STURT forward Alysha Healy is thriving at Thebarton Oval, with the Northern Territory native enjoying the challenges that come with competing in the top state league competition. While the Double Blues have struggled over the last few years to come up with more than a few wins a season, 2022 saw a change of fortunes, and they bolted up the ladder all the way into the grand final. Despite falling short, Healy said the atmosphere had been “really good”.

“We’ve just built our way through the ranks,” she said. “We’ve been really solidifying ourselves over the past four or five years and now we’ve finally just broken through. We’ve had a really good group and we just seem to gel on gameday. Things were just working and we got our structures and everything sorted which was really good for us.”

For Healy, she relocated from the Top End down to the City of Churches to run out with the Double Blues. Though confessing she was unaware of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Women’s competition’s quality when she first started, she could not speak more highly of its quality now.

“It’s been awesome,” Healy said. “Just being given the opportunity to come down and play with Sturt. I didn’t really know much about the competition when I moved down from the NT where it just had one competition.

“Coming down and being able to play with such a high standard. It’s a really good opportunity, with so many teams just being able to showcase what we can do to get to that next level of AFLW. It’s been pretty awesome.”

Playing at AFL Women’s level is still something the 22-year-old dreams of achieving. She represented the Central Allies as a teenager at the AFL Women’s Under 18 Championships, as well as NT Thunder in the VFL Women’s, before crossing to the SANFL Women’s to team up with Sturt.

In that same year of 2019. Healy played the seven games, averaging 5.3 disposals, 1.7 marks and 1.3 rebound 50s as a defender. Fast forward to 2022, and Healy has slotted 19 goals from 23 games in the past two seasons, including 14 from 15 in the Double Blues’ run to the grand final. An even and consistent contributor, Healy booted multiple goals in four matches, and hit the scoreboard in her first six games last season, totaling nine goals in that time.

“I think I’ve really developed just playing more footy,” Healy said. “Just getting into the footy mindset a bit more, not just being a newbie coming from netball. I’ve got into the mindset of where to go and what to do, especially coming from a defender into a forward; having to lead to the player instead of away from them. It’s really different but I think I’ve really solidified myself in a forward role and in the team which is nice.”

>> FEATURE (2019) | “Unreal” premiership journey driving Healy to future success

Rookie Me Central spoke to Healy back in 2019 where she said she was just keen to develop on and off the field, studying exercise sports science and nutrition at university. Three years later and she completed that course and has moved onto clinical exercise physiology, looking at honours and plenty of placement in her final year.

“It will be really good once I’ve finished that, I’ll be able to get into full-time work and with this as well, it will be really good, looking forward to it,” Healy said.

Sturt will go from being one of the hunters to the hunted in season 2023, with the Double Blues no longer able to apply the underdog tag. Healy said the determination and belief across the ground was up, and she was confident the team could maintain its place and reputation within the league.

“Coming back we’re looking to come back at a much higher intensity where we left off from,” Healy said. “We want to solidify ourselves as one of those top teams. We’re up there and not in the bottom three like we have in previous years. We’ve been working really hard, been a really good preseason so far, getting a few more k’s in than previous preseasons which has been good. Hopefully it will put us in good stead coming into the season.”

As for her dream of playing at the top level, that has never changed.

“Absolutely, I’d love to get to play AFLW wherever that is, whatever club that is,” Healy said. “Definitely a big goal of mine. Just continuing to work hard and work with the girls because Sturt is my first priority at the end of the day. Just work together as a team so hopefully I individually flourish to get to the next level which would be awesome.”

Sturt will begin its 2023 SANFL Women’s campaign off down south at Flinders University Stadium, taking on South Adelaide from 6pm on Saturday, February 18.