1981 SANFL season

Anything to do with the history of the SANFL

1981 SANFL season

Postby Booney » Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:15 pm

Just had occasion to look at the 1981 SANFL GF ( :D ) and looked further into the year, what a season that was!

Glenelg 19 wins and 3 losses - 38 points
Port 15 and 7 30 points
South 15 and 7 30 points
Norwood 13 8 and 1 27 points
West Adelaide 11 10 and 1 23 points

Sturt 11 10 and 1 23 points
Centrals 11 and 11 22 points
North 7 and 15 14 points
Torrens 3 18 and 1 7 points
Woodville 3 and 19 6 points

Sturt and Centrals both with 11 wins from 22 games missed finals.

In round 3,5,7,9 and 16 all 10 sides kicked 10 goals or more.

In the last round scores were :

Port 119
def
Norwood 73

Sturt 146
def
Glenelg 133

Centrals 173
def
Woodville 118

West 134
def
South 83

Torrens 158
def
North 121

Scores of 118,121 and 133 weren't enough to win!

Westies lose the elimination to Norwood 163 to 130, 20.10 and you lose the elimination.

Port kick 130 points in the qualy, 147 in the 2nd semi and beat the Bays 95 to 41 in the GF.

In the 220 minor round games on 33 occasions sides scored 100 points or more and lost.

What was it with 1981?

@spell_check where does this rank on the highest scoring seasons in the SANFL?
PAFC. Forever.

LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!
User avatar
Booney
Coach
 
 
Posts: 58211
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:47 pm
Location: Alberton proud
Has liked: 7467 times
Been liked: 10754 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby am Bays » Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:45 pm

Yeah thanks for bringing this year up w@nker....

I was at the Adelaide oval game (Bays v Sturt) being down for the school holidays from the back blocks of the NT. Sturt had a nine goal last qtr to Pinch that game :evil:

We had lost the week before to Norwood :evil:

We then proceeded to L W L for the finals.

ranks up there with another year that has been erased from my Calendar..... :twisted: :twisted: :( :(
Let that be a lesson to you Port, no one beats the Bays five times in a row in a GF and gets away with it!!!
User avatar
am Bays
Coach
 
 
Posts: 18498
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: The back bar at Lennies
Has liked: 162 times
Been liked: 1804 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Spargo » Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:47 pm

This was the year my Dad started taking me to the football.
Although only being 6 years old at the time, I can still clearly remember being at the 1981 Preliminary Final against Norwood.
It rained all day, I can even recall where we stood (no seats in the outer at Footy Pk until ‘82) and some of things yelled out in crowd during the match...
2017 safooty NFL tipping champ

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive...
Spargo
Coach
 
 
Posts: 15877
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Getting out of Dodge
Has liked: 5456 times
Been liked: 5089 times
Grassroots Team: Sacred Heart OC

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Booney » Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:57 pm

Good times, hey lads? :lol:
PAFC. Forever.

LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!
User avatar
Booney
Coach
 
 
Posts: 58211
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:47 pm
Location: Alberton proud
Has liked: 7467 times
Been liked: 10754 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Booney » Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:58 pm

am Bays wrote:Sturt had a nine goal last qtr to Pinch that game :evil:


9.1 to 4.2, actually.
PAFC. Forever.

LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!
User avatar
Booney
Coach
 
 
Posts: 58211
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:47 pm
Location: Alberton proud
Has liked: 7467 times
Been liked: 10754 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby am Bays » Tue Jun 25, 2019 5:09 pm

Booney wrote:Good times, hey lads? :lol:

Where do we report posts for unsolicited abuse???

Yeah I learnt a bit at Adelaide oval that day on football banter and chants....

Whose your father, whose your father.....
Let that be a lesson to you Port, no one beats the Bays five times in a row in a GF and gets away with it!!!
User avatar
am Bays
Coach
 
 
Posts: 18498
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:04 pm
Location: The back bar at Lennies
Has liked: 162 times
Been liked: 1804 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby mal » Tue Jun 25, 2019 7:41 pm

The 1981 finals all played at Football Park

NW 25-13
WA 20-10

PA 18-22
SA 12-17

SA 6-14
NW 19-19

GL 13-15
PA 22-15

GL 12-14
NW 4-7

GL 6-8
PA 14-11

The closest margin was the 33 points NW V WA Elimination Final
It was high scores back then
The wooden spooners were Woodville, who won 3 games, yet averaged 82 points per game
mal
Coach
 
Posts: 26364
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:45 pm
Has liked: 1138 times
Been liked: 892 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby spell_check » Tue Jun 25, 2019 7:56 pm

Booney wrote:@spell_check where does this rank on the highest scoring seasons in the SANFL?


By points 10th; by scoring shots 12th
spell_check
Coach
 
 
Posts: 18719
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:56 pm
Has liked: 45 times
Been liked: 178 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby FlyingHigh » Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:25 pm

Must have been a helluva last round.
Port and Norwood playing for a double-chance
Fifth spot all up for grabs between Centrals, West and Sturt, the latter beating the top two teams.
Can anyone remember much about South's season that year? Looks like another coulda been year for South from around that era.
FlyingHigh
Assistant Coach
 
Posts: 4832
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:12 am
Has liked: 81 times
Been liked: 173 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby robranisgod » Wed Jun 26, 2019 12:47 pm

FlyingHigh wrote:Must have been a helluva last round.
Port and Norwood playing for a double-chance
Fifth spot all up for grabs between Centrals, West and Sturt, the latter beating the top two teams.
Can anyone remember much about South's season that year? Looks like another coulda been year for South from around that era.


For most of the year Glenelg were favourite only to fall in a hole late, then win the preliminary final and get thrashed in the Grand Final.

South were the second best side early in the season but there was always a criticism that they were too negative and defensive which contradicts the fact that there were so many high scores that season. Haydn Bunton employed taggers which was unusual in those times. South only had one win against the other 3 sides who finished in the top four and suffered some thrashings against these sides, Glenelg, Port and Norwood.

South's only win against the top sides was when they beat Port by 8 points in Round 9. This loss to South gave Port an incredible 4 wins 5 losses record at that stage of the season. In fact, North Adelaide who finished 8th had thrashed Port at Alberton by 50 points the week before and a lot of experts predicted then that Port would miss the five let alone win the flag,

In the Bunton era the only year that really South were a realistic flag chance was 1979. Once again many fine judges think that the weather cost South the flag that year. I certainly know one opposition coach who was of that opinion.
robranisgod
League - Best 21
 
 
Posts: 1981
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:36 pm
Has liked: 89 times
Been liked: 224 times
Grassroots Team: Flinders University

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby JK » Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:27 pm

I was at the VFL Grand Final the day of the Preliminary Final. My old man and myself were both hanging to know what had happened at Footy Park, but there were no mobile phones or internet in the day, and Vic Radio didn't give a rats about any other footy comp. Late in the evening before the flight back home we eventually heard the scores read out on radio. WTF, we only kicked 4 goals?? :shock: :(

According to media reports and those in attendance, The Bays ended up with a 6 goal gale for the best part of 3/4's (not suggesting they weren't better than us that season anyway). Given we'd accounted for them late in the season and had come from the Elimination to the GF the previous year, we'd been quietly confident of doing it again.

As a young Collingwood/Norwood supporter it was a brutal day (although the VFL GF was a highlight I'll never forget irrespective of the result).
FUSC
User avatar
JK
Coach
 
 
Posts: 37364
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 10:11 am
Location: Coopers Hill
Has liked: 4438 times
Been liked: 2984 times
Grassroots Team: SMOSH West Lakes

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby robranisgod » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:27 pm

JK wrote:I was at the VFL Grand Final the day of the Preliminary Final. My old man and myself were both hanging to know what had happened at Footy Park, but there were no mobile phones or internet in the day, and Vic Radio didn't give a rats about any other footy comp. Late in the evening before the flight back home we eventually heard the scores read out on radio. WTF, we only kicked 4 goals?? :shock: :(

According to media reports and those in attendance, The Bays ended up with a 6 goal gale for the best part of 3/4's (not suggesting they weren't better than us that season anyway). Given we'd accounted for them late in the season and had come from the Elimination to the GF the previous year, we'd been quietly confident of doing it again.

As a young Collingwood/Norwood supporter it was a brutal day (although the VFL GF was a highlight I'll never forget irrespective of the result).


I was goimg to post something similar. I too was at the VFL Grand Final. I obviously wasn't hanging on the result of the SANFL but I was with the brother of a prominent SAFOOTY poster who was also an almost norMAL Norwood supporter. He was distressed when he heard the result, Norwood were favourite, but every media report and report I heard from those who went to the Preliminary Final was that the game was won at the toss. That's not to say that Glenelg weren't the better side, it is just what used to happen at Footy Park in September. Sides sometimes kicked with a gale for 3 quarters.
Glenelg suffered similarly in the 1974 Grand Final where the gale turned around during the game.
robranisgod
League - Best 21
 
 
Posts: 1981
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:36 pm
Has liked: 89 times
Been liked: 224 times
Grassroots Team: Flinders University

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Spargo » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:30 pm

robranisgod wrote:
JK wrote:I was at the VFL Grand Final the day of the Preliminary Final. My old man and myself were both hanging to know what had happened at Footy Park, but there were no mobile phones or internet in the day, and Vic Radio didn't give a rats about any other footy comp. Late in the evening before the flight back home we eventually heard the scores read out on radio. WTF, we only kicked 4 goals?? :shock: :(

According to media reports and those in attendance, The Bays ended up with a 6 goal gale for the best part of 3/4's (not suggesting they weren't better than us that season anyway). Given we'd accounted for them late in the season and had come from the Elimination to the GF the previous year, we'd been quietly confident of doing it again.

As a young Collingwood/Norwood supporter it was a brutal day (although the VFL GF was a highlight I'll never forget irrespective of the result).


I was goimg to post something similar. I too was at the VFL Grand Final. I obviously wasn't hanging on the result of the SANFL but I was with the brother of a prominent SAFOOTY poster who was also an almost norMAL Norwood supporter. He was distressed when he heard the result, Norwood were favourite, but every media report and report I heard from those who went to the Preliminary Final was that the game was won at the toss. That's not to say that Glenelg weren't the better side, it is just what used to happen at Footy Park in September. Sides sometimes kicked with a gale for 3 quarters.
Glenelg suffered similarly in the 1974 Grand Final where the gale turned around during the game.


And again in the 1990 Grand Final.
2017 safooty NFL tipping champ

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive...
Spargo
Coach
 
 
Posts: 15877
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Getting out of Dodge
Has liked: 5456 times
Been liked: 5089 times
Grassroots Team: Sacred Heart OC

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Booney » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:34 pm

Spargo wrote:
robranisgod wrote:
JK wrote:I was at the VFL Grand Final the day of the Preliminary Final. My old man and myself were both hanging to know what had happened at Footy Park, but there were no mobile phones or internet in the day, and Vic Radio didn't give a rats about any other footy comp. Late in the evening before the flight back home we eventually heard the scores read out on radio. WTF, we only kicked 4 goals?? :shock: :(

According to media reports and those in attendance, The Bays ended up with a 6 goal gale for the best part of 3/4's (not suggesting they weren't better than us that season anyway). Given we'd accounted for them late in the season and had come from the Elimination to the GF the previous year, we'd been quietly confident of doing it again.

As a young Collingwood/Norwood supporter it was a brutal day (although the VFL GF was a highlight I'll never forget irrespective of the result).


I was goimg to post something similar. I too was at the VFL Grand Final. I obviously wasn't hanging on the result of the SANFL but I was with the brother of a prominent SAFOOTY poster who was also an almost norMAL Norwood supporter. He was distressed when he heard the result, Norwood were favourite, but every media report and report I heard from those who went to the Preliminary Final was that the game was won at the toss. That's not to say that Glenelg weren't the better side, it is just what used to happen at Footy Park in September. Sides sometimes kicked with a gale for 3 quarters.
Glenelg suffered similarly in the 1974 Grand Final where the gale turned around during the game.


And again in the 1990 Grand Final.


When the storm blew in?
PAFC. Forever.

LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!
User avatar
Booney
Coach
 
 
Posts: 58211
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:47 pm
Location: Alberton proud
Has liked: 7467 times
Been liked: 10754 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Spargo » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:40 pm

Port kicked with breeze in the first qtr & it swung around at qtr time.
Thus we kicked into it for 3 qtrs. Did it make a difference in the result? Possibly.
Still, Glenelg had enough talent & the week off after winning the 2nd semi but still fell short - again.
Last edited by Spargo on Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2017 safooty NFL tipping champ

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive...
Spargo
Coach
 
 
Posts: 15877
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Getting out of Dodge
Has liked: 5456 times
Been liked: 5089 times
Grassroots Team: Sacred Heart OC

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Rik E Boy » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:41 pm

We should have a poll, which dominant season hurts most. Excluding AFL naturally. ;)

Glenelg would feature pretty promintently, as would Sturt for 78. Norwood nearly bottled it in 97 but reversed their second semi result. But Norwood last year would feature as well. Sturt in 98 worth a yodel as well as teams that should have won but didn't. Port 84?

As for high scoring the next year was pretty huge as well.

regards,

REB
User avatar
Rik E Boy
Coach
 
 
Posts: 28142
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: The Switch
Has liked: 1697 times
Been liked: 1813 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Rik E Boy » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:41 pm

Booney wrote:Good times, hey lads? :lol:


You evil, evil man. :lol:

regards,

REB
User avatar
Rik E Boy
Coach
 
 
Posts: 28142
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: The Switch
Has liked: 1697 times
Been liked: 1813 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Magellan » Thu Jun 27, 2019 2:54 pm

Rik E Boy wrote:We should have a poll, which dominant season hurts most. Excluding AFL naturally. ;)

Glenelg would feature pretty promintently, as would Sturt for 78. Norwood nearly bottled it in 97 but reversed their second semi result. But Norwood last year would feature as well. Sturt in 98 worth a yodel as well as teams that should have won but didn't. Port 84?

As for high scoring the next year was pretty huge as well.

regards,

REB

North 1986.
"Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn't there...and finding it." - Oscar Wilde
User avatar
Magellan
Coach
 
 
Posts: 5981
Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 1:04 pm
Location: Four Seasons Total Landscaping
Has liked: 757 times
Been liked: 1517 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby FlyingHigh » Thu Jun 27, 2019 3:31 pm

Eagles 1994 would be in the running.
And 2000, 2015 & 2016 would be solid eachway bets
FlyingHigh
Assistant Coach
 
Posts: 4832
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:12 am
Has liked: 81 times
Been liked: 173 times

Re: 1981 SANFL season

Postby Spargo » Thu Jun 27, 2019 3:38 pm

Magellan wrote:
Rik E Boy wrote:We should have a poll, which dominant season hurts most. Excluding AFL naturally. ;)

Glenelg would feature pretty promintently, as would Sturt for 78. Norwood nearly bottled it in 97 but reversed their second semi result. But Norwood last year would feature as well. Sturt in 98 worth a yodel as well as teams that should have won but didn't. Port 84?

As for high scoring the next year was pretty huge as well.

regards,

REB

North 1986.


Maybe.
I know North finished 3 games clear minor premiers but Glenelg had the best form heading into the finals winning 10 of the last 13 (after starting 3 & 6)
2017 safooty NFL tipping champ

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive...
Spargo
Coach
 
 
Posts: 15877
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Getting out of Dodge
Has liked: 5456 times
Been liked: 5089 times
Grassroots Team: Sacred Heart OC

Next

Board index   Football  SANFL History Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

Around the place

Competitions   SANFL Official Site | Country Footy SA | Southern Football League | VFL Footy
Club Forums   Snouts Louts | The Roost | Redlegs Forum |