Darwin Salties wheelchair basketball team complete NWBL title defence

The Darwin Salties have successfully defended their NWBL title in a thriller that came down to a three-pointer in the finals seconds. Read how the side got it done here.

The Darwin Salties have gone back-to-back in the NWBL after winning the 2024 finals.

The Darwin Salties have gone back-to-back in the NWBL after beating their arch rivals with three-pointer that literally came in the final seconds of play.

The Salties were leading for the majority of the match against the Wollongong Roller Hawks, but had to tighten their grip late in the piece when the opposition surged.

Woolongong brought their deficit down to just four points with four minutes to go and tied the lead with just the best of a minute still on the clock.

Jontee Brown nudged the Salties ahead once more with 23 seconds to play after a successful free throw, but that was in turn cancelled out by Luke Pople as the clock edged closer to zero.

The Darwin side called a time-out then and decided on a three-point play, which was promptly scored by captain and finals MVP Tom O’Neill-Thorne with just one second left to play.

Coach Jason Ivinson was among the elated Salties crew after the win, and said it was a credit to a real group effort in a highly-competitive season in the lead-up to the Paralympics.

“We’re over the moon, we set a task with what we wanted to achieve and to have won two years from our first three years is absolutely overwhelming,” Ivinson said.

“It’s just been a whole community involvement, and has showcased how good wheelchair basketball is and that we have some really quality athletes who live here.

“Tom has put himself in that position consistently, but it was a real group effort and everyone did their bit when they were on the floor.

Tom O'Neill-Thorne was named player of the finals series after leading the Darwin Salties to back-to-back championships.

“We stayed deep as a group that was an advantage we had over other sides, we were quick but we could go very deep.

“It’s a great reward for everyone involved, for myself I’m really happy and feel very lucky to be involved with this talented bunch of guys, it’s just been amazing.”

O’Neill-Thorne along with Jannik Blair, Brown and Jaylen Brown will now head to the Paralympics, where they will hope to bring home gold for Australia.

Beyond them the work of Reo Fujimoto, five-time Paralympian for Japan, has helped take the team to another level not just in how they play but how they approach everything.

“He loves the Territory, he has been exceptional for us, but it’s just the guys a five-time Paralympian and all the little things he does are eye-opening,” Ivinson said.

“He was the difference in our semi, he came back on for us in the third quarter and we said ‘it’s time for Mt Fuji to erupt’ and he put three threes in and a couple other points in a matter of minutes.

“We hope he comes back, we don’t know if he will or not, but we’re all the great for his involvement and the team love him, that shows when they’re constantly looking for him.”

The work the squad has done as a whole is prove the growth and strength in the wheelchair game, with O’Neill-Thorne and Clarence McCarthy-Grogan the pioneers in the NT.

Fellow Territorians Mellissa Dunn and Weston Tedcastle have also had their chances coming into the squad, with more juniors finding their path in the game.

“We would love to get more people get behind them, it was great that people actually got to see it this year with the home rounds,” Ivinson said.

“We want to get more people watching and getting involved, but what these guys have done is just infectious, they make people just want to be around them.

“We’re building and proving that there is a pathway for wheelchair athletes if they want to follow it with basketball.”

Darwin Salties NWBL team looking to defend National crown in NSW

The Darwin Salties wheelchair basketball team are full of confidence as they look to defend their NWBL title.

The form team in the competition after finishing top of the table and with a 16-game winning streak, the Salties are looking down the barrel of a second championship in three seasons.

Up against the perennial powerhouse Wollongong Roller Hawks, and on their home turf at Shellharbour City Stadium, the Darwin outfit will have their work cut out for them.

“We’ve grown so much as the season has progressed, it’s been an amazing journey,” Paralympian and Salties’ player Jannik Blair said.

Fellow Roller and Darwin’s own Salties player Tom O’Neill-Thorne had similar sentiment to his teammate.

“We are feeling really good,” he said.

“Every player has been important in our success so far in one way or another.”

Jannik Blair is looking to lead the Salties to their second National title in as many years. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin.

Both men part of last season’s winning team, Blair and O’Neill-Thorne are looking to continue their fast and aggressive style of play into the finals games.

“I believe the games we’ve won have been by about 30 points on average,” Blair said.

“And other than a close win over Perth, we’ve done it pretty comfortably.

“We’ve had a big emphasis on starting fast and scoring early.

“Our opponents have really struggled with our full court pressure, and on defence we’ve been pressing high and aggressively.”

“We are going into the games with a clean slate,” O’Neill-Thorne said.

“And after playing them in the first Round and having those two defeats, it’ll be great for us to see if we have actually improved since then.

“We are not overly confident, but we have belief in ourselves that we are capable of winning.”

The Salties will take to the court for their first match on Saturday at 11am against Wollongong.

Pending the result, they will advance straight through to the grand final or will have a second chance against the winner of the play-in clash.