The 1979 season - quirks

[CK]

May be a couple of Spelly in here, but was just reading the 1980 Football Times Year Book and noticed a couple of oddities:

- When was Rule 33c abandoned? This rule, utlilised by Norwood's Carig Stanbridge to transfer to North, allowed a player who had not played 5 or more games in the last 22, for which he was available for selection, to transfer to another club.

- Port, despite winning the premiership that year, polled the LOWEST number of club Magarey Medal votes for the year. Has this ever happened before?

[spell_check]

I can't answer the first point, but the 2nd is the only time that has happened.

[McAlmanac]

Port, despite winning the premiership that year, polled the LOWEST number of club Magarey Medal votes for the year. Has this ever happened before?

The year Russell wasn't there.

[am Bays]

To me the strangest aspect of 1979 occured next year, how a team that built in the last half of 1978, made the finals in 1979 then crashed and burned in 1980, 81 .....85.

Woodville fans what happened...

[bayman]

To me the strangest aspect of 1979 occured next year, how a team that built in the last half of 1978, made the finals in 1979 then crashed and burned in 1980, 81 .....85.

Woodville fans what happened...

one or two of their greatest supporters started playing for glenelg

[FattyLumpkin]

Rod Olsson didnt help

[McAlmanac]

To me the strangest aspect of 1979 occured next year, how a team that built in the last half of 1978, made the finals in 1979 then crashed and burned in 1980, 81 .....85.

Woodville fans what happened...

Maylin and Roberts gone, then Ralphy and Daryl Hewitt the next year. Best four (or so) players gone. Glynn Hewitt jumped ship too (world's greatest frontrunner?). Goodingham (expert palmer) and Krieg were the rucks - gone too, so no rucks.

And then came Rod Olsson.

[am Bays]

And then came Rod Olsson.

As I was a keen SANFL observer in 1981 but reliant on newspaper clippings from my grandmother that arrived the following Thursday curse living 2600 km away as the crow flies on a remote island in the tropics so I'm not as well versed in the whys and well fors as the Woodville decline.

What specificaloy was so bad about Olssen, No game plan, poor player management or was the club so relatively poor finacially they just couldn't give him the cattle??

Genuinely interested Pecker/Warrior fans

[Adelaide Hawk]

I've always said from a Norwood point of view, the most disappointing seasons were the ones following our premierships .. 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1998.

1979 was wasily the most disappointing. Having won the 1978 premiership, Norwood burst out of the blocks in 1979 with a great win over Hawthorn pre-season and then a big win over Port Adelaide at Alberton in round 1.

Port Adelaide had lost Ebert, Glenelg had lost Cornes, Sturt had lost Winter. The only "Big4" club who improved in personal was Norwood who added Bruce Winter and Rob Barton to their list.

Port, Sturt and Glenelg all slipped in 1979, but to Port's credit they hung in there all season whereas Glenelg and Sturt missed the finals. Norwood's form was up and down all year and were never in realistic touch of a premiership.

Traditional "also-rans" Central, South, and Woodville had good seasons but lack of finals experience cost them in the finals, especially Central and Woodville.

Port didn't have a great year (as indicated by the lack of Magarey votes), but they had a steady one, and their finals experience eventually brought home the bacon in the worst Grand Final in living memory .. thanks to the weather.

The other thing I recall about 1979 was watching Central District v North Adelaide at Prospect Oval in round 11. I was there to watch a mate Mark Doherty play his 1st league game, and he played very well). During the match, John Duckworth was reported for striking. It happened right in front of me, he did it, and yet was surprisingly cleared at the tribunal.

The player he hit was Peter Cloke who had bathed him all afternoon ... and eventually finished runner-up to Duckworth in the medal count. Ironic.

[Leaping Lindner]

I've always said from a Norwood point of view, the most disappointing seasons were the ones following our premierships .. 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1998.

1979 was wasily the most disappointing. Having won the 1978 premiership, Norwood burst out of the blocks in 1979 with a great win over Hawthorn pre-season and then a big win over Port Adelaide at Alberton in round 1.

Port Adelaide had lost Ebert, Glenelg had lost Cornes, Sturt had lost Winter. The only "Big4" club who improved in personal was Norwood who added Bruce Winter and Rob Barton to their list.

Port, Sturt and Glenelg all slipped in 1979, but to Port's credit they hung in there all season whereas Glenelg and Sturt missed the finals. Norwood's form was up and down all year and were never in realistic touch of a premiership.

Traditional "also-rans" Central, South, and Woodville had good seasons but lack of finals experience cost them in the finals, especially Central and Woodville.

Port didn't have a great year (as indicated by the lack of Magarey votes), but they had a steady one, and their finals experience eventually brought home the bacon in the worst Grand Final in living memory .. thanks to the weather.

The other thing I recall about 1979 was watching Central District v North Adelaide at Prospect Oval in round 11. I was there to watch a mate Mark Doherty play his 1st league game, and he played very well). During the match, John Duckworth was reported for striking. It happened right in front of me, he did it, and yet was surprisingly cleared at the tribunal.

The player he hit was Peter Cloke who had bathed him all afternoon ... and eventually finished runner-up to Duckworth in the medal count. Ironic.

If I was a cynic I would say he got off so he could play in the upcoming state game............but that would make me a cynic

[Interceptor]

I've always said from a Norwood point of view, the most disappointing seasons were the ones following our premierships .. 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1998.

1979 was wasily the most disappointing. Having won the 1978 premiership, Norwood burst out of the blocks in 1979 with a great win over Hawthorn pre-season and then a big win over Port Adelaide at Alberton in round 1.

So after '79 had Bob Hammond simply had enough or were there other factors in him leaving?

[Adelaide Hawk]

I've always said from a Norwood point of view, the most disappointing seasons were the ones following our premierships .. 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1998.

1979 was wasily the most disappointing. Having won the 1978 premiership, Norwood burst out of the blocks in 1979 with a great win over Hawthorn pre-season and then a big win over Port Adelaide at Alberton in round 1.

So after '79 had Bob Hammond simply had enough or were there other factors in him leaving?

Bob Hammond resigned as Norwood coach at the end of the 1979 season. The official reason given was that he wanted to give more time to his business. There are some who feel Hammond was already giving that time to his business which distracted him from his coaching.

Let's just say Hammond's arrival and departure at Norwood were timely ones as the club needed to take a different direction on both occasions.

Hammond won 2 flags in his 6 years at Norwood and one cannot be critical of the job he did. IMHO opinion, the era in which Norwood wasted opportunities was the Balme era 1980 to 1990. Considering the talent he had at his disposal, 2 flags really weren't enough.

[Interceptor]

Hammond won 2 flags in his 6 years at Norwood and one cannot be critical of the job he did. IMHO opinion, the era in which Norwood wasted opportunities was the Balme era 1980 to 1990. Considering the talent he had at his disposal, 2 flags really weren't enough.

Definitely agree with both assessments there, although I was too young to see Norwood in the 70s.
Third after third was pretty hard to take towards the end of the Balme era.
After Neville Roberts we didn't have an equivalent spearhead and I reckon that had a fair bit to do with the failure to win a least one more flag.

[am Bays]

Well 1979 was quirky (like 1983) when only 2 of the big four made the finals.

[therisingblues]

South finished minor premier I think. Pretty quirky in itself.
I think 9th place (Sturt) finished just 2 games out of the finals.
Teams' percentages from 2nd to 9th differed only marginally. (Spelly put some stats up before, very quirky from memory)
A very quirky year indeed.

[rogernumber10]

Hammond won 2 flags in his 6 years at Norwood and one cannot be critical of the job he did. IMHO opinion, the era in which Norwood wasted opportunities was the Balme era 1980 to 1990. Considering the talent he had at his disposal, 2 flags really weren't enough.

agree entirely. Some shocking wasted years in there in 81, 85 and a few others. Port in 80 was a great side, and we did better than we should that year, and while West was a great offensive side in 83, we shouldn't have checked out the way we did.

[JK]

Hammond won 2 flags in his 6 years at Norwood and one cannot be critical of the job he did. IMHO opinion, the era in which Norwood wasted opportunities was the Balme era 1980 to 1990. Considering the talent he had at his disposal, 2 flags really weren't enough.

agree entirely. Some shocking wasted years in there in 81, 85 and a few others. Port in 80 was a great side, and we did better than we should that year, and while West was a great offensive side in 83, we shouldn't have checked out the way we did.

85, 87 and 89 were wasted years also (not to mention 1990) when IMHO we should have staked legitimate claims.

[am Bays]

Without sounding too rude, 1985 all you wasted was a grand final spot, no way were we going to lose that year and under wasted premiership year in the dictionary there is a photo of the 1990 Glenelg side...

However I believe Norwood should have beaten us in at least one of the prelims of 87 or 88. Whether you would have beaten North and Port respectively I don't know but having come from the elimination finals of both those years I'm not sure you can say were in the best two teams of those years.

[GWW]

I would agree that Norwood possibly should have won a flag in the second half of the 80's. I do think though that both North and Glenelg had exceptional sides from 85 to 87, and Port had great depth in the late 80's (including a first class backline when Abernethy and Phillips returned to the club).

The difference between the Redlegs and those other 3 teams i think may have been that Port (D Smith, Hodges, Hynes), North (Bennett, Dietrich, Roberts), and Glenelg (Hall, Kernahan) all had established key forwards, whilst i seem to remember Norwood struggled a little more up forward. Ducker and Pascoe were quality forwards, but i do seem to recall Balme experimented a bit at chf in the late 80's with players such as Craig Balme, the Maynards, and maybe even Warhurst.

[JK]

Fair calls lads ... Biggest problem Norwood had in the late 80's was it's playing list was divided due to some off-field troubles, we only saw glimpses of what they were capable of such was the division among the blokes (or so Ive been led to believe).

Apologies for going off topic ... 1979 was just before my time, but it really seemed to be one of those forgotten years, probably due to the GF.