Grand Final - and other - Memories

[CK]

After am Bays rightly pointed out that the SANFL Videos thread was in danger of becoming a Norwood love in (I am sorry about that ), thought it worth starting a thread where people can post away, with all club allegiances welcome, about their everlasting memories of the grand finals of their time.

While my memories of 1978 are only very dim, I do know that Mum, being a diehard Norwood fan since she led the cheersquad for two seasons in the late 60's to early 70's, had number 10 on my jumper, to recognise a particular player that is somewhat dear to at least some Norwood hearts on this forum. This was after being 28 initially, for another well known Norwood legend, before it changed for the final time to number 8 on the duffle coat, for the duration of Michael Aish's career.

Which is what made the mentions of the legendary run down the eastern wing of Footy Park on that day in 1984 all the more special. That got me out of my seat, cheering hoarsely for my favorite player, knowing the tide was turning our way at the end of one of the most amazing run of football I had seen a team play that year, where Norwood kept believing they were invincible.

Fate would have me live out most football fan's ultimate fantasy some 13 or so years later, when I played country football in the Hills Football League for many seasons. Playing against Echunga one day in the reserves, and jogging out to the centre, to look up and see my opponent for the day....Michael Aish, having a run in the 2's that day. I was assigned the tagging role on him for the day, and can verify that, while the Magarey Medal may have been around 16 years prior, all of those evasive skills were on display at the closest of range. I'd like to say I shut him down to a handful of possessions and beat him pointlessly, but unfortunately, my memory refuses to play those tricks on me. Suffice to say, still one of my most memorable days in football.

[GWW]

Was he still wearing the helmet CK?

[CK]

Was he still wearing the helmet CK?

No, not in any of the games I saw. He had coached Echunga in 1996 in a non playing capacity.

[Magpiespower]

Let's see, there's the...

- Crushing disappointment of '84
- White-knuckle tension of '88
- Sheer boredom of '89
- Sweet, sweet, sweeet satisfaction of '90
- Inevitability of '92
- Shark-feeding frenzy of '94
- Bragging rights of '95
- Bragging rights and riotous comedy of '96
- Resignation of '97
- Tough slog of '98
- Huge relief of '99

[GWW]

Although i went to Port 3 straight from 88 to 90, the games that probably stick in mind more were probably the 3 previous to that when North and Glenelg played off. My main memories are a Darren Jarman left foot goal, 87 i think it was and in general the amount of brawls between the 2 sides.

RE 88 I remember Jim West missing at the edge of the goalsquare line at a key stage, David Brown getting a fortunate bounce for Port's first goal. I also remember Budarick for Glenelg kicking a few goals in the last quarter.

89 - there was a sense of disbelief for both supporter groups that the game was so one-sided when everyone expected an epic contest. Port just played so well that day and North's famed "engine room" barely gave a yelp.

90 - I remember Mahney and Settre set the tone early, and probably kept Port in the game.

[robranisgod]

I can probably go back longer than most here. I can remember the past 51 Grand Finals but I will only briefly report on those that my team were involved in :

1960 - A virtual unknown rover, Barry Potts kicking seven goals in an epic struggle and Magarey Medallist putting North in front nearing time on of the last quarter. The North defence led by a brilliant 18 year old Bob Hammond holding out for an interminable 5 minutes to win the game by 5 points
1963 - Don Lindner single handedly keeping North in the game for three quarters but Port being just too strong and winning comfortably in the end.
1971 - Barrie Robran walking on water
1972 - Barrie Robran feeding the multitude
1973 - From a North viewpoint still the one that hurts the most. Bob Hammond at 31 years old absolute magnificent, Barrie getting injured and not being able to heal himself. Bugsy Jaworskyj going to Melbourne thus having no one to quell Peter Carey. From a football viewpoint a great spectacle and I guess if a team only loses once for the year they deserve the flag, but it still hurts.
1985 - Pleased to be back in the big time, but to be 5 goals up at one stage and lose by 57 points denotes a certain brittleness I have normally associated with North. Kernahan was magnificent and the Bays had a great side.
1986 - Nunan told the players not to fight, and they forgot to fight for the ball - an insipid effort.
1987 - Magnificent : No one would have beaten North that day. Redden was magnificent and should have got the Jack Oatey medal, but the Jack Oatey judges always love the goalkickers
1989 - Disgraceful - Why did Nunan never have a Plan B. I wish we had lost to Norwood in the preliminary final, they had kicked 2 goals 5 behinds against Port in the previous year's second semi, would have they done better than us in the grand final?
1991 - Magnificence amongst the mayhem. Forgetting the fights, if you ever watch the replay we were awesome. Once again the goalkicker got the Jack Oatey, Hart 7 goals from 11 kicks, but Perkins, Sanders, a very, very underated footballer and Peter Krieg would all have been very worthy medallists.
2007 - Almost as disgraceful as 1989. We kicked 5 goals, 4 of which were very lucky. If it wasn't for the two ageing first cousins, Hart and Bamford it could have been a one hundred point drubbing.

As I have said I can remember the last 51 Grand Finals and have been to 49 of them, one day I'll write my recollections of each of them.

[Adelaide Hawk]

1964 South knocking off Port in one of the great moments in SANFL history.
1965 Sturt coming back after trailing by 29 points at 3/4 time, just falling short. Kevin Salmon missed a goal from 6 inches out!!! Emmy Jones 6 goals.
1966 Sturt's 1st flag in 26 years - Emmy Jones 8 goals
1967 Sturt claims late victory after trailing Port for most of 2nd half.
1968 Two Peter Endersbee checkside goals from scoreboard pocket.
1969 Royce Hart's appearance not enough to stop a ramaging Sturt. Malcolm Greenslade 9 goals. Fred Phillis kicks 5 goals to pass Ken Farmer's season goal kicking record.
1970 Sturt make it 5 in a row after an overnight deluge made conditions wet and extremely heavy. Malcolm Greenslade 6 goals.
1971 North held Port to 0-3 in the first half. Port Adelaide came home with a wet sail but still 20 points short. Barrie Robran best on ground.
1972 Game looked to anyone's at half time with Por leading by 8 points. North, led by another best on ground perfromance from Barrie Robran ran out easy winners. Dennis Sachse 6 goals.
1973 Glenelg's 1st win in 39 years in one of the best games of footy I've seen. Cornes' mark & goal to put the Bays in front was the highlight. Rex Voight booted 7 and Peter Carey 6.
1974 1st Grand Final at Football Park. With scoring almost impossible into the wind, Glenelg found itself only 5 points down at 3/4 with the breeze in the last. Remarkably, the Blues booted 3-4 to 2-0 to win by 15 points.
1975 Norwood’s 1st flag for 25 years in a tough bruising affair. Norwood grabbed ascendancy in the final term with a running goal from Phil Gallagher. Jim Michalanney’s goal from the “Tony Hall” pocked was a gem. The greatest day in my football life.
1976 A record crowd saw the underdogs Sturt down Port Adelaide, Rick Davies in easily the most dominant performance I’ve seen in any Grand Final.
1977 Port Adelaide wins 1st flag for 12 years. Remembered for the Evans-Phillis incident, I didn’t see it and still not sure what happened. Tim Evans kicked 7 goals.
1978 Norwood's remarkable comeback in the final term after trailing by 29 points at ¾ time. Remembered for the John Wynne – Sturt coaching box incident, and also that “mark” by Gallagher in the final term. Nonetheless, a sensation Grand Final. Brian Adamson kicked 5 goals for the Redlegs.
1979 Wet and blustery conditions, Port booted 5 goals to nothing in the 1st quarter and that was all she wrote. Unless you followed Port, not much to remember and I was so glad to be in the members bar that afternoon and not in the outer.
1980 Another tough game with Port and Norwood neck and neck until late in the final term when a turnover saw an Abernethy goal. From then it was a matter of Port too good. Michael Aish served notice of things to come as a big game player.
1981 Port made it a hat trick of flags with a solid performance in which they weren’t seriously challenged.
1982 After the Bays and Port nearly killed each other in the PF, Norwood cruised to a 64 point victory, Rick Neagle kicking 6 goals.
1983 In a high quality game, West Adelaide won their first flag for 22 years. Bruce Lindner kicking 5 for the Bloods, Michael Graham 5 for the Blues.
1984 History Makers Norwood came from 5th to win the flag by 9 points over Port. My memories were a brilliant mark by Keith Thomas in the 3rd term, followed by a brilliant running goal in the final term. Neville Roberts booted 6 goals, as well as the sealer late in the final term.
1985 North Adelaide out to early leap but reeled in by Glenelg who went on to win by 57 points. Stephen Kernahan dangerous all day with 7 goals.
1986 North Adelaide were expected to win this one but it was Glenelg all the way, running out winners by 48 points. The brilliant Tony Hall kicked 6 goals from CHF.
1987 Sweet revenge for the Roosters with a thumping 82 point win over the Tigers. Mark Parsons kicked 6 goals and John Roberts 5 for the Roosters. It was the Jarman brothers in concert with Andrew Jarman’s ostentatious celebrations in the final term.
1988 Glenelg kicked the 1st 3 goals in the game, but from there it was all Port in another comfortable GF win.
1989 A solid thrashing with Port holding North to 1-8 for the match.
1990 Magarey Medallist Scott Hodges kicked 6 goals to steer Port to a 15 point win over the Tigers.
1991 North trashed West by 75 points in the “bloodbath final”. Darel Hart kicked 7 goals for the Roosters.

After that, the Grand Finals (except for 1997 and 1999) have not been so memorable for me.

[robranisgod]

1970 Sturt make it 5 in a row after an overnight deluge made conditions wet and extremely heavy. Malcolm Greenslade 6 goals.

Don't want to be pedantic but there was no overnight deluge. The rain actually started at about 9:30 a.m. and from there it just didn't stop all day. It wasn't particularly heavy, it just never stopped once. I was amazed to hear recently that there was only about 12 mils of rain that day. You would think with at least 8 hours constant rain you would have to get more than that. The other highlight to me was Dizzy Raymond's one handed pick ups in the boggy middle of Adelaide Oval. Raymond had been on Sturt's list since about 1965, but 1970 was his first (and only) opportunity to play in a Grand Final and he made the most of it.

[Adelaide Hawk]

1970 Sturt make it 5 in a row after an overnight deluge made conditions wet and extremely heavy. Malcolm Greenslade 6 goals.

Don't want to be pedantic but there was no overnight deluge. The rain actually started at about 9:30 a.m. and from there it just didn't stop all day. It wasn't particularly heavy, it just never stopped once. I was amazed to hear recently that there was only about 12 mils of rain that day. You would think with at least 8 hours constant rain you would have to get more than that. The other highlight to me was Dizzy Raymond's one handed pick ups in the boggy middle of Adelaide Oval. Raymond had been on Sturt's list since about 1965, but 1970 was his first (and only) opportunity to play in a Grand Final and he made the most of it.

Mate, I camped outside the ground that night and by around 3am the heavy rain set in and never stopped. By the time other people came to join us around 7am, we were wet thtough and frozen solid. I don't know where you were.

[robranisgod]

1970 Sturt make it 5 in a row after an overnight deluge made conditions wet and extremely heavy. Malcolm Greenslade 6 goals.

Don't want to be pedantic but there was no overnight deluge. The rain actually started at about 9:30 a.m. and from there it just didn't stop all day. It wasn't particularly heavy, it just never stopped once. I was amazed to hear recently that there was only about 12 mils of rain that day. You would think with at least 8 hours constant rain you would have to get more than that. The other highlight to me was Dizzy Raymond's one handed pick ups in the boggy middle of Adelaide Oval. Raymond had been on Sturt's list since about 1965, but 1970 was his first (and only) opportunity to play in a Grand Final and he made the most of it.

Mate, I camped outside the ground that night and by around 3am the heavy rain set in and never stopped. By the time other people came to join us around 7am, we were wet thtough and frozen solid. I don't know where you were.

If that is the case, it make the 12 mils of rain even more amazing because all I know is that the rain never stopped once from 9:30 a.m. through to 5:30 p.m. I have never known a day like it at the footy. It iften rains for a while, but not continuously for the whole day.

[Adelaide Hawk]

If that is the case, it make the 12 mils of rain even more amazing because all I know is that the rain never stopped once from 9:30 a.m. through to 5:30 p.m. I have never known a day like it at the footy. It iften rains for a while, but not continuously for the whole day.

Maybe the rain stopped for awhile early morning, that part I cannot recall. All I remember is it being a beautiful day on Friday, so a mate and I decided to camp overnight outside the ground. My mate's dad dropped off a couple of matresses to sleep on but we didn't think we'd need much else. All we were wearing was our school uniforms.

At around 2am we saw thick black clouds moving in over the Cresswell Stand and by 3am it was bucketing down. By the time my mate's dad came to pick up the mattresses, my mate had a gutful and went home cold, wet and miserable.

I stayed because my sister's boyfriend was playing for Central U19s (they won), and I wanted to see Norwood play in the Reserves final (they won as well). I recall a number of people leaving at the end of the reserves match and this group of guys in shorts and t-shirt with a carton full of bottled beer, the cardboard carton torn apart by the wet, cheering as the pople were leaving saying it meant more beer for them

That was the day Rodney Robran came down from Whyalla to play in the North Reserves, and the day Carlton came back from a long way behind Collingwood to win the VFL Grand Final. I must have really look like something in a soaking wet school uniform when I got home

[Magpiespower]

Remembered for the Evans-Phillis incident, I didn’t see it and still not sure what happened.

KING-HIT!

[Adelaide Hawk]

Remembered for the Evans-Phillis incident, I didn’t see it and still not sure what happened.

KING-HIT!

More details please?

[Magpiespower]

More details please?

Timmy had just kicked a goal.

The boundary umpires were running the ball back for the centre bounce.

When Freddy clocked him in the goalsquare.

[Adelaide Hawk]

More details please?

Timmy had just kicked a goal.

The boundary umpires were running the ball back for the centre bounce.

When Freddy clocked him in the goalsquare.

Was it a result of pushing and shoving, or did Phillis hit him when he wasn't watching?

[robranisgod]

More details please?

Timmy had just kicked a goal.

The boundary umpires were running the ball back for the centre bounce.

When Freddy clocked him in the goalsquare.

Was it a result of pushing and shoving, or did Phillis hit him when he wasn't watching?

I actually thought that it was after the Bays had goaled and the goal umpire was busy putting the flags away. No one really saw it, but the general consensus was that it was a premeditated action. The first most of us realized anything had happened was that both players were lying on the ground. Freddy was first up and immediately was shifted to full forward which always suggested to me that he had been acting on instructions.

[Magpiespower]

I actually thought that it was after the Bays had goaled and the goal umpire was busy putting the flags away. No one really saw it, but the general consensus was that it was a premeditated action. The first most of us realized anything had happened was that both players were lying on the ground. Freddy was first up and immediately was shifted to full forward which always suggested to me that he had been acting on instructions.

Maybe it was a Glenelg goal?

Anyway, a thunderous crack echoed after his fist connected with Timmy's head.

Kicked a ' dazey' seven that day...

[Footy Chick]

1992 - the downpour about 5 mins before 1/2 time - the masses flocked to the bar - I stayed loyal to the cause on the boundary, in the South-Eastern pocket....




and I was wearing a white t-shirt

[JK]

Dont believe you FC, evidence may be required

[Footy Chick]

Dont believe you FC, evidence may be required

Ask Felicitie, she was sitting right next to me