The 1994
South Australian National Football League
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport.
...
(SANFL)
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
saw the
Port Adelaide Magpies defeat the
Woodville-West Torrens Eagles by 37 points after being 35 points behind in the first quarter. The match was played on 2 October 1994 at
Football Park
Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian N ...
in front of a crowd of 40,598.
Background
Despite
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...
's recent success, having won 4 premierships in the 6 years leading up to 1994, the
Eagles
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
were seen as the superior team coming into the Grand Final. Port had lost several key players in recent years to the
AFL and retirement, and the Eagles had thrashed Port just 2 weeks earlier in the 2nd Semi Final by 73 points.
Betting before the Grand Final saw
Woodville-West Torrens as clear favourites with 1/3 odds and
Port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
at 25/10.
[1994 Grand Final Port Adelaide v Eagles 2/10/94, video cassette, ABC Sport]
Port's odds could have been even higher if not for their outstanding record in Grand Finals, and their reputation for beating better teams.
Match Summary
At the 25-minute mark of the first quarter, the Eagles led by 35 points and seemed to be headed towards certain victory. Port kicked the last 2 goals in the quarter to leave the Eagles with a 22-point lead.
The second quarter was evenly matched with both teams scoring 2.3, however the Eagles still seemed to have the game under control.
Port Adelaide fought back in the third quarter and outplayed the Eagles, but Port failed to capitalise due to inaccurate kicking for goal, scoring 2.6 (18) to 1.2 (8) for the quarter and still trailing by 12 points.
Port went into the final quarter with momentum and ran over the top of the Eagles. Port kicked 3 goals in the first 7 minutes to take the lead, and kicked 9.3 (57) to 1.2 (8) for the quarter to run out winners with a margin of 37 points. Full-forward
Scott Hodges kicked 5 goals for the quarter.
Teams
Port Adelaide was captained by
Tim Ginever and coached by
John Cahill. Woodville-West Torrens was captained by Peter Schwarz and coached by Bruce Winter.
SANFL Premiership Teams
Scorecard
Jack Oatey Medal
The Jack Oatey Medal for best player in the Grand Final was awarded to Darryl Wakelin of Port Adelaide.
External links
Port Adelaide Football Club Official Website
Eagles Official Website
SANFL Official Website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1994 Sanfl Grand Final
South Australian National Football League Grand Finals
Sanfl Grand Final, 1994