeing off a premiership in 2019.
Perito said he has “high hopes” for the Dons to go far this season, and Fletcher is keen to see the team put together a strong year.
“The only problem with it was Collingwood winning the premiership last year, so we’ll have to do something about that,” Fletcher said.
“I was with some of the Essendon players today and they’ve been pretty confident, so we’ll see how they go.
“There’s a couple of big boys in our side so I look forward to watching them play.”
Dustin Fletcher tried his hand at wheelchair football on Monday. (Image: Martin Keep - AFL Media)
The 2019 Wheelchair Aussie Rules National Carnival will be held in Adelaide this week, and Perito is one of four Bombers selected to represent Victoria on the court.
It is an enormous achievement for the side, given the squad is limited to just eight players.
“There are four Victorian representatives that play for the Bombers and Louis Rowe, our captain, is the state captain as well.
“It’s my first season playing in the wheelchair league, some others have been playing for three or four years, so to be selected is a massive honour.”
The Victorians will compete with South Australia, RSL Active Victoria and the Australian Defence Force from Thursday to Saturday before the VWFL season kicks off at Boroondara Sports Complex on May 12.
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