Meet Ryley Batt | Australian wheelchair rugby player and GIO ambassador

Intro g'day everyone my name is riley but i'm a member of the new south wales gio gladiators wheelchair rugby team and also a proud gio ambassador What do you like about wheelchair rugby in wheelchair rugby i love the speed and the physicality it's awesome to be able to jump in these highly modified wheelchair rugby chairs and just barge into each other and try to knock each other out i mean like who doesn't like to watch that it's a very fast-paced game i encourage people to come watch it in the flesh because it will blow you away what some of these athletes can do What is it like to win a gold medal winning a gold medal at the 2012 london paralympic game hearing that national anthem getting a gold medal hung around your neck with 11 others of your best mates i just it's sort of giving me goosebumps to sit in here right now i really can't describe what it felt like Playing in front of a crowd playing in front of a crowd is huge for any sports person because it sort of lifts your level of intensity and lifts the whole game in general and we've definitely missed it Playing for Australia i've started playing this sport in 2003 and quickly made it to the new south wales team and then also onto the australian side i've continued playing this sport for so long just because of the friendships you make the the camaraderie the travel all those kind of things is just amazing you know to represent not only your state new south wales but also to represent your country of australia it's something you don't want to take for granted and you want to try to make that dream last forever Life after wheelchair rugby i really wouldn't know where i'd be today if it wasn't for wheelchair rugby the sport of wheelchair rugby has brought me so much in life it's made me a more independent person it's made me accept my disability more and i think that's huge in society these days but it's also i've created so many friendships um out of it as well so very lucky that wheelchair ugly is being part of my life and i really am looking forward to the future Whats next for Ryley we just want to beat those queenslanders uh it's home soil for them they're going to have all their friends and family and their home crowds so who doesn't like a new south wales queensland rivalry i know i'll be a you know hot contest against uh chris bond who's one of my fellow aussie team mates um we'll leave it all out there yeah there will be some banter um there'll be some aggression against each other but i guess we'll leave that on the court and we'll be friends afterwards [Music]