Cadyn Thomson has spoken of his pride after being named vice-captain of Scotland’s wheelchair rugby league team.
The talented 18-year-old from the Fair City is preparing to pull on the national colours at the Rugby League World Cup.
A former Perth Grammar School student, Cadyn will travel to Sheffield with his team-mates for initial group games against France, USA and Wales at the start of next month.
As well as these teams, Australia, England, Ireland and Spain are also entered in the competition.
Cadyn’s excitement is building with every passing week and he is relishing the chance to perform on such a grand
stage.
That he has also been made vice-captain for the event will make the occasion all the more special.
“As most kids do when growing up, you dream of wearing a Scotland jersey and representing your country,” said Cadyn, who will be joined by Perth team-mate John Willans.
“It has been a very hectic 18 months and it doesn’t always seem real.
“I still don’t think it has sunk in that I am even going to a World Cup, never mind being the vice-captain.
“There was a bit of shock when I was made vice-captain but it is also a proud moment because they have put the trust in me to do this. Hopefully I can work my way up to captain one day.
“As a team we want to push as far on in the tournament as we can, cause some upsets and show some people that
we are not there just to make up the numbers.
“Personally, I’d love to get a couple of tries under my belt and do as much as I can for the team.”
Cadyn explored other sports before finding his passion with rugby and his progress to elite level has been impressive.
“I started with wheelchair basketball actually, playing with Dundee Dragons,” he explained.
“But they also have a wheelchair rugby league group and I joined in with a couple of the sessions.
“I really enjoyed that and was a lot better than I was at the basketball!
“I started to get really involved and travelled down to a few tournaments. I had been playing for six months or so and one of the other guys said I should come and train with Scotland as they were recruiting new players.
“That was 18 months ago and it has developed from there. It has all come very naturally for me and fell into
place. Once I got the technical side of it, everything seemed to click in my head.”
Scotland head coach Mark Roughsedge has selected a 12-player squad for the tournament, which includes nine from the mid-season internationals.
