Norwood V South Adelaide, a key piece of history from 1984

Norwood takes on South Adelaide at Coopers Stadium this Saturday, in Round 17 of the 2024 SANFL Season.

Going through the history books, back to back Norwood V South Adelaide matches at Football Park late in the 1984 season were crucial in the lead up to the Redlegs History Makers Premiership.

Remember When… Norwood played South Adelaide in the final minor round match, Round 22 on Saturday, September 1 and then backed up in the Elimination Final the following week on Saturday, September 8, 1984.

In the final minor round game, Norwood easily accounted for the fourth placed South Adelaide by 66 points, 18.13-121 to 8.7-55 and went on to finish the minor round season in fifth place on the SANFL Ladder.

Generally, a team in fifth spot was not expected to go very deep into the finals. Norwood had finished three wins ahead of sixth place West Adelaide, and were playing very consistent football leading up to the finals with 9 wins from their final 11 games.

The Round 22 win meant Norwood and South both finished on a 13-9 win-loss record after the home and away season, with the Panthers securing fourth by 4%, but the Redlegs had the momentum given their winning record over the past 11 weeks of the season, and the triumphant win over the Panthers in Round 22.

The team was unchanged when they went into the Elimination Final the following week.  This match was a key piece in an extraordinary run to the History Makers premiership.

In the Elimination Final, Norwood got off to a handy 25 point lead at half time, but South Adelaide put in a very solid third quarter to see Norwood’s lead reduced to only five points, 13.8-86 to 11.15-81 at the final break.

Norwood’s final quarter was superb adding 8.3 to 1.3, running out 47 point victors, 21.11-137 to 12.18-90 and teeing up a place in the Semi Final against Central District, which the Redlegs went on to win by 13 points.

The rest is famous history, and Norwood secured an 18-point win over Glenelg in the Preliminary Final and a nine-point win over Port Adelaide in one of the most famous Grand Finals in SANFL history.