Tasmania Devils win the AFL National Wheelchair championships
Tasmania’s wheelchair football team wins national crown in Melbourne with amazing grand final blitz...
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The Tasmania Devils wheelchair team are the high rollers of the 2023 Toyota AFL National Wheelchair football championships after winning the premiership for the first time in Melbourne in Sunday.
Taking on NSW/ACT in the division two grand final, the Devils were too polished for the Rams, clinching the title with a convincing 13.4 (82) to 7.7 (49) win on the State Netball Hockey Centre’s show court.
After a tight contest in the opening term, Tasmania pulled away to lead by 5.2 to 1.4 at half-time and sealed the deal in the third to lead 69-23 at the final change.
Jack Anders scored seven goals for the Devils and skipper Josh Christian dominated in the centre to be named best player in the grand final.
Tasmania’s coach Joe Chivers was a delighted with his men.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys,” Chivers said.
“We’ve always been in division one and come second a couple of times and third, but this is the first division win we’ve had.
“It’s incredible to see the smiles on everyone’s faces and be the reward for a great effort.
“It came down to a combination of great teamwork and sticking to our values and doing the things we set out to do _ play good Tassie Devils footy.”
The opening term stalemate convinced Chivers to “move the magnets”.
“We made some changes and we certainly hit our straps then,” he said.
Tasmania’s overall campaign started in the Lightning Carnival, which included all states.
The Devils lost their opening match to Vic Country, almost caused a boil over against Western Australia but ultimately lost by a point, and went down to Vic Metro and four-time champion South Australia.
Tasmania had the hot wheels among the division two teams, going through that competition undefeated.
The Devils’ road to the division two title opened with an 11-point win over the RSL team, a 47-point win over Northern Territory in round two, and a 15-point win over NSW/ACT in round three.
In the finals, Tasmania beat NT by 45 points in the semis and went on to win the grand final by 33.
“We can come home now with some momentum and build upon that by giving numerous opportunities to anyone who wants to jump into a chair and have a crack,” Chivers said.
Captain Christian said it was a brilliant end after a “slow start” to the championship.
“To come back the way we did and win the premiership, it’s an amazing feeling,” Christian said.
“Everyone played their role and I couldn’t be happier with the way everyone performed.
“It was a great honour to win the Brendan Stroud Medal [best afield]. I wouldn’t be here without Brendan, He’s done a lot for me so it’s an honour to receive the medal.”
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