Australian Steelers become world champions in Denmark

Eight years after they claimed gold with a 67-56 victory over Canada in Odense, the Steelers became world champions once again with a 58-55 win over the United States in Vejle, 80 kilometres north-west.

The Steelers' three-year rebuild - which had seen them struggle for success - had finally come to an end with veteran Ryley Batt labelling the victory a "fairytale".

It was his second world championship gold medal.

"I've been a world champion before and this one feels a bit more like a fairytale," he said.

"Even after the siren went off I was looking around with tears in my eyes thinking 'is this a dream? Did this just happen?'"

Over the course of the tournament, Batt scored 231 tries and was judged the most valuable player along with a number of player-of-the-match awards.

The 33-year-old admitted he even had his doubts about how far the Steelers could progress in Denmark following a recent run of results that had seen them struggle for any consistency.

They hadn't claimed a medal in any competition since 2019, but last year's Tokyo Paralympics is now all-but a fading memory.

"Everyone wrote us off, probably myself included," he said.

"I had a personal goal, the team had a goal and world champs was our ultimate goal, but was it achievable?"

Batt admitted the three-goal success over the Americans was sweeter than their win over Canada eight years ago.

"Any world championship win is sweet one but this one is absolutely sweet and it's redemption as well," he said.

"Losing on home soil in 2018 really hurt. For some of [our team] members to go through some personal stuff this year, be knocked around and come back with a world championship is testament to their character."

Teammate Andrew Edmondson, and fellow local of Port Macquarie on NSW's north coast, also felt a sense of redemption and for him, it was a case of third time lucky.

He was part of the team which lost the final to Japan in Sydney in 2018 and then suffered the disappointment of Toyko.

He said it was "up there" with their Rio Paralympics gold medal success in 2016.

"It's the highlight of my career for sure," he said.

"What we've been able to achieve is nothing short of unbelievable and that's the proudest part for me - the team and what we've done."

Edmondson acknowledged the team all appreciated the support they had received from back home.

"We're a long way from home, but every one of us feels so much support from back home," he said.

"[The] time zones suck, but we know so many people were up watching it and it's a big part of what we've done - (it's) for them."

James McQuillan, the former Albury Tigers footballer from the NSW-Victorian border, was also part of winning team having only played eight games.

The 29-year-old's life was changed forever when he suffered a serious spinal injury playing for Albury against Yarrawonga in 2014.

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McQuillan spent 11 months in a Melbourne hospital and now lives in the state capital with his wife Kathryn, whose support has been critical to the way he has bounced back from the events of eight years ago.

Having reached out to one of the national wheelchair rugby team coaches, he started filling in for local sides and quickly caught the eye.

McQuillan was invited to train with the Steelers and took his place in the Australian squad ahead of the World Championship.

Eight games later, he's celebrating global success in the green and gold.

Australia started the tournament with wins over Brazil, Canada, Denmark and Colombia but finished second in their group following defeat to Japan.

However, they knocked out Paralympic champions Great Britain in the quarter-finals before edging out hosts Denmark in a semi-final thriller.

The Steelers then completed the job with a superb display against the Americans, opening up a crucial two-goal lead in the third quarter of the decider and stretching that to three shortly after the final break.

McQuillan and his team-mates return home as world champions for the first time since 2014.