Sturt claimed an historic hat-trick of Premierships when it engineered a stunning comeback to defeat Woodville-West Torrens by 5 points in the 2023 Novita SANFL Wheelchair League Grand Final at Lights Stadium –
All indicators pointed towards a close contest, with the last two games between the Grand Finalist’s decided by 11 and 4 points. Sturt won the competition’s first two Premierships, including last year’s Grand Final against the Eagles by 23 points. Slipping to second this year with a 6-1-2 win-loss-draw record, both of Sturt’s losses came against the Eagles. The dominant Double Blues had to roll up their sleeves after trailing by 12 points at quarter-time and 7 at half-time as the minor premier Eagles showed why they were the in-form side leading into the title-decider. But a match-turning third quarter display swung the momentum in Sturt’s favour as it piled on 4.1 to 2.0 to earn a handy 6 point lead at the final change. It would prove to be enough of a buffer to secure a third flag in succession for the Double Blues, having also reigned supreme in 2021 and 2022 under the Captaincy of Steven ”Budgie” Avery. A massive 7 goal haul from experienced Sturt forward Giang Danh proved pivotal in the result, while teammate Johnny Phanratry kicked 2 majors. The Eagles, Captained by Chris Simpson, had Matt McKenzie finishing off their hard work with 5 goals while Vice-Captain Trevor Jarrett chimed in for 3 majors. In the playoff for third place played as the curtain-raiser, Central District defeated Norwood by 3 goals after trailing by a 1 at half-time.
SCOREBOARD
Sturt 1.2 4.3 8.4 10.5 (65)
Eagles 3.2 5.4 7.4 9.6 (60)
Goals: Giang Danh 7, Johnny Phanratry 2, Hallam Chitty 1
