The growing sport of wheelchair rugby league comes to Maidstone this weekend.

Gravesend Dynamite are in town to play two matches at Maidstone Leisure Centre, with free entry for spectators.

Gravesend 2nds take on Bedford Tigers 2nds in the opening match at 11.15am on Sunday.

That’s followed by the main event as the clubs’ first teams do battle in a Championship South fixture featuring international players at 2pm.

In between, at 1pm, there will be a chance for spectators to take part in a taster session.

Dynamite were founded by Jason Owen after watching the World Cup final in Medway in 2013.

The club have gone from strength to strength, winning the National Challenge Trophy four times.

While teams must have a minimum of three disabled players in their five-player line-up, it’s an entirely inclusive sport and Owen, an England international in his mid-50s, wants to spread the word.

“Why are we coming to Maidstone?” he said. “I think there are two reasons. One, we want to share the sport in different parts of Kent and Maidstone is a fantastic town with loads of people.

“The town probably hasn’t seen wheelchair rugby league before and it’s a great venue which isn’t too far from Gravesend.

“That’s good because if anyone is interested in setting up their own club, we can support them, or it’s not too far to travel if anyone wants to come and have a go with us.

“It’s a totally inclusive sport. We have people with physical disabilities, non-physical disabilities, hidden disabilities, like epilepsy, hearing impairment, ADHD and autism, and people with no known disabilities.

“There aren’t many sports where disabled and non-disabled people can play together.

“It’s a completely level playing field once everyone’s in their sportschair and it’s a lot of fun.”

Visitors to the leisure centre are in for plenty of entertainment.

Owen added: “The chairs are more like Formula 1 cars than wheelchairs.

“They move around quite fast and it’ll be interesting because you’ll get tackles that appear like a smash but generally metal on metal takes the impact.

“It’s played with a rugby ball, we’ve got indoor posts and it replicates rugby league almost perfectly, just with fewer players on the pitch.

“You’ve got tries, passing backwards, tackling and conversions where people punch the ball off a tee.

“If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth a watch.”

Owen has also encouraged locals to take advantage of the free taster session.

He said: “Half an hour doesn’t sound long but it’s long enough for your first session and in that time people notice rapid improvement.

“It’s a sport that builds confidence and self-esteem.

“You see people going at snail’s pace for the first five minutes and then once they get used to the way it works, they’re moving about a lot quicker.”