Steelers set for Canada Cup campaign as Ozanne prepares for 200-game milestone
The Steelers will return to the international stage next week carrying momentum, experience and a major milestone, with Michael Ozanne set to play his 200th match for Australia when the team opens its 2026 Canada Cup campaign in Vancouver.
The tournament, running from June 5 to 8 (AEST) at the Richmond Olympic Oval, will see Australia face Canada, Brazil, France, Great Britain and Japan in one of wheelchair rugby’s premier international events.
For the Steelers, the campaign marks another important opportunity to test combinations, build cohesion and continue refining performances against world-class opposition ahead of the World Championships in August.
Culture is at the heart of the current squad, and that extends to how the Steelers staff continually strive to best support the team. Acting Head Coach Lewis Quinn has shared that a key part of his role is learning how to get the most out of each athlete.
“Each of them responds in different ways and are motivated differently, so the more I learn that, the better I’m able to support them to work well together and complement each other’s styles,” Quinn shared.
“There is so much experience in this group, so our main priority as coaches is how to extract that experience and information so that we can all continue to get better.”
He sees Canada Cup as “the final dress rehearsal” for the Steelers playing against world-class opposition ahead of the World Championship.
“We’ll be making sure we maximise our opportunities on court to continue refining the way we want to play,” Quinn shared.
“Importantly, it’s our last opportunity as coaches to trial anything new in real gameplay so we’re excited to have a look at a few things. We have a number of new line-ups to run that we haven’t used internationally before so a focus of ours at this tournament will be to ensure they’re able to run offence smoothly together.”
Ozanne’s 200 game milestone adds another significant moment to the Canada Cup campaign for the Steelers, as he reflects on more than a decade representing Australia at the highest level.
“The biggest moments that stand out for me would be World Championships in 2014 as my first major tournament, and it was also a dream and goal that I’d set for myself even before I made it into the Australian team. Being selected for that tournament and achieving that goal was pretty awesome and of course, so was actually winning gold,” Ozanne said.
“Another big standout was winning gold at the 2022 World Championships. Especially after what was a pretty disappointing Paralympics for me personally in Tokyo. The long four months I was stuck in bed with a pressure sore after Tokyo was one of the hardest things I’ve been through, so to come out of that and go to Worlds and play as good as I did, and for us to win was awesome.
“And another standout would have to be having my daughter Ruby being able to come watch me play recently in Adelaide at the World Challenge. She had never had an opportunity to watch me play for Australia live before, and she really enjoyed it.”
Few players have shaped the modern Steelers era more than Ozanne, and as he prepares to reach the 200-game milestone, his drive for international competition remains as strong as ever.
“Because I’m competitive, I feel like if I am going to be playing rugby, I want to be playing at the highest level,” he said.
“That’s partly because I feel like I have some unfinished business. I’ve been playing for Australia for over 10 years now and I’ve only got to compete at one Paralympics, which didn’t go as planned. I still have goals that I want to achieve in the sport so that’s definitely a motivation. But I also just really love being around the team and have had so many awesome memories through them.”
Ozanne also believes there is plenty that people do not fully understand about the demands of elite wheelchair rugby competition.
“I think one thing that people who don’t actually get to watch a whole competition and only see the end results might not understand is how intense and physically demanding a wheelchair rugby competition can be with the way they’re scheduled and structured,” he said.
“We can play two games a day over three to four days. It’s not like able-bodied rugby where you play one game a week.”
The Canada Cup has long been recognised as a key fixture on the international wheelchair rugby calendar, regularly bringing together many of the sport’s leading nations in preparation for major global competitions.
With World Championships fast approaching, Canada Cup represents more than another international tournament for the Steelers. It is the final opportunity to sharpen combinations, test depth and build momentum before the world’s best meet again in August.
Australian Steelers 2026 CanadA Cup team list
| Name | Classification | Jersey Number | State | Games played for the Steelers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Bond (C) | 3.5 | 10 | QLD | 274 |
| Brayden Foxley-Conolly | 3.5 | 15 | NSW | 52 | Ryley Batt | 3.0 | 3 | QLD | 373 |
| Cooper Blackwood | 3.0 | 25 | QLD | 17 |
| Robyn Lambird | 3.0F | 24 | WA | 19 |
| Shae Graham | 2.5F | 12 | VIC | 110 |
| Andrew Edmondson | 2.0 | 14 | NSW | 203 | Josh Nicholson | 2.0 | 21 | QLD | 126 |
| Lilliana Prucha | 2.0F | 7 | QLD | 16 |
| Beau Vernon | 1.0 | 11 | QLD | 31 |
| James McQuillan (VC) | 0.5 | 5 | VIC | 59 |
| Michael Ozanne | 0.5 | 6 | QLD | 199 |
Team Staff: Lewis Quinn (Head Coach), Jason Lees (Assistant Coach), Maddy Lynch (Team Manager), Bjorn Maddern (Performance Analyst), Greg Smith (Strength and Conditioning), Brooke Cranney (Physiotherapist), Blair Thompson (Mechanic), Rachael Lynch (Nurse), Suzi Bond (Personal Carer).
Australian Steelers scheduled match times
| Versus | Local Pacific Daylight Time | Australian Eastern Standard Time |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Thursday, 4 June, 11:00 | Friday, 5 June, 04:00 |
| Brazil | Thursday, 4 June, 17:00 | Friday, 5 June, 10:00 |
| Japan | Friday, 5 June, 14:00 | Saturday, 6 June, 07:00 |
| Great Britain | Saturday, 6 June, 11:00 | Sunday, 7 June, 04:00 |
| France | Saturday, 6 June, 17:00 | Sunday, 7 June, 10:00 |
| Finals | Sunday, 7 June, TBD | Monday, 8 June, TBD |
The broadcast will be available on BC Wheelchair Sports’ YouTube Channel. You can find the latest Canada Cup updates on the event website or Facebook page, and follow along the Steelers social media pages for key competition updates and match results.
For more information about the event and media enquiries, please contact:
Emily Newton (Manager – Media & Marketing)
emily@wheelchairrugby.com.au
0481 121 440