2025 Novita SANFL Wheelchair League gets underway tonight

By ALEXANDRA BULL

The fifth season of the Novita SANFL Wheelchair League is set to get underway tonight, with West Adelaide joining the competition for the first time this year.

The Bloods, who replace Sturt in the four-team competition in 2025, are set to do battle with Central District when the season gets underway tomorrow night, with Woodville-West Torrens hoping to kick off its premiership defence in style against Norwood.

Each team will feature in nine minor round matches – with all matches played at the Lights Community and Sports Centres – before the season comes to a head with the Grand Final on Friday, August 29.

Eagles’ coach and 2024 premiership player Trevor Jarrett said his team is “pretty excited” about the season ahead.

“We have been in pre-season for about 12 weeks. It’s been a fairly long pre-season, but they’re all primed and ready to go,” Jarrett said.

“Trying to go back-to-back this year will be a little bit more difficult because we know the gap has closed a bit now with Norwood recruiting like they did.

“We will just go about our business like we did last year and play our own game.”

Jarrett also emphasised the importance of the Novita SANFL Wheelchair League.

“There are many forms of disability, whether it be physical or mental – this league provides players with an outlet,” he said.

“It’s not only good physically but good mentally as well. Everybody likes to know they are welcome somewhere and they can compete on an even footing with everyone else.”

West Adelaide Wheelchair Football Operations Manager, Haydn Ward, said having West Adelaide join the Novita SANFL Wheelchair Football League is something the club has looked into for a while.

“When the opportunity came for us to join the competition for the 2025 season, we were excited about the chance to welcome new players into the football club,” Ward said.

“We believe we’ve put together a strong team and we are looking forward to seeing how we stack up against the rest of the competition.”

All Novita SANFL Wheelchair League matches will be live-streamed on SANFL Now.