Paralympian Phil Evans playing for Perth Wheelcats, which he has just left after nine years to join the Wollongong Roller Hawks. Photo: Wollongong Roller Hawks.
The Wollongong Roller Hawks have secured a major boost ahead of the new National Wheelchair Basketball League season, signing Australian Rollers player Phil Evans.
The 35-year-old Paralympian brings international experience and a competitive edge to the squad after nine years with the Perth Wheelcats.
Evans was part of the Australian Rollers squad that competed at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and a member of the side that qualified for the World Championships in Ottawa, Canada, to be held later this year.
Just Better Care Wollongong Roller Hawks president Geoff Adams said Evans was someone the team had admired for a long time.
“He brings international experience, a relentless work ethic and the kind of competitive edge that lifts everyone around him,” Adams said.
“We already have a strong core of players who were part of the Rollers squad that qualified for the World Championships, and adding Phil to that group gives us another player who understands what it takes to perform at the highest level.”
Having only ever played for Perth since entering wheelchair basketball nine years ago, Evans said joining the Roller Hawks was both unfamiliar and exciting.
“Honestly, it’s very different for me because since my accident I’ve only ever played for the Wheelcats,” Evans said.
“So trying something new is a really exciting opportunity.”
Evans sustained a spinal injury in a car accident in 2013, fracturing his T11 and T12 vertebrae.
He later found his way into wheelchair basketball after initially being reluctant to give the sport a go.
Now one of the country’s most experienced players, he said the Roller Hawks’ professionalism and reputation across the league made the decision to join easier.
“They’ve been a very successful team for a long time – they’re always in finals, they’re always well organised and well supported,” he said.
“When they approached me they already had everything prepared and it showed how professional the club is. It made the decision a lot easier.”
Adams said Evans would add more than just talent on game day.
“Phil gives us an import-level talent in terms of what he brings to the group, but just as importantly, his experience around our players will be invaluable,” Adams said.
“He knows what high-performance environments look like, he knows what’s required at international level, and that will only help strengthen our culture.”
Evans said he liked to think of himself as ”a bit of a dog of a player – someone who does the dirty work”.
“I’m not worried about the stats. I don’t care if I’m the one scoring the points or getting the rebounds. I just want the team to win,” he said.
“Whatever role I need to play to help the team succeed, that’s what I’m happy to do.”
Having already built strong ties with several players from his his time with them in the Australian Rollers, he said they had already started talking about how they might fit together this season.
“The Roller Hawks play a really strong style of basketball and being around players at that level is only going to help me continue improving,” he said.
Evans will join the Roller Hawks in a fly-in, fly-out arrangement from Perth, balancing his club commitments with training in Western Australia and his Australian Rollers ambitions.
He works at the University of Western Australia in the sport department, and said his workplace has been supportive of his sporting commitments.
His immediate goal is to lock in his spot in the Australian Rollers squad for the World Championships in Canada later this year.
The Roller Hawks open their season on the road against the Southern Districts Spartans in Queensland from 12 to 14 June, before returning home for a round two clash against Evans’ former club, the Perth Wheelcats, at Shellharbour City Stadium from 19 to 21 June.
