JK wrote:Wow I had a totally different recollection of Port that year - I always thought they would win the flag and so did most I knew.
I've just quickly perused my Footy Times from that time and West started off as favourite, Port then were as they won their first seven games, Central were for some time, especially after they beat Port at Alberton in late May and Glenelg had their admirers but as you mentioned earlier had lost to Port twice in the minor round. Even come the second semi final Glenelg had their admirers in the media, but the loss of Peter Carey due to suspension correctly influenced a lot of people into selecting Port.
I guess most of my friends are Port supporters and they were never confident with the side that they had. They had lost a lot of their premiership players at the end of 1983 and they were very reliant on Craig Bradley and the emerging Dwayne Russell and Martin Leslie in 1984. In fact I am not sure that Dwayne Russell ever reached the same heights again. There were a number of players in the 1984 Port side who would never have made the Port sides circa 1980 nor the great Port sides of the late 1980s.