Brad Dubberley

Brad Dubberley (born 28 June 1981)

Playing career

Dubberley was born in the New South Wales town of Kurri Kurri on 28 June 1981. He became a quadriplegic at the age of 12 when he fell down a 50 m cliff while playing with friends in the bush in Victoria. In 1995, at the age of 14, he took up wheelchair rugby as part of the rehabilitation process. Dubberley is a frequent visitor to spinal units offering advice and support. His message is "Don't let the chair, stop you from doing anything".

Dubberley retired from competition in 2006 and in November of that year was appointed as head coach of the Australian Wheelchair Rugby team. and the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships. He is preparing the team for the 2012 London Games. He coached the Australian national wheelchair rugby team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, which went through the five-day tournament undefeated and won the gold medal. He was the head coach at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where the team won Gold.

At the 2018 World Championships in Sydney, he was Head Coach of the Australian team that won the silver medal after being defeated by Japan 61–62 in the gold medal game. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, the Steelers finished fourth after losing to Japan 52-60 in the bronze medal match.

Dubberley coached the Steelers to win the gold medal at the 2022 IWRF World Championship in Vejle, Denmark, when they defeated the United States .

At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the Steelers won the bronze medal defeating Great Britain 50-48.

Dubberley resigned as Head Coach in January 2026. In his resignatiuon , he said "Being part of the Steelers, first as an athlete and then as a coach, has been one of the great privileges of my life. Representing Australia at Sydney 2000 and then helping guide the team through so many campaigns and Paralympic cycles is something I’ll always be proud of. After decades as the Head Coach, it feels like the right time to move on to a new challenge, allow the program the space to bring in new leadership that can take the team forward through the next era."