Liam Luff is not just a highly accomplished wheelchair Rugby League player, he’s also an excellent time manager.
He juggles his job as a court documents transcriber with coaching the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team in the Tier Two (or Plate competition) of the NSW Wheelchair Rugby League and playing for the Parramatta Eels in the NSWWRL Tier One. On top of that he also has NSW and Australian Wheelaroos camps and tournaments to attend.
But chief on his list of priorities is his unpaid commitment to the emerging Sharks wheelchair players and for that he has earned the 2024 NSWRL Inclusive Volunteer of the Year award.
“You can’t get enough of Rugby League. I want to bring through the next generation of young players as others did with me,” Luff told nswrl.com.au.
“I’ve been fortunate that we have the same core of young Sharks players for about three or four years now.
“One of the players started playing when he was six – watching him grow and improve, for me to be a part of that is very special.”
Luff’s weekly diary is equally as impressive. He not only plays, trains, and coaches wheelchair Rugby League, he has a wheelchair basketball team as well.
He works weekdays and on the one or two evenings he has free, he does a gym session and a longer-distance push.
“My calendar is colour-coded to the hour with all the details I need, but it’s not a hassle,” he said.
“Since birth I’ve played every wheelchair sport under the sun. I started playing when I was about 10 in different sports like basketball, wheelchair track racing, and I had a lot of support from the older veterans of those sports. I remembered that.
“So, when I really committed to Rugby League, after only finding out about the wheelchair game in 2015, it was a no-brainer.
“I’m a Shire boy, Sharks fan, and you’re showing me how I can play Rugby League? Well that soon became an obsession.
“I still play the other sports socially, but League is the real passion. And being able to be involved off the court is incredible.”
Luff has two NSWWRL Premierships with Parramatta (2022-23), along with multiple NSW and Australian caps.
“I want to be around for as long as I can be,” he said. “The next big goal is to bring the interstate shield home (Maroons have won the past four) and then to play in the next World Cup (2026), which is on home soil.
“I’ve already circled that on the calendar and will do everything I can to keep my Australian jersey.
“But I won’t be giving up my community work. It’s a natural balance for me and hopefully I can give back enough that people want to come to the wheelchair World Cup.
“Ideally in my world I’d like to wear that green-and-gold jersey and have my (Sharks) players there watching to show them what they can do down the line.”
Helping the Australian team to the 2022 World Cup Semi-finals is a proud memory.
“That World Cup made a huge difference to our sport. We were seen as being on an equal level with the men’s and women’s tournaments.
“Getting that coverage on Fox (League), getting other presentations in the media, made so many people aware of us and what our product is like.”
