SANFL Season 1977 – Round 1: A New Hope

1977 was my final year of high school, Matriculation as it was called back then. My immediate family was falling apart. It had been for years, I had been too young to see it coming, too young to know what to do.

The bright lights of Bolivar would shout out to me through my panoramic bedroom window atop Para Hills.

Footy (and the trots) kept me going, out of the house.

It was the year that I watched Centrals every week, sometimes returning home at midnight after a night at Globe Derby, somehow turning $10 into food, bets and the bus trip home (I’d catch the Globe Derby trots bus back to Gepps Cross, then get the last Para Hills bound bus home).

The Dogs had a dog of a season, finishing last and consigning coach Garry Window to the purgatory that was the SAFA Sunday commentary team at the Adelaide Oval the following year.

As I said, I went every week. Hopeful, hopeless. Two sides of the same coin.
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This Budget was from Round 1, when all teams start equally, when all teams have hope.

What’s a cheque?

I’m not sure who is in front of Stephen Copping, but my money is on his telescopic arms reaching over the back at the last minute to grab the pill. If I had to guess, the Port bloke could be Robert Whatman.

Amscol State Team Footy Colours. Only discovering that it was Bobby Helpmann modelling the jumper (including the 100 year logo) could make this page any more Croweater.

Judge Brebner, failing to foresee the rise of female footy, or females full stop.

Ardath Ardath you’re a star
Beats the other smokes by far
Think I’d better say it twice
Better smokes and better price
Ardath Ardath you’re a star
Beats the other smoke by far

The new look did indeed include a colour poster, the reason that I repurchased this edition. The coveted Caltex Girl of the Week, you’ve come a long way, baby.

B.A. Santamaria did not contribute to the article on page 7 unfortunately.

Beneficial Finance bankrupted SA, but I suppose the $20 per week is some small compensation for what that bunch of unfettered cowboys did to my former state’s economy. You bastards.

Interchangeable reserves, what a mouthful for something that took twenty five years to be adapted into a game changing tactic.

The NFL-VFL wrangle – SA took the moral high ground, fought the good fight, but was never a match for ‘ego and deceit’, which could also describe the events of 1990.

That logo again, although sightings of those centenary t-shirts were as rare as a Mick Nunan hitout. The model must have been carrying Judge Brebner’s boots.

If one of these 100 year crew bags ever turns up on eBay, it’s mine. Unsurprisingly, SA managed to lose the “special centenary match” against WA; I remember being over-stimulated by the 2 1/2 hours of mass bands, skydivers, marching girls and gymnastics that replaced the curtain-raiser, so the excitement probably filtered down into the home rooms too.

Geoff ‘Banger’ Baynes was a Torrens discard who went on to captain South and later add administrative acumen to the Redlegs. An unfashionable but effective on-baller, I’d forgotten that he brought up his 200th game during a brief stint at Woodville. Also the owner of the longest, most boastful LinkedIn status on the planet.

Does anyone remember those epic Canberra TV ads?

Who knows where Dairy Vale now fits into the world of multi-national food production? Their tasty cheddar and chocolate custard were good, but not at the same sitting.

I was marginally over the crossword age limit; the original owner of this Budget missed out on the chance to snag the Norlee.

Loveday, along with his former team mate Trevor Hughes, sold sports goods from their Adelaide Arcade store forever. Their game went up a notch when pitted against business opponents Ebert, Weston, Nelson, Casey, Packer and Poulter.

The SANFL Media Awards are still going strong. I think Lawrie Jervis and Gordon Schwartz won last year. Wally May was stiff. (Peter Argent, don’t be so modest, tell us how you’ve gone)

The Port Road chimney tradition endures today. One day they’ll get around to renaming it to the “Bloch-Neil Chimney”

The Ian McKay photo is SA’s Jezza 1970 equivalent. Bernard Whimpress expands upon it here in a marvellous Almanac article.

I left Carl Fragomeni off the list of sports store proprietors above, but at least the others paid full wholesale price for their gear. Frago got his straight from the wharves. I’ve got no idea who the falling Magpie is, but he is being watched by Centrals’ Wayne Bevan, who amassed 14 touches in his 18 games for the Bulldogs.

No, the headline didn’t refer to a plane crash in the Andes, but the turnover of players between seasons. Centrals’ shock was not that Barry Norsworthy was leaving for Victoria, but that he had picked the 1977 Demons as his destination. Spog Wyley eventually stayed and good riddance to Bevan, who was recruited in 1976 on the basis of his Rothmans Long Kick potential rather than his ability to get to the Ross Faulkner.

Torrens lost three bonzer characters in John Cassin, Norm Dare and Barry McKenzie. Bob Keddie bobbed up at Brighton Road.

Tight white t-shirts were the default setting for advertisers in the bad old days.

Kim Boehm had a tough gig, talking down the gloom-merchants and talking up the Preston v NSW blockbuster at Norwood. The electric scoreboard was even pissier than the VFL Park one, no sepia replays, just bright orange pixels.

Is the Panorama Night Creche still going?

Don Dunstan – Doug Nicholls – inspired choice, but not everyone was ready for it, I’m sorry to say, unlike, say, 2015.

McWilliams Wines were always going to be up against it, trying to sell NSW wine in SA. At least it wasn’t Victorian.

Yep, all states, by dint of the VFA being included. This comp has been meticulously covered by David Eastman here (I cannot recommend this site highly enough, thanks David).

Naturally, Centrals were turfed out by Dandenong, even more naturally, Wayne Bevan kicked a goal for his new team.

No cavalcade around Footy Park on Grand Final Day in 1976 for these retirees. For a start, there would have been about 5,000 spectators run over. Kevin Johns was a ripper bloke who also played a few seasons of A Grade baseball for Centrals and was always good for a head ruffle as he ran off the Ponderosa wearing his famed #9 lace-up or a wink to the U/13 kids as he gathered his glove from the bench after being stranded on third, before a mad dash to centrefield.

I’m getting sick of these interest rates mocking my current investment performance.

I’d completely forgotten Peter Anderson’s two seasons at the Peckers, which sewed up his admission to the coveted 200 Club.

I don’t think that Alan White added to his SANFL career tally.

Remember car stickers?

Murray Ducker was never immortalised in rhyming slang. It’s not too late.

$100 million dollars would barely pay for the Eddie Betts pocket at the refurbished Adelaide Oval.

The list of SANFL Office Bearers has a few gems, the Torrens Chairman kicked on apparently.

In my case, fifteen screwies (What’s a hand pass, I played forward pocket?). Be careful where you park.

Office Bearers continued, handy when you are trying to remember who the Torrens U/17 Team  Manager was in 1977.

Another reminder that SA used to manufacture stuff and make a profit.

A gruelling tale of the season ahead.

A young Roger Luders and the future stepfather of Melbourne’s 2017 AFL coach appeared in the early game at West Lakes (am I the only person to have read “Goody” from cover to cover?) .

Z-Score West 0.0 South 0.1

Yes, that’s right Fos Williams and his kid Mark were not Magpies in 1977. Rusty Hewitt’s dad Glynn and uncle Darryl picked up more SANFL teams than Hugh Grant did Hollywood Boulevard hookers.

Trevor Grimwood won the 1977 Magarey Medal, which was certainly his life’s zenith.

South’s coach was Haydn Bunton Jr, who took the Panthers into the finals in ’77 for the first time in my time as a footy follower. South teams consisted of lots of short blokes with beards in the 70s. Sandy Roberts always had problems with their #4 and #28 on the Big Replay for some reason.

South were down by heaps at half-time, but charged home to get up.

South Adelaide                  3.3         6.4         12.11     17.16 118

West Adelaide                   7.7         10.13     12.18     14.20 104

Z-Score West 0.0 South 0.0 (South 2-1 winners in a rude name shootout)

Is it wrong that a 55 year old bloke can remember most of the given names of the Centrals dew-kickers? Tom Zorich starts the roll call of surnames starting with ‘Z’, Peter Zweck adds some Barossa ballast. Greg Mutze – close but no cigar. North’s multiple reserves Magarey Medallist John Baruzzi had him covered alphabetically as did Paul Marcuzzi, with Mike Doszna running a drum.

Z-Score Centrals 2.1 North 0.5

By 1977, Tony Casserly had moved on from his deli at the Elizabeth South shops (and coaching Centrals) to start Elizabeth’s premier real estate firm with his mate and former Centrals runner Barry Mitchell.

In the 2:20 game, Lyle Skinner and Sonny Morey also both appeared in the first game I ever saw, back in 1967. Man mountain Gary Jones had returned from a couple of  years at Brisbane and Broken Hill to take his place in the goal square. Centrals all-time favourite, Wilbur Wilson was named as 20^th, but I’m not sure how this reconciles with the “interchangeable reserves” concept. Bill Nalder was another in a line of moderately performed Victorian imports that Centrals seemed to favour.

The Roosters were still coached by the Swamp Fox, but his ploy of promising the BPs a week’s supply of Kentucky Fried was wearing a bit thin and this was his last year before he joined the conga line of Saints coaching failures post Alan Jeans. There were only a couple of 71/72 premiership players going around, but the likes of George McInnes, Pat Tocaciu (at the time studying Oenology) and Rex Eatts were indications of where North were at in the years P.B.K (Post Barrie’s Knee)

The Doggies started 1977 with a win. A new hope proved to be a false hope, their 5 ½ wins cementing them to the cellar. A bright start to a dismal season.

Central District                  4.1         10.3       17.8       19.11 125

North Adelaide                  3.5         4.12       11.16     14.19 103

Z-Score Centrals 0.0 North 0.0 (The Roosters get up via the obscure Tocaciu-Hoekman-Jaworskyj rule)

Coach Bobby Gibson didn’t pull on the Blue Stars for the Eagles magoos, but Steve ‘Matthew’s Dad’ Pavlich did. Was that Adelaide Uni Blacks 1986 Premiership rover Steven Moy? I wonder what he is up to these days?

Z-Score Torrens 0.1 Woodville 0.0

This was Kerls’ first year with the Eags, and his tactic of playing the ZZ’s in the Ones bore immediate fruit. Their multicultural lineup read like the Central Market stallholders AGM minutes.

The Peckers were helmed by the softly spoken seminarian John “69/71/72” McInnes. Names like Maylin, McVicar and Sewer couldn’t get them more than ½ a game above the Dogs come Round 22, but their undoubted season highlight (and my undoubted lowlight) was John Roberts 16.3 against Centrals in a few months. But their Bingo was popular.

West Torrens                     4.6         7.10       9.14       12.16 88

Woodville                           4.5         6.7         6.9         11.11 77

Z-Score Torrens 0.2 Woodville 0.0 (Azzopardi B.O.G.)

The original owner of this Budget followed Port.

What was Brucie Light was doing in the early game? He must have had a pre-season setback as he starred in this year’s Grand Final, which this game was a precursor to. Oh look, the Bays played their ‘ZZ’ in the twos, no wonder they lost.

Z-Score Port 0.0 Glenelg 0.2

How many Surrey Downs or Flagstaff Hill rumpus rooms were decked out with the official centenary mirror? My guess is none.

Wowsa, check out the big names in the League Match. Six goals to Bucky Cunningham, all left foot snaps from the scoreboard pocket probably. By the way, this is the only time I’ve ever seen the behinds denoted with a ‘-‘. Port had half of the Eyre Peninsula on board, Greg and Neville Phillips plus Robbie Enright. Dave Granger was certifiably mad hard at the ball, more so against Glenelg. But we’d have to wait five more years for that to come to a head.

This was Big Nick’s first game as coach at Brighton Road. Syd Jackson joined him at the Tigers midway through this season. I heard some stories.

Take a look at the score, SA footy at its attacking best.

Port Adelaide                     7.1         12.7       19.8       25.12 162

Glenelg                                 8.4         13.6       20.9       20.15 135

Z-Score Port 0.0 Glenelg 0.1

The battle of the eastern suburbs neighbours, the Redlegs went all out in the ‘Z’ department before lunch.

Z-Score Norwood 3.0 Sturt 1.1

Ross Dillon in a grass skirt – I’d like to see that. Is Lt Col Whittle still running Kings Travel?

More big names on both sides, but Norwood couldn’t find the uprights, the Native Brand ball straying between the white and red posts far too often. They got it right in 1978 though when these two sides met in the Grand Final.

Although they won today, Sturt suffered the proverbial premiership hangover in 1977, falling from 1^st to 7^th.

One arvo in September 1978, I grabbed a copy of The News on my way into the Napier Building for a twilight Stats Lecture. When I saw the headline POPE SHOT, my first thought was how to rejig the Redlegs half-back line, such was my devotion to the SANFL back then.

Norwood                                           1.9         4.13       8.20       13.24 102

Sturt                                                   4.5         9.8         11.11     18.13 121

Z-Score Norwood 0.0 Sturt 0.0 (the ‘Legs get up via the average surname length rule)

Panthers home match tickets at $12 a season. Don’s Records, attractive girls for Miss Norwood, portable TVs. Sigh.

The Mini-League Teams are always fun to review, thirty eight years later.

For the Dogs, my late cousin Craig makes an appearance, as does the Official Footy Almanac Weather Forecaster (Commercial Division), Brett ‘The Levitator’ Dutschke. Magpie legend Tim Ginever pulled on the green and gold as an 11 year old. That’s Todd Viney captaining Sturt.

I loved going to Cheltenham races during the 80s. My in-laws lived nearby, so we’d often finish the day with a barbie and a Coopers (Light). I still remember some of these names.

As I hinted at above, I had to buy this Budget when I knew that Sonny Morey was the featured poster. I love the lace-up, the jutted jaw, the sideburns and the bright colours. Sonny was the first Centrals player to play 200 games.

Almanacker Peter Argent wrote this account of Sonny’s achievements.

(I don’t think the Budget ever spelt his name correctly, either that or a Japanese conglomerate made him change by deed poll)

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My first real date with a girl of the opposite sex was to the Regent Cinema later in 1977. We saw Star Wars. We broke up immediately.

I did OK in Matric, not as well as I could have, but well enough to get into Economics at Adelaide Uni on a State Government Cadetship. This was fortunate, as I met Mrs Swish via a Highways Department workmate (her sister) once I’d completed my degree. The force is still with me.

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Thanks also to the australianfootball.com site and John Devaney’s “Full Points Footy’s SA Footy Companion”