Warn misses Tokyo medal

Warragul Paralympian Jayden Warn and the Australian Steelers wheelchair rugby team narrowly missed out on a medal at the Paralympics, after going down to Japan in the bronze medal playoff.

The Steelers went into the games with a veteran team, who won gold in Rio and London, and silver at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

The Australians were haunted by a disrupted leadup to Tokyo, affected by restrictions from the pandemic. The Steelers had their last official competition in February 2020, and only began training with each other in August this year.

It was a troubling start in Tokyo, the Australians took on Denmark and lost by a point, 53-54. The Steelers led by two points at half time but couldn’t hold on to their lead through to the end.

In the following Group A match, Australia rebounded against France. Warn scored seven tries and the match was tied at period three. Steelers captain Ryley Batt led the team to victory, scoring 25 tries for an end result 50-48.

Things were again looking optimistic for the Steelers, and in their last group A match they were up against Japan. It was a tough match from the beginning, Japan scored the first try and remained in the lead until the end, 57-53.

In the Semi Final, Australia needed to win against the US to hold on to their gold medal hopes. Two early tries from the Americans left the Aussies chasing in the first period. 

The Americans only extended their lead for the remainder of the match, leaving the Aussie’s with no chance. The US secured their ticket to the gold medal match, winning 49-42.

The Steelers were in unfamiliar territory, playing for bronze in their final match. They would take on Japan once again, and needed a win to redeem themselves. 

Japan scored the first point, but two consecutive tries from Batt put the Aussies in front. A courageous three tries from Warn and 11 from Batt in the first quarter wasn’t enough to put them in front, trailing by three in the first period.

Australia showed desperation in the last quarter, but poor ball work and turnovers allowed Japan to extend their lead. In the last period, Japan extended their lead by eight-points and secured the bronze medal, 52-60.