1977 SANFL Grand Final

Last updated

1977 SANFL Grand Final
1977 South Australian Football Budget Grand Final.png
Official match program. Pictured top are Port Adelaide's John Cahill and Russell Ebert in discussion. Inset below is Glenelg coach John Nicholls.
Port Adelaide Football Club colours (1955 to 2001).svg
Port Adelaide
Richmond Football Club colours (pre-2017).svg
Glenelg
17.11 (113)16.9 (105)
1234
PA4.3 (27)9.7 (61)13.9 (87)17.11 (113)
GLE5.2 (32)8.3 (51)12.6 (78)16.9 (105)
DateSaturday, 24 September (2:10 pm)
Stadium Football Park
Attendance56,717
UmpiresPeter Mead, Robin Bennet
Coin toss won byPort Adelaide
Kicked towardSouth End
Accolades
Best on Ground Brian Cunningham [1] [2]
Australian Football
Hall of Fame
John Nicholls (1996; Legend)
Russell Ebert (1996)
John Cahill (2002)
Peter Carey (2009)
Graham Cornes (2012)
Greg Phillips (2020)
  1976 1978  

The 1977 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Glenelg Football Club, held at Football Park on Saturday 24 September 1977. It was the 79th annual Grand Final of the South Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers of the 1977 SANFL season. The match, attended by 56,717 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 8 points, marking that club's twenty-fourth premiership victory. [3]

Contents

Background

Centenary of the SANFL

In 1977 the SANFL celebrated its centenary, commemorating 100 years since the inaugural 1877 SAFA season. [4] All SANFL clubs that year wore a patch commemorating the milestone. [5]

Port Adelaide's premiership drought

The 12-year period leading up to the 1977 SANFL Grand Final included six grand final losses for Port Adelaide, with four to Sturt and two to North Adelaide.

Teams

Kit body portadelaide heritage2.png
Kit body sleeveless.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Kit body yellowrightsash.png
Kit body sleeveless.png
Kit shorts yellowsides.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks hoops black.png
Kit socks long.svg
0Port Adelaide0
B:24. Anthony Hannan22. Greg Phillips 3. Randall Gerlach
HB:21. Len Warren17. Peter Woite 4. Ivan Eckermann
C:26. Bruce Light 1. Russell Ebert (c)11. Kym Kinnear
HF:31. Trevor Sorrell18. David Granger 6. Andy Porplycia
F:16. Paul Belton5. Tim Evans 2. Darrell Cahill
Foll:10. John Spry27. Max James 8. Brian Cunningham
Int:23. Tony Giles 13. Geoff Blethyn
Coach: John Cahill
0Glenelg0
B:Chris Hercock Fred Phillis Rex Voigt
HB: Steve Hywood Paul Weston Jim Lihou
C: David Johnston David HolstNeville Caldwell
HF:Daryl Rady Peter Carey Michael Farquhar
F:Peter McInerney Stephen Copping Robert Paech
Foll:Wayne Phillis (c) Graham Cornes Kym Hodgeman
Int: Syd Jackson Peter Johnston
Coach: John Nicholls

Teams listed in the Sunday Mail. [3]

Scorecard

1977 SANFL Grand Final
Saturday, 24 September (2:10 pm) Port Adelaide def. Glenelg Football Park (crowd: 56,717) [3]
4.3 (27)
9.7 (61)
13.9 (87)
17.11 (113)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
5.2 (32)
8.3 (51)
12.6 (78)
16.9 (105)
Evans 7
Eckerman 3
Granger, Cunningham 2
James, Blethyn, Sorrell 1
Goals5 Paech
3 Phillis
2 Rady, Carey
1 Hodgeman, Farquhar, Holst, Jackson
Cunningham, Ebert, Gerlach, Light, EvansBestHodgeman, Voigt, Carey, Cornes

Physicality

The 1977 Grand Final was a physical affair with Port Adelaide wingman Bruce Light reported for striking, Kym Kinnear was concussed by Graham Cornes and taken from the ground, and several other players sustaining injuries throughout the match. Twenty players were involved in a brawl at the half-time siren.

Twenty-four-year-old Randall Gerlach retired after the game after playing for two years with kidney problems.

End of 12-year Premiership Drought for Port Adelaide

The 1977 premiership marked the end of a 12-year period for Port Adelaide without winning a premiership (a long time by club standards). The 1977 premiership was the first of four premierships in five years for Port Adelaide, with premierships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Port Adelaide supporters voted the 1977 SANFL Grand Final as the fourth-greatest moment of the club's history at Football Park in August 2013. [6]

2007 AFL Heritage Round

In the 2007 AFL Heritage Round, Port Adelaide wore a replica of their 1977 jumper. Playing in the Port Adelaide team were Brett Ebert, son of Russell Ebert; and Chad and Kane Cornes, sons of Graham Cornes.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Adelaide Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the Power, while its reserves men's team competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), where it is nicknamed the Magpies. Since its founding, the club has won an unequalled 36 SANFL premierships and four Championship of Australia titles, in addition to an AFL Premiership in 2004. It has fielded a women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition since 2022 (S7).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Australian National Football League</span> Australian rules football competition

The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL, is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Ebert</span> Australian rules footballer (1949–2021)

Russell Frank Ebert was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Australian rules football in South Australia. Ebert is the only player to have won four Magarey Medals, which are awarded to the best and fairest player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is one of four Australian rules footballers to have a statue at Adelaide Oval, the others being Ken Farmer, Malcolm Blight and Barrie Robran. Football historian John Devaney described Ebert as coming "as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game," and he is widely regarded as the Port Adelaide Football Club's greatest-ever player. Aside from his 392 games at Port Adelaide, Ebert played 25 games for North Melbourne in the 1979 VFL season and collected over 500 possessions as a midfielder for the club, which reached the preliminary final. Ebert was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and he was posthumously elevated to Legend status in June 2022, the highest honour that can be bestowed onto an Australian footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenelg Football Club</span> Australian rules football team

The Glenelg Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or the Bays, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Their home ground is Stratarama Stadium, located in the southern coastal suburb of Glenelg East, South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fos Williams</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

Foster Neil "Fos" Williams was a leading Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the Port Adelaide and West Adelaide Football Clubs and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in a career spanning 1946–1978. He also played 34 interstate games for South Australia, captaining the team from 1954 to 1958 and he coached the team in 45 games from 1955 to 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Showdown (AFL)</span> Derby matches between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power in the Australian Football League

The Showdown is the Australian rules football derby played by the two Australian Football League (AFL) teams from South Australia, the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs. The first AFL premiership fixture between the two clubs took place on 20 April 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Cornes</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1979

Chad Studley Cornes is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a member of the Port Adelaide side which won the premiership in 2004. On 3 July 2013, he retired from AFL football due to a troublesome knee. Cornes is currently serving as a forward line coach for the Port Adelaide Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian rules football in South Australia</span>

In South Australia, Australian rules football is traditionally a popular participation and spectator sport. It is governed by the South Australian Football Commission which runs the South Australia National Football League in the capital Adelaide, the highest profile competition among the 24 spread across the state. Participation has fallen substantially in recent years to a current rate of 4.1% and 63,969 adults and 28,692 children less than a quarter of which are female. Prior to 2019 it was the most participated team sport in the state, however it dropped to third after both basketball and soccer there surpassed it in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kane Cornes</span> Australian rules footballer

Kane Graham Cornes is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Graham Studley CornesOAM is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, as well as a media personality. From 1995 until early 2013, Cornes co-hosted a weekday drivetime sports program that he hosts on Adelaide radio station 5AA, first with Ken "KG" Cunningham and, following Cunningham's retirement in 2008, with Stephen Rowe. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Mark James Mickan is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mickan began his senior career with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Adelaide in 1981 and finished back at West Adelaide in 1994. All-Australian team selection in 1988 marked the pinnacle of his playing career. He has a sister, Patricia Mickan, who was a basketballer.

Kym Hodgeman is a former Australian rules footballer best known for his playing career with Glenelg in the SANFL from 1974 - 1980 & secondly for a 5 year stint with North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (VFL) from 1981 - 1985, before he returned to Glenelg 1986 where tasted a premiership success, playing again with the Tigers until his retirement in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Quinn (Australian footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

Robert Berrima Quinn MM was a champion Australian rules footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), and a decorated soldier of the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 SANFL Grand Final</span>

The 1990 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Glenelg Football Club, held at Football Park on Sunday 7 October 1990. It was the 89th annual Grand Final of the South Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers of the 1990 SANFL season. The match, attended by 50,589 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 15 points, marking that club's thirtieth premiership victory.

Mark Tylor is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) for both the Port Adelaide Football Club and Glenelg Football Club. He played in the 1994 Port Adelaide premiership team and led the club's goal-kicking on three occasions, as well as winning the Ken Farmer Medal in two of those years.

The history of Port Adelaide Football Club dates back to its founding on 12 May 1870. Since the club's first game on 24 May 1870, it has won 36 SANFL premierships, including six in a row. The club also won this competition on a record four occasions.

The 1969 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football competition. Sturt beat Glenelg by 24.15 (159) 159 to 13.16 (94). Sturt's score is still the highest score recorded in a SANFL Grand Final Game. Glenelg registered Richmond player Royce Hart to play in the game, due to Hart undertaking his National Service in Adelaide during the year. Hart was allegedly paid $2,000 for the game, and kicked two goals.

Adrian Settre is a former Australian rules footballer for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League. Settre played a key part in Port Adelaide's 15 point win over Glenelg in the 1990 SANFL Grand Final kicking three crucial and spectacular goals. He would also play in Port Adelaide’s 1992 Premiership win against Glenelg.

Wayne Mahney was an Australian rules footballer for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League.

References

  1. "1977 Premiership". portadelaidefc.com.au. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. "SANFL 1977 Grand Final – Port Adelaide v Glenelg: Centenary Premiership Port". www.footyalmanac.com.au. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Sunday Mail , 25 September 1977, pp. 1, 2, 61, 62, 123 & 124.
  4. "1977 Premiership". portadelaidefc.com.au. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. "SANFL 1977 Grand Final – Port Adelaide v Glenelg: Centenary Premiership Port". www.footyalmanac.com.au. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  6. "Footy Park Flashbacks #4: 1977 SANFL Grand Final". 30 August 2013.