1977 SANFL Grand Final

The 1977 SANFL (South Australia National Football League) Grand Final saw the Port Adelaide Magpies defeat the Glenelg Tigers by 8 points. The match was played on Saturday September 24 1977 at Football Park in front of a crowd of 56,717 Sunday Mail (Adelaide) newspaper September 25 1977, pages 1,2,61,62,123,124] .

1977 marked 100 years of the SANFL.

Quarter by Quarter Scores

For Port Adelaide, Brian Cunningham had 28 possessions (24 kicks, 4 handballs) and
Russell Ebert had 27 (11 kicks, 16 handballs). Randall Gerlach and Brian Cunningham both took 7 marks.

For Glenelg, Kym Hodgeman had 38 possessions (33 kicks, 5 handballs) and R. Voight had 24 (15 kicks, 9 handballs).
Peter Carey took 11 marks, Graham Cornes took 10 marks.

Goal Kickers

Port: T. Evans 7.2, I. Eckerman 3.2, D. Granger 2.1, B. Cunningham 2.0, M. James 1.3, G. Blethyn 1.1, T. Sorrell 1.0, P. Belton 0.1, (Rushed 0.1)

Glenelg: R. Paech 5.0, D. Phillis 3.0, D. Rady 2.1, P. Carey 2.0, K. Hodgeman 1.2, M. Farquhar 1.0, D. Holst 1.0, S. Jackson 1.0, N. Caldwell 0.1, D. Johnston 0.1, P. McInerney 0.1, W. Phillis 0.1, (Rushed 0.2)

Captains, Coaches, and Umpires

Port Adelaide was captained by Russell Ebert and coached by John Cahill. Glenelg was captained by Wayne Phillis and coached by John Nicholls.

This was John Cahill's first premiership as coach of Port Adelaide Magpies, in his 4th season as coach. Cahill went on to coach Port Adelaide to 10 premierships, with the last coming in 1995.

The game was umpired by Peter Mead and Robin Bennet.

Physicality

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

24 year old Randall Gerlach retired after the game after playing for 2 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 their standards). This 12-year period included 6 grand final losses, with 4 to Sturt and 2 to North Adelaide. The 1977 premiership was the first of 4 premierships in 5 years for Port Adelaide (others were 1979,1980,1981).

2007 AFL Heritage Round

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

External links

* [http://www.portmagpies.com.au/ Port Adelaide Magpies Official Website]
* [http://www.glenelgfc.com.au/ Glenelg Football Club Official Website]
* [http://www.sanfl.com.au/ SANFL Official Website]

References