1964 - 1990

[JK]

mike told me last year he couldnt believe it was given a goal, he thought he had effed up until the roar went up for the goal

The Ross Dillon free 25m out straight in front prior to that, which he kicked a goal from was just as criminal.

Must admit I never understood what that was for. Probs made you for a few he missed out on, poor bastard was belted all day by Rexy Voight, imagine having to deal with him all day long lol. Good hard rugged footy that day, Voight, Phillis’, Marker, Wynne, Seekamp, no beg pardons.

[am Bays]

The Glenelg side that year was the best ever assembled side in the history of the SANFL not to win the flag.

A big call FE, but the evidence you provided was compelling.

Sturt in 1978 would have to be a contender.

Yes you could argue for the Double Blues of 1978

1975 Glenelg Average score 159 pts per game
1978 Sturt average score 126 pts per game

1975 Glenelg Winning Margin 66 pts per game
1978 Sturt Winning Margin 46 pts per game

Sturt did manage to defeat Port Adelaide twice during the season

97 pts at Unley
70 pts at Alberton

Only played Norwood, Port & Glenelg twice that season which is strange for a 22 game minor round season. Must have had something to do with there 7th place finish in 1977

They did play NA, WA, CD &, WT three times and those sides finished

10
9
8
5

Respectively.

Losing the GF was a shock.

I was the only one out of all my mates who picked Norwood that day expect for one of my close mates who was a Norwood man but even he did not give his team much of a chance.

Norwood smashed us in the QF Final, pushed Sturt all the way in 2SF to only lose by 22 pts but margin could have been bigger if the Double Blues kicked straight 13-19 to 11-9. Disposed of Port Adelaide in the Prelim Final by 6 goals after being 4 goals down at 1/4 time.

GF should have been over at 1/4 time 5.9 - 1.5. Norwood just kept hanging in there.

Spoke to Michael Taylor about the game when we used to visit us a work in his job. He said they always thought they were a chance at 3/4 time even thou they were down by 29pts. If they got a couple of early goals they then knew that they were in it.

It could be argued that the 1978 Sturt side was up there but that 1975 Glenelg side was something else. Having since both of them play would lean to towards the Bays they were outstanding in 1975 and compelling watching.

The argument for 1978 being the biggest boil-over is strengthens when you consider Sturt finished the minor round six games clear. Of the other teams Norwood we’re arguably the most informed team of the last half of the season but Sturt should never if lost that game. Yeah we were good in 75 but Norwood weren’t that far behind compared to how far behind they were compared to Sturt in 78.

I can recall listening to that GF at the Cowell show in my Grandfathers Valient.

The Sturt experience of 1978 is what is keeping my feet on the ground in 2021

But yeah 75 is also a sobering reminder that minor rd and minor finals performance counts for diddly squat on GF day

[robranisgod]

The Glenelg side that year was the best ever assembled side in the history of the SANFL not to win the flag.

A big call FE, but the evidence you provided was compelling.

Sturt in 1978 would have to be a contender.

Yes you could argue for the Double Blues of 1978

1975 Glenelg Average score 159 pts per game
1978 Sturt average score 126 pts per game

1975 Glenelg Winning Margin 66 pts per game
1978 Sturt Winning Margin 46 pts per game

Sturt did manage to defeat Port Adelaide twice during the season

97 pts at Unley
70 pts at Alberton

Only played Norwood, Port & Glenelg twice that season which is strange for a 22 game minor round season. Must have had something to do with there 7th place finish in 1977

They did play NA, WA, CD &, WT three times and those sides finished

10
9
8
5

Respectively.

Losing the GF was a shock.

I was the only one out of all my mates who picked Norwood that day expect for one of my close mates who was a Norwood man but even he did not give his team much of a chance.

Norwood smashed us in the QF Final, pushed Sturt all the way in 2SF to only lose by 22 pts but margin could have been bigger if the Double Blues kicked straight 13-19 to 11-9. Disposed of Port Adelaide in the Prelim Final by 6 goals after being 4 goals down at 1/4 time.

GF should have been over at 1/4 time 5.9 - 1.5. Norwood just kept hanging in there.

Spoke to Michael Taylor about the game when we used to visit us a work in his job. He said they always thought they were a chance at 3/4 time even thou they were down by 29pts. If they got a couple of early goals they then knew that they were in it.

It could be argued that the 1978 Sturt side was up there but that 1975 Glenelg side was something else. Having since both of them play would lean to towards the Bays they were outstanding in 1975 and compelling watching.

The argument for 1978 being the biggest boil-over is strengthens when you consider Sturt finished the minor round six games clear. Of the other teams Norwood we’re arguably the most informed team of the last half of the season but Sturt should never if lost that game. Yeah we were good in 75 but Norwood weren’t that far behind compared to how far behind they were compared to Sturt in 78.

I can recall listening to that GF at the Cowell show in my Grandfathers Valient.

The Sturt experience of 1978 is what is keeping my feet on the ground in 2021

But yeah 75 is also a sobering reminder that minor rd and minor finals performance counts for diddly squat on GF day

Norwood did win 16 games in a row in 1975 before losing to Glenelg in the Second Semi Final, so I don't think 1975 was anywhere near as big a boilover as 1978.
Sturt defeating Port in 1976 was the other huge boilover of those times. Sturt had limped into the Grand Final and had a number of key players out injured. I can't remember one media scribe selecting Sturt and one journalist stated that it would be an injustice if Port didn't win the flag.
All South Australians other than Port fans seemed to embrace the injustice.

[Magellan]

one journalist stated that it would be an injustice if Port didn't win the flag.

Didn't Oatey stick that headline up in the change rooms to inspire the players?

[mal]

Johnny Elbows two eight Wynne tIpped St to beat PA on TV
I reckon he said it was the Ricky Jumbo Prince Davies/ Paul Baggy Bagshaw/ Mick Nunan first ruck that would win it for ST
I was one of the boys who were allowed to sit inside the oval to watch this game
Im glad I went , I ended up seeing perhaps the greatest ever individual performance in an SANFL Grand Final, by Rick Davies

[DOC]

one journalist stated that it would be an injustice if Port didn't win the flag.

Didn't Oatey stick that headline up in the change rooms to inspire the players?

I think that's right.

[robranisgod]

one journalist stated that it would be an injustice if Port didn't win the flag.

Didn't Oatey stick that headline up in the change rooms to inspire the players?

I think that's right.

That is what I believe happened too.
Also it was related to me by a Port player that Oatey had the two teams listed on a whiteboard with the number of Premierships each player in both sides had played in. The Sturt list started off with Bagshaw and Nelson with 6 premierships, Miels with 5, Wild, Burgan, Murphy, Nunan at least 3 and so on with most players having won at least one flag. Port had none. He used that as a confidence builder and spur.
The Port player had been told of this list by his Sturt opponent in the days after the game.

[Magellan]

Im glad I went , I ended up seeing perhaps the greatest ever individual performance in an SANFL Grand Final, by Rick Davies

This is an interesting talking point - is there anyone else with a better or equivalent individual effort in a grand final?

[DOC]

Peter Mead got Port up in the 1977 granny single handedly.

[DOC]

Im glad I went , I ended up seeing perhaps the greatest ever individual performance in an SANFL Grand Final, by Rick Davies

This is an interesting talking point - is there anyone else with a better or equivalent individual effort in a grand final?

For me, not only a standout for a grand final but football in general.

Davies finished with the extraordinary statistics of 21 kicks, 21 handballs, 21 hit outs, 15 marks and a goal to be the dominant figure on the ground as the Double Blues engineered their historic win on the back of a six-goal-to-one second term.

[Magellan]

Im glad I went , I ended up seeing perhaps the greatest ever individual performance in an SANFL Grand Final, by Rick Davies

This is an interesting talking point - is there anyone else with a better or equivalent individual effort in a grand final?

For me, not only a standout for a grand final but football in general.

Yes, very impressive stats re: disposals for a ruckman.

[am Bays]

Kernahan was awesome in 1985
Buckley was dominant in 1992
Grigg in a losing side was everywhere in 2018

Those three combined wouldn't match Davies in 1976 IMO

[robranisgod]

Kernahan was awesome in 1985
Buckley was dominant in 1992
Grigg in a losing side was everywhere in 2018

Those three combined wouldn't match Davies in 1976 IMO

Robran in 1971 was the equal of Davies in 1976.
He wasn't bad in 1972 when he was tagged by Woite for 2 1/2 quarters and then Ebert for 1 1/2 quarters and took them both to the cleaners.

[Magellan]

Robran in 1971 was the equal of Davies in 1976.
He wasn't bad in 1972 when he was tagged by Woite for 2 1/2 quarters and then Ebert for 1 1/2 quarters and took them both to the cleaners.

RiG, do you have on hand Robran's stats from the 71 and 72 grand finals?

[am Bays]

Kernahan was awesome in 1985
Buckley was dominant in 1992
Grigg in a losing side was everywhere in 2018

Those three combined wouldn't match Davies in 1976 IMO

Robran in 1971 was the equal of Davies in 1976.
He wasn't bad in 1972 when he was tagged by Woite for 2 1/2 quarters and then Ebert for 1 1/2 quarters and took them both to the cleaners.

I was too busy sucking on my Mum's tit to notice his performance in the 71 GF...

Unfortunately Robran at his best was before my time. However you do see his class in the '73 GF

Met him a few times, there's a picture of him in the dictionary under the word "Class"

[DOC]

one journalist stated that it would be an injustice if Port didn't win the flag.

Didn't Oatey stick that headline up in the change rooms to inspire the players?

I think that's right.

This article appeared in “The News” newspaper on Friday, September 24, 1976, the day before the grand final between Sturt and Port Adelaide.
Expert sporting analyst and commentator, Bruce McAvaney, would tell me in 2009 that Port Adelaide’s odds to win the ’76 grand final would have been “$1.25 or $1.28, hot favourites, a battle against all the odds”.
The headline alone begs a few questions: What role did this article play in catapulting the Double Blues to a historic win over the mighty Magpies? And, just how psychologically important was master-coach Jack Oatey’s speech to his charges the night before?
“The 1976 grand final win over Port Adelaide (by 41 points) was an unbelievable day” said Rick Davies in 2010. “Everything went according to plan. I remember the pre-grand final, Friday night speech with Jack in the ‘Blue Room’ (located in the Harry J. McKay Stand at Unley Oval). An article in The News suggested it would be an ‘injustice’ if Port lost the game. Jack had the article blown up all over the room”.
Named as a reserve that day alongside Richard Hill was 1974 McCallum Medal winner and 1975 Reserves Magarey Medallist, Phil Heinrich, who further explained how Oatey laid the psychological groundwork that planted the seed of unflinching belief into his team.
“Before a grand final we would always go into the Blue Room on the Friday night. Jack would walk in and relax everyone. He’d be laughing saying, “Ah, boys – you can smell it in the air can’t you?” It was that finals feeling. When we walked in that night he had the 20 names of every Sturt player on a board and the names of every Port Adelaide player on the board. We all sat there and he said, “Now, I just want to go through this Port Adelaide side. Can you tell me how many premierships Russell Ebert has played in?” He kept on going through the entire list like this.
Then he said, “Now, let’s go over to Sturt. “Baggy”, how many have you played in? Six? Sandy Nelson, how many have you played in? Six?” And on he went through the entire team and it was building up. And then it hit us. How can a team, even if they were hot favourites, who had won a handful of premierships between them beat a side that had won 40 premierships collectively? I walked away that night with no fear. We were going to win a grand final. What Jack did was make us believe we were going to win”.
Rick Davies’ 78-possession game that day may have won him, deservedly, best-on-ground status (as well as being the greatest individual performance in Australian Rules grand final history), but centre half-forward Robbert Klomp was a close second. A very close second. And he left no doubt in 2009 as to exactly who engineered the famous Double Blue victory in ’76.
“The night before the 1976 grand final, Jack Oatey gave one of the most inspirational talks I have ever been witness to. I still get goose bumps now when I think about that night. The night before we had a team meeting which only ever occurred before a grand final. Jack just laid it on the line. He went through position-by-position, player-by-player, nominating strengths, experience and success. By the end of it, he said, “Guys, how can you possibly believe we can lose this game? They are just no match for us!” Everyone was ready to run through brick walls that night. The game couldn’t come fast enough. We were so focused. We had so much confidence and belief. Port Adelaide never stood a chance”.
Jack Oatey, “The Little Master”, had done it again, just as he had against Port Adelaide in 1966, ’67, and ’68, as the Blues pummelled Port 17.14 (116) to 10.15 (75) in front of 66,897 fans (there was actually 78,000 there) at Football Park.
That day, one man made 20 men believe. And belief creates legends. Nothing is impossible.
And, whilst “The News” sports journalist Alan Shiell did concede in his grand final-eve article that “it would be foolhardy to believe that Port’s first title since 1965 would be a fait accompli (a foregone conclusion)”, he did further add that “this Port-Sturt confrontation is fit to compare with the greatest”.
The greatest, indeed.
Captain Paul Bagshaw would famously call it “Sturt’s finest hour”, and 41 years later, in 2017, Sturt would win the seemingly unwinnable yet again against their old Magpie foe, this time by a point, and this time on Jack’s old stomping ground, Adelaide Oval, under the watchful eye of an almighty stand named in his honour.
Sometimes, football is pure poetry.
We got ‘em again, Jack!

60532746_1512931978843980_66548757314928640_n.jpg (186.59 KiB) Viewed 8287 times

[robranisgod]

This is in no way meant to decry Rick Davies, but his possessions total 63 not 78. 21 kicks, 21 hitouts and 15 handballs.
Never has a player been given a discrete possession for a mark. Marks are displayed as a stat, but they become a possession when the player either kicks or handballs. Free kicks are exactly the same.
Going off on a tangent, I am struggling too with players now being given a stat for a kick out if they kick from outside of the goals square. I am a great fan of Joe Haines but I thought it was wrong that he was credited with a 40 disposal game against North. I think that he had a 30 possession game, still no mean feat. The 10 kick outs after North behinds shouldn't count as stats.

[whufc]

This is in no way meant to decry Rick Davies, but his possessions total 63 not 78. 21 kicks, 21 hitouts and 15 handballs.
Never has a player been given a discrete possession for a mark. Marks are displayed as a stat, but they become a possession when the player either kicks or handballs. Free kicks are exactly the same.
Going off on a tangent, I am struggling too with players now being given a stat for a kick out if they kick from outside of the goals square. I am a great fan of Joe Haines but I thought it was wrong that he was credited with a 40 disposal game against North. I think that he had a 30 possession game, still no mean feat. The 10 kick outs after North behinds shouldn't count as stats.

I agree with you about the kick in stat...really inflates the figures. I guess though letter of the law if they leave the goal square then it is an infield possession.

[robranisgod]

Robran in 1971 was the equal of Davies in 1976.
He wasn't bad in 1972 when he was tagged by Woite for 2 1/2 quarters and then Ebert for 1 1/2 quarters and took them both to the cleaners.

RiG, do you have on hand Robran's stats from the 71 and 72 grand finals?

I have found "unofficial" stats that says that Robran had 30 kicks, 10 handballs, 12 hitouts and 10 marks in the 1971 Grand Final.

[Magellan]

Robran in 1971 was the equal of Davies in 1976.
He wasn't bad in 1972 when he was tagged by Woite for 2 1/2 quarters and then Ebert for 1 1/2 quarters and took them both to the cleaners.

RiG, do you have on hand Robran's stats from the 71 and 72 grand finals?

I have found "unofficial" stats that says that Robran had 30 kicks, 10 handballs, 12 hitouts and 10 marks in the 1971 Grand Final.

Thanks for that, RiG. 40 touches and 10 marks on a wet day, not a bad effort.