Wheelchair Wrap – Grand Final

We entered the Grand Final as overwhelming favourites following an undefeated 9-0 record in the minor round. However, that counted for nothing, if we didn’t bring our A game and stick to the plan that has worked so well for us.

The message to the team was very clear – keep calm under pressure, choose the simple option and the rest will take care of itself.

Unfortunately, plans come unstuck and when our captain came off under the blood rule in the 1st quarter, it was the ever–reliable Wayne Hale who inserted himself in the game with 2 vital goals. Throughout the season, Wayne has played every position on the court with such skill and poise, that we wish we had 3 of him.

As a team, we pride ourselves on being difficult to score against, giving up an average of only 40 points a game. Adam Roocke and Soraj Habib were superb again in defence, curbing Norwood’s forwards and continuously setting up our counter attack.

We welcomed back Cooper Spillane from National Basketball duties, who literally ran rings around the opposition, racking up 36 disposals and 9 goal assists, to go with his best on ground performance. Cooper, along with Kane Downie are the future of our team and are alone worth the drive to the Lights on a cold Friday night in 2025.

On the back of our great transition from defence into attack, the league’s best forward combination, Steve Edge and Trevor Jarrett combined again for 12 goals, giving the duo a total of 106 goals for the season. The way in which Steve and Trevor work together and support each other is unparalleled and are a huge reason for our success.

It can never be underestimated the importance of a total squad mentality. The effort and dedication of our development team can not be overlooked. They are the future of the Club and it was an absolute joy to see some of them hit the court in the last quarter. Keep working hard and greater opportunities will definitely come.

We are all about team, but we also need to recognise some of our individual achievements. As mentioned earlier, Trevor and Steve led the league’s goal scorers with 60 and 46 goals respectfully. Wayne, Soraj, Kane and Cooper all finished in the top 10 of the league’s Best & Fairest counting, with Adam in the 3-way running for the medal to be announced on Magarey Medal night.

As a group, we would like the thank the Club for its tremendous support. There is no way we could have achieved this success without the off-court team led by Dave, Andy, Christine, Narelle and Ben. We were also humbled and extremely appreciative of the huge contingency from our Men’s and Women’s programs who supported us on Friday night.

We will no doubt enjoy our first premiership, but we will also enter season 2025 with the determination and desire to do it all over again.

Go you mighty Eagles!