Sporting teams of all sorts strive to find the perfect blend of youth and experience but for the Australian Rollers its simply the complexion of their star-studded Paralympic team.
Taking to the court in Paris will be six debutants – Jaylen Brown, Phil Evans, Eithen Leard, Thomas McHugh, Luke Pople and Frank Pinder.
Bill Latham and Jannik Blair notch their fourth Games appearance having competed in London, 2012, Rio, 2016 and Tokyo, 2020.
After making his Paralympic debut in Rio then competing in Tokyo, Tom O’Neill-Thorne becomes a triple Paralympian.
Sam White will enjoy the full Games experience in France after making his debut in a pandemic-impacted Tokyo event.
Veterans and legends of the sport, Rollers captain Tristan Knowles and Shaun Norris, will represent their country at a remarkable sixth Paralympics. The pair join the legendary Richard Oliver as the only Rollers to achieve the feat.
The pair were key members of the Rollers incredible 2008 gold-medal victory in Beijing and won silver medals in 2004 and again in 2012.
Knowles, 41, and Norris, 39, competed in their first Paralympics two decades ago in 2004.
Two months after they reached the dais, Brown, was born in December 2004 with Leard, the youngest member of the Rollers 2024 Paralympic team, entering the world in August 2005.
Rollers coach Brad Ness, who as a player represented his country at five Paralympics from 2000 to 2016, says the team boasts unrivalled experience and IQ plus youthful energy.
“When the team was announced, Tristan made note of the six debutants and I didn’t even realise there was six, it hadn’t crossed my mind they would be debutants,” he said.
“We’d been doing the same thing for the last 8-10 years and it hadn’t really got us anything so we’ve come at these Games from a different angle. I think we’re playing a really exciting brand of basketball and one that’s going to challenge our opponents.
“I think having those six debutants in is going to help us because they don’t know any different, they know this style of play and I think it can work in our favour.”
