A WEEK is said to be a long time in football, and no doubt for the Sturt hierarchy that rang true after the Double Blues incredibly took out ladder leaders Woodville-West Torrens in the penultimate round of SANFL Women’s action. Just a week after going down to wooden spoon-bound Glenelg, Sturt achieved a feat that only South Adelaide had done in knocking off the Eagles by a goal in a low-scoring, tight tussle at Unley.

In saluting 3.2 (20) to 1.8 (14), the Double Blues remained in fourth place heading into the final round, and warded off challenges from West Adelaide and Norwood in the process. Though losses to Central District – the only remaining threat to Sturt’s fourth spot – and Glenelg respectively also did that for those sides. It means that after entering Round 13 with four teams vying for one spot, just two can earn it in the final round.

Sturt will still need to defeat third placed North Adelaide next weekend – which if the Double Blues do, it will earn them fourth spot and a second consecutive date with the Roosters – while a loss will depend on how Central District fared against Norwood an hour earlier. By the first bounce, Sturt will know if it has secured fourth spot, or if its season is on the line in the match.

But rewinding back to Saturday, and Sturt’s finals dream remains within its own control thanks to a hard-fought contest at Thomas Farms Oval. Two of the game’s four goals were kicked in the opening four minutes when Millie McCarthy and Georgia Swan converted majors to leave the visitors on the back foot.

In what was a frustrating day for the Eagles, they kicked eight straight behinds throughout all bar the last two minutes of the match when Ashley Baker finally broke the drought. Incredibly it only put them within six points and a small chance of drawing, though the Eagles did run out of time and Sturt – who added a third goal during the premiership term to Sienna Fox – celebrated in gusto with a heartbeat still strong for season 2025.

The Eagles dominated the hitouts (49-20) and clearances (32-22) but could not seemingly get the ball into goal-scoring positions often enough, conceding 33 inside 50s to their own 26, and then have four more scoring shots but only able to kick that late one through the big sticks. The intent was there, the accuracy – which has been a feature of their game – was not, and as such the Double Blues were able to pounce.

Despite losing the hitouts, Jasmin Fejo battled hard to get up in the around the ground contests to win a team-high 20 disposals as well as seven marks, 14 hitouts, four clearances and five inside 50s, working well with Isobel Kuiper (19 disposals, three marks, 10 tackles and four clearances) and Lily Whiteman (17 disposals, two marks, three tackles, three clearances and two inside 50s). Skout Young looked lively getting the ball forward, while in defence, Hannah Prenzler and Imogen Szegedi did well and Alisha Gepp was fierce with a game-high 11 tackles.

Alice Tentye continued her great form with 22 touches, three marks, 10 tackles, five clearances and six rebound 50s. Defenders Bianca Portaro and Zahlia Niemann were kept busy combining for 11 rebound 50s from 25 touches and 13 tackles, while Olivia Evans and Brianna Walling fought hard all game.

Next weekend is the last round of the regular season, with a win against North Adelaide guaranteeing Sturt fourth spot, while for the Eagles, the Round 13 loss bumped them back to second, but they face the new ladder leaders South Adelaide in the last round to determine who grabs the minor premiership, before playing for a second consecutive week in the major semi-final.

STURT 2.0 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 (20)
WWT EAGLES 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.8 (14)

GOALS:
Sturt: A. Baker
WWT Eagles: M. McCarthy, G. Swan, S. Fox

RMC BEST:
Sturt: J. Fejo, I. Kuiper, S. Young, G. Swan, L. Whiteman
WWT Eagles: A. Tentye, O. Evans, B. Portaro, Z. Niemann, O. Evans