Biggest Grand Final upset

[Mr66]

Who can remember some of these games?
Feel free to include any GF that I may have overlooked.

[Adelaide Hawk]

The only 2 of those I consider to be genuine upsets were 1978 & 1996. I certainly expected Norwood to win in 75, I selected Sturt in 76, and would have been surprised had Norwood not been good enough in 1984.

Maybe the 2002 GF would rate as an upset, certainly that was the result that surprised me the most.

[71/72]

The 4 GF's Glenelg won.

[whufc]

I was only 13 in 96' so don't have a great memory of that season despite going to every game, why was that such an upset.

[am Bays]

The 4 GF's Glenelg won.

Not that surprising considering our opponent in 3 of them.

[Ruben Carter]

I sat in the rain in 1994 and saw Port comeback from 6 goals behind in the 1st quarter to pinch the Premiership against the Eagles in a huge upset. Scotty Hodges kicked 5 in the last quarter on one leg if memory serves correctly. Think Port were rank underdogs that year from memory.

[200 Killer Wasps]

I sat in the stands in the rain in my old Woodville Warriors guernsey cheering them on. Gave it to the Port supporters who all cleared off to the bar at quarter time.

Walked out in utter disappointment after the final siren with my 9 year old son who found a wet muddied $10 dollar note on the ground - Consolation, no!, he insisted on buying a Scott Hodges badge with it.

Have I forgotten the 1994 grand final, I'm trying but everyone keeps bringing it up again.

[bayman]

surely 1976 was the biggest upset in my lifetime no one apart from ah & sturt gave sturt a chance, it was to be port by how far & from memory sturt didn't win it rick davies did & that loss was to be a big spur to port who went on to win numerous premierships over the next few years including the next year (1977)

[Ash59]

My memory of 1976 was that Sturt and Port played at Footy Park about 4 or 5 games from the end of the season in a game that would basically decide the minor premiership. At that stage it was already being touted as a Sturt/Port grand final. However, when Sturt lost to the Bays in the Qualifying final and copped a couple of injuries to boot, it was feared they may go out in straight sets. However a gutsy win against Norwood in the First semi saw a couple more players injured... and it was the consensus that they had no chance of turning the tables on a Bay line-up which had put them away two weeks earlier. But they did.

Nevertheless, given Port had won the second semi and had the break, against Sturt who had done it the hard way, most neutral observers gave Sturt little chance, particularly as Port were on a mission to arrest an 11 year premiership drought. There is no doubt, the result was considered a big upset... possibly not so much that Sturt won but how convincing the victory was - Port were demolished.

Quite a different story to 1978 where the grand final was going as scripted till 3/4 time.

[Adelaide Hawk]

surely 1976 was the biggest upset in my lifetime no one apart from ah & sturt gave sturt a chance, it was to be port by how far & from memory sturt didn't win it rick davies did & that loss was to be a big spur to port who went on to win numerous premierships over the next few years including the next year (1977)

Sorry Bayman, but if you check out page 4 of the 1976 Grand Final Football Buget, they asked 8 opposition players to select the winner, here are the results:

Frank Stemper (W) - Port Adelaide
Lyle Skinner (CD) - Sturt
Adrian Rebbeck (G) - Port Adelaide
Charlie Payne (NA) - Port Adelaide
Milan Faletic (WT) - Sturt
Rod Seekamp (N) - Sturt
Ron Hateley (SA) - Port Adelaide
Bob Loveday (WA) - Draw

Bob Loveday said he thought Port "should" win, but the way Sturt were playing he couldn't see them losing.

So 4 of the 8 never selected Port Adelaide. I've said for years the 76 GF wasn't as big an upset as history seems to recall.

[Wedgie]

78 and then daylight in GFs in my time.

[JK]

The only 2 of those I consider to be genuine upsets were 1978 & 1996. I certainly expected Norwood to win in 75, I selected Sturt in 76, and would have been surprised had Norwood not been good enough in 1984.

Maybe the 2002 GF would rate as an upset, certainly that was the result that surprised me the most.

I wasn't around for all of these, but the feeling I'd always had on them was:

1975 - Mild upset
1976 - Upset (but more the margin and manner in which Sturt won)
1978 - BIG upset
1984 - Mild upset (from memory Port were favourites, but nowhere near as clear cut as say Sturt in 78)

1994 Would have to rank as an upset IMHO ... 1996 did not surprise me at all, and I tipped Sturt to win in 2002.

Also AH, I'd always been given the feeling 1952 was a bit of an upset?? Not sure if North winning was the upset (certain people meant) or just the margin by which they won, do you go back that far and if so, what is/was the recollection?

[Hondo]

1996 was an upset in terms of the minor premier losing (ditto 1998) but no major surprise given Port's dominance in that era. 1994 was the biggest upset Port win in the 88-99 era.

It was before my time but all reports seem to paint 1978 as the biggest upset. IIRC Sturt had only lost 1 or 2 games all season?

Surprised no-one has mentioned 1986. North were red hot favourites that year.

[Magpiespower]

Port shouldn't have got anywhere near the Eagles in '94.

Never had any doubt about '96.

Especially after THAT goal!

[whatsaduckworth]

Although the '96 Port D Centrals GF was dissapointing the 2002 loss to Sturt was by far the biggest upset involving Centrals.

[rogernumber10]

The only 2 of those I consider to be genuine upsets were 1978 & 1996. I certainly expected Norwood to win in 75, I selected Sturt in 76, and would have been surprised had Norwood not been good enough in 1984.

Maybe the 2002 GF would rate as an upset, certainly that was the result that surprised me the most.

I'd have 78 ahead of 76. Sturt lost just one game all year and dispatched us easily each time we played them, before we won.
In 76, Port was a strong favourite but that Sturt side still had a lot of a big stars who produced one more hurrah.

Don't think 75 was an upset as we actually finished the ladder on top, albeit that Glenelg was kicking a truckload of goals every week and in 84, we weren't the fifth-best side, but just finished fifth after starting so slowly, before getting our act together.

[Adelaide Hawk]

Also AH, I'd always been given the feeling 1952 was a bit of an upset?? Not sure if North winning was the upset (certain people meant) or just the margin by which they won, do you go back that far and if so, what is/was the recollection?

No, I wasn't around in 1952

However, I doubt it was an upset. North were clear minor premiers and won the 2nd semi final. Certainly, the final margin in the GF would have been a surprise though. North defeated Port in the 2nd Semi by 3 points, and Norwood defeated Port by 11 in the PF, so I would imagine people expected a reasonably close GF.

[Wedgie]

From memory (a bit sketchy since it happened 57 years ago), the 52 margin was a huge upset.
I think that North only got up in the 2nd semi by less than a goal against Port maybe and then Norwood knocked them off in the Prelim. I remember reading some press clippings that everyone expected the 52 GF to be an extremely close affair and found it hard to call. As an aside it was the first SANFL game my father went to who was a young Norwood supporter, Im suprised he ever went again after that 110pt flogging! Maybe it swayed him into influencing me into changing from Norwood to North 30 years later, a move I'll never forgive him for if he'd known Norwood Oval would be the only ground serving decent beer in the 2000s!
Ken Farmer was an awesome coach who only coached for a small period but won 2 premierships (49 as well), should be rated as one of the great coaches for the time he did it but most will remember him for kicking the occasional goal in his playing career instead.

[stampy]

i can recall all the nominated GFs

the top 3 upsets in the last 40yrs are imo

1. sturt def port 1976
2. port def eagles 1994
3. norwood def sturt 1978

[stampy]

surely 1976 was the biggest upset in my lifetime no one apart from ah & sturt gave sturt a chance, it was to be port by how far & from memory sturt didn't win it rick davies did & that loss was to be a big spur to port who went on to win numerous premierships over the next few years including the next year (1977)

spot on bayman, it was meant to be the maggies in a canter in '76