An avid Rugby League player in his late teens, Bryce Crane then lost the use of his right arm and felt his sporting world starting to close in on him.
He was playing for the Narellan Jets and the Western Magpies SG Ball squad in 2020, when he suffered nerve damage in his neck that caused paralysis down his entire arm.
“I was only 18 so it was definitely tough but I wasn’t going to sit around and complain,” he said.
“I decided to adjust and get on with it.”
Crane found his niche in the NSW Physical Disability Rugby League (PDRL) and the past nine months gives you an idea of how well that’s going.
Crane was in the Australian team that played in the World Cup last November, then made the NSW City team (scoring a hat-trick and named Player of the Match) against NSW Country physical disability in May, and last week was named NSWRL’s Inclusive Volunteer of the Year for 2023.
“That was really nice – bit of a shock actually, I never expected it,” he said of the NSWRL award.
“The email came in and I had to read it a couple of times as I wasn’t sure it meant me.
“It’s special to be recognised. I don’t really see myself doing anything special – I just like helping people out.”
But first he had to help himself overcome that serious neck injury.
“I’ve played Rugby League my whole life, and when I went through my injury everything was up in the air as I didn’t know if I’d be able to play footy again,” he said.
“But I knew if I could start running, I’d probably be able to get back to sport.
“I only started running two years ago. I started playing PDRL just a couple of months after I resumed running again and things just went from there.
“All these opportunities have now come.”
He had to make some adjustments to his game both on the field and in the gym.
“I definitely had to adapt,” Crane said.
“I had to learn to pass another way – so I had to perfect the flick pass, which not many people practise regularly.
“It was also getting used to balancing differently when I run, building my legs and upper body strength.”
Crane’s World Cup was remarkable. He was named the PDRL’s Players’ Player as the best of the four nations who took part: Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales.
He was also named in the World Cup’s ‘Dream Team’ for the entire tournament across the elite men’s, women’s, PDRL and wheelchair competitions.
“Another World Cup would be great,” Crane said, when asked about his future.
“But I’d like to help build this sport in Australia to the levels of say England, where it is massive, so getting more numbers to our game and improving the quality of the footy.
“I’d like to expand the physical disability game to things like State of Origin, more clubs, really build on what we’ve started.”
Currently there are four teams in NSW PDRL: South Sydney, Wests Tigers, Newtown Jets, Sydney Roosters.
Until that space grow, Crane also sees his role as mentoring others with disabilities to give Rugby League a try.
“It’s a really enjoyable part of my football,” he said.
“There are not too many rep games, so I just look forward to getting out in our competition and helping kids learn footy.
“I’ve got some more experience than most of them – some have never played any sport before.
“I’m hoping I can help improve those I play with. I want to see everyone given a fair go.”
