1978 The year it was

[Adelaide Hawk]

John Wyley - kicked 100 goals in the 1970 U19s season.
Ian McKay - missed the entire 1978 with a knee injury.

[Magpiespower]

MARCH 31 ROOKIES + NEW RECRUITS GAME 1 on 1/4/1978

PA
Ian Bradmore

Bomber Clifford also made his debut for Port in '78.

After playing 36 games for Collingwood and winning a Gardiner Medal in the VFL reserves.

Made an immediate impact winning Port's B&F in his first season at Alberton and again in '80 and '83...

[nickname]

From that list Mal, Peter Whiting from Glenelg was also an A Grade district cricketer. I have a vague memory that he didn't continue his footy career after it was discovered he only had one kidney. A Bays fan might be able to confirm or deny that.
And Brian Ramsey from Woodville is, I'm fairly sure, originally from Westies where he played a lot of Reserves footy.

[mal]

MARCH 31 ROOKIES + NEW RECRUITS GAME 1 on 1/4/1978

ST named 5 rookies for the first game v NA
Daryl Smith
Geoff Wiseman
Robert Weatherald
Peter Milte
Gary Mutton
And also Gary Hardeman

GL
Bob Tardiff[back after a 2 year break]
Kym Davison
Peter Whiting

SA
Peter Stringer

PA
Ian Bradmore

NW
David Armour

WT
Dennis Payne
Ricky Searle
Greg Bennett

WDV
Brian Ramsey
Barry Goodingham

CD
David Sheldon

WA
?

Season starts on April Fools Day 1978 !
Over the next few days I will list the players that represented each club for the season
I will list the players in team alphabetical order, starting with CD


No surprise to see ST name 5 rookies + Hardeman for games 1
ST had no luck with a few players becoming unavailable through injuries and retirements leading into round 1

There were no NA rookies mentioned in my budget
Either they had none or the budget didnt submit them
I will list some players that might have been debutants in round 1

M REDDEN what a superb ruckman, ended up giving NA many years of great footy, was he the best ruckman ever at NA ?
D NEVE
M ELLIS
D RUSSELL not the media Dwayne
I WILLSMORE
K DILLON thats Kym the media man
B GEHLING


Mick Redden, star ruckman, played 17 games this year, which was his career total as well
NA played ST round 1, would Redden have debuted in this game ?
And how many of the above players debuted round 1 ?

[robranisgod]

There were no NA rookies mentioned in my budget
Either they had none or the budget didnt submit them
I will list some players that might have been debutants in round 1

M REDDEN what a superb ruckman, ended up giving NA many years of great footy, was he the best ruckman ever at NA ?
D NEVE
M ELLIS
D RUSSELL not the media Dwayne
I WILLSMORE
K DILLON thats Kym the media man
B GEHLING


Mick Redden, star ruckman, played 17 games this year, which was his career total as well
NA played ST round 1, would Redden have debuted in this game ?
And how many of the above players debuted round 1 ?

Mick Redden certainly debuted in Round one. He played quite promisingly and kicked a goal or two. I don't think any of the others debuted in that game.
Of the other debutants, Malcolm Ellis, a great club man, would have been the next best player. He played 95 league and about 120 reserves games for the club. D Russell is Dennis Russell who played 4 games during the year for North. About 6 years later he resurfaced as a Glenelg player and in fact played in the 1988 Grand Final for the Bays. Ironically the other D Russell, Dwayne, was a fanatical North supporter in those days, a fact he still occasionally alludes to on radio. I could never quite fathom how an Enfield High School student could end up in Port Adelaide's zone, but club boundaries have always been a touchy subject.

Of the others who debuted during the year, Danny Neve was a full forward who only played a couple of games. Ian Willsmore, another great clubman who only played a handful of league games but played over 100 reserves games. Kym Dillon has been discussed as nauseum and Bruce Gehling would have only played a handful of games as well. Interestingly in the last few games of 1977 North had three very handy debutants, John Riley, David Tiller and Greg McAdam.

Mick Redden was a wonderful ruckman, but any football historian worth his salt would know that he would only ever be NAFC's second best ruckmen, behind the Prince of ruckmen, Tom Leahy. If the SANFL were to pick a team of the 20th century. Tom Leahy would almost certainly be in it. Like so many great players, Tom Leahy started at West Adelaide, but after one of their customary implosions after they had been Champions of Australia, he and a number of other players left and Leahy and a few others came to North.

[Magpiespower]

Ironically the other D Russell, Dwayne, was a fanatical North supporter in those days, a fact he still occasionally alludes to on radio. I could never quite fathom how an Enfield High School student could end up in Port Adelaide's zone, but club boundaries have always been a touchy subject.

Pretty sure Craig Bradley is Enfield alumni, too.

IIRC, both are Pooraka boys...

[robranisgod]

Ironically the other D Russell, Dwayne, was a fanatical North supporter in those days, a fact he still occasionally alludes to on radio. I could never quite fathom how an Enfield High School student could end up in Port Adelaide's zone, but club boundaries have always been a touchy subject.

Pretty sure Craig Bradley is Enfield alumni, too.

IIRC, both are Pooraka boys...

You are exactly right. I read once that Craig Bradley lived two houses inside the Port area.

[Leaping Lindner]

Ironically the other D Russell, Dwayne, was a fanatical North supporter in those days, a fact he still occasionally alludes to on radio. I could never quite fathom how an Enfield High School student could end up in Port Adelaide's zone, but club boundaries have always been a touchy subject.

Pretty sure Craig Bradley is Enfield alumni, too.

IIRC, both are Pooraka boys...

You are exactly right. I read once that Craig Bradley lived two houses inside the Port area.

According to legend/myth/whatever Bradley was signed by Port the day after the boundaries were changed.
FWIW I think Dennis Russell may be a cousin or even a brother of Dwayne's.Pretty sure they are related.

[Leaping Lindner]

, but club boundaries have always been a touchy subject.

Why's that? Because if you lived on the other side of Prospect Road (some 300 metres from Prospect Oval) you qualified to play for Woodville....

[robranisgod]

FWIW I think Dennis Russell may be a cousin or even a brother of Dwayne's.Pretty sure they are related.

Dennis Russell was from the mid North of South Australia, somewhere around where the Stringers came from. Therefore he wasn't a brother of Dwayne, but he could have been a cousin.

Dwayne's father played for North.

[Leaping Lindner]

FWIW I think Dennis Russell may be a cousin or even a brother of Dwayne's.Pretty sure they are related.

Dennis Russell was from the mid North of South Australia, somewhere around where the Stringers came from. Therefore he wasn't a brother of Dwayne, but he could have been a cousin.

Dwayne's father played for North.

Cheers. That's the family connection I was thinking off.

[MagareyLegend]

FWIW I think Dennis Russell may be a cousin or even a brother of Dwayne's.Pretty sure they are related.

Dennis Russell was from the mid North of South Australia, somewhere around where the Stringers came from. Therefore he wasn't a brother of Dwayne, but he could have been a cousin.

Dwayne's father played for North.

Cheers. That's the family connection I was thinking off.

I think this is Dwayne's dad:

John Russell
Debuted for NAFC in 1948
Total 3 games (all in 1948)
2 goals

Also won the B Grade Most Consistent Player in 1948 in a prety good B Grade outfit - some other trophy winners in that team included:

Fairest and Most Brilliant J. Pash
Most Improved Junior D. Stringer
Best Follower K. Carroll
Most Unselfish J. Tidswell

.... and the coach well none other than the great Ken Farmer.

[robranisgod]

FWIW I think Dennis Russell may be a cousin or even a brother of Dwayne's.Pretty sure they are related.

Dennis Russell was from the mid North of South Australia, somewhere around where the Stringers came from. Therefore he wasn't a brother of Dwayne, but he could have been a cousin.

Dwayne's father played for North.

Cheers. That's the family connection I was thinking off.

I think this is Dwayne's dad:

John Russell
Debuted for NAFC in 1948
Total 3 games (all in 1948)
2 goals
Also won the B Grade Most Consistent Player in 1948 in a prety good B Grade outfit - some other tropohy winners included:

Fairest and Most Brilliant J. Pash
Most Improved Junior D. Stringer
Best Follower K. Carroll
Most Unselfish J. Tidswell

.... and the coach well none other than the great Ken Farmer.

That is Dwayne's dad. Ken Farmer went onto coach the league side to a premiership the next year (1949) and I think all of the other mentioned players, Pash, Stringer, Carroll and Tidswell played in that premiership team. They all were certainly North premiership players.

North were coached in 1948 by Haydn Bunton senior and finished outside of the four. Farmer coached North for the next four years for a premiership, fifth, runners up and another premiership, but had to give up coaching because of stress.

[bayman]

after glenelg, then possibly port augusta (bad memory), i'm sure dennis russell ended up at west torrens for a year or three....dennis coached glenelg reserves & halfway through the last term he would go to get changed for the league match he was about to play in..........i doubt that would ever happen again

[Adelaide Hawk]

after glenelg, then possibly port augusta (bad memory), i'm sure dennis russell ended up at west torrens for a year or three....dennis coached glenelg reserves & halfway through the last term he would go to get changed for the league match he was about to play in..........i doubt that would ever happen again

I think it happened a fair bit over the years. I know at Norwood we had Gerry Harrison (1965, 66), John McInnes (1970, 71), John Menz (1975, 76) and Ross Dillon (1977, 78) who played league and coached the Reserves at the same time.

[JK]

And then the reverse in 81 for a little while IIRC where Balmy played Magoo's for a bit

[bayman]

after glenelg, then possibly port augusta (bad memory), i'm sure dennis russell ended up at west torrens for a year or three....dennis coached glenelg reserves & halfway through the last term he would go to get changed for the league match he was about to play in..........i doubt that would ever happen again

I think it happened a fair bit over the years. I know at Norwood we had Gerry Harrison (1965, 66), John McInnes (1970, 71), John Menz (1975, 76) and Ross Dillon (1977, 78) who played league and coached the Reserves at the same time.

yeah AH, I knew there was more than just dennis that did that, but i meant it would never happen again (meaning in todays footy ).....gerry harrison was a much under rated football commentator imho

[mal]

GLENELG players who played in 1978

D BRADLEY
P BRADLEY
N CALDWELL...twiggy was a good player
P CAREY...super was not quick but had deft skills for a big fella
S COPPING...star, was he better than Roger Woodcock
G CORNES ...sensational mark and player, one of the GL greats
N CRABB
M FARQUHER...brilliant mark
C HERCOCK
K HODGEMAN...a champ moore or less
D HOLST...tough player
S HYWOOD...defender and a tough player
D JOHNSON...is this the cricketer whp played for SA ?
P JOHNSON
J LIHOU..very good defender, and a good hard wicket cricketer
J MCFARLANE...snout, not much of him, but a player, and if he didnt hit the post one day ...
P MCINERNEY
P MARKER...star
R PAECH
D PHILLIS...superstar full forward, but those yellow footy boots in the 75 grand final ....
K DAVISON..sos, son of Steve
D RADY
R VOIGT...rover/back pocket and Rex a good player for many years
P WESTON what a player, played in a winning VFL grand final, and played for NW
S WILLCOCKS
R TARDIFF
D MARSHALL....flashy wingman all the skills
P WHITING..is this the player they called fish ?
C MACVICAR...ruckman
J SEEBOHM ...forged out a good career
P RENNIE
W BELLMAN
S LUDCKE... didnt he start with NA ?

DEBUTANTS

K DAVISON
D MARSHALL
P WHTING
C MACVICAR
J SEEBOHM
P RENNIE
M BELLMAN
S LUDCKE

Coach : John Nicholls the Carlton tough man
Captain : Graham Cornes

MY TOP 5

1 CORNES
2 CAREY
3 WESTON
4 HODGEMAN
5 MARKER

Not much between these 5 stars
And I couldnt fit in PHILLIS + MARSHALL+ COPPING

GL had so many stars in this era, and thrilled thier supporters with mostly attacking football
The only disappointment with so many star players was they only one flag in 70s
Apart from that a very good club, and great to watch back then

[robranisgod]

D JOHNSON...is this the cricketer whp played for SA ?

K DAVISON..sos, son of Steve
S LUDCKE... didnt he start with NA ?

David Johnston was also the cricketer. His father Bill was the famous Australian cricketer who was part of the Invincibles of 1948 and incredibly topped the Australian averages on the England tour of 1953. Bill Johnston, a career number 11, scored 102 runs for the tour, for once out. David Johnston became a cricket administrator in Tasmania

Kym Davidson was the brother, not sone of Steve, the news greyhound writer of the time.

Steve Lubcke never played at North

[smithy]

D JOHNSON...is this the cricketer whp played for SA ?

K DAVISON..sos, son of Steve
S LUDCKE... didnt he start with NA ?

David Johnston was also the cricketer. His father Bill was the famous Australian cricketer who was part of the Invincibles of 1948 and incredibly topped the Australian averages on the England tour of 1953. Bill Johnston, a career number 11, scored 102 runs for the tour, for once out. David Johnston became a cricket administrator in Tasmania

And a top bloke to boot.
He used to run the Camden ICA with Ian Smart when I was a youngster and used to give me odd jobs to do around the place for a few bucks pocket money.
Quite often district players from Port ? used to come and have a hit and it was a good learning curve bowling to them.
A couple of young Basheer lads were working there at the time too.