1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival

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Teams

Some Stars of the '79 Perth Carnival

Brian Peake (WA) - Tassie Medallist

Michael Roach (Tas) - leading goal kicker

Peter Moore (Vic) - All Australian team

Kym Hodgeman (SA) - All Australian team

Barry Cable (WA) - All Australian team coach

1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival: Competing Teams
Team	Section	Coach	Captain	Eligibility Criteria	Information
Western Australia	One	Barry Cable	Brian Peake	Category A	After defeating Victoria in the inaugural state of origin match in Perth in 1977, Western Australia had lost twice against the same opponents the following year. This, coupled with a non-state of origin home defeat against South Australia earlier in the '79 season, meant that Barry Cable's sandgropers entered the carnival under something of a cloud. Of the final squad of 26 players 17 were locally based, while 9 plied their trade in the VFL.
Victoria	One	David Parkin	Wayne Schimmelbusch	Category A	Coming into this carnival, the state of origin loss to Western Australia 2 seasons previously had been the Big V's only interstate reversal in its last 25 outings, meaning that Victoria was favoured by most pundits to win the championship. All 26 members of the Victorian squad played with VFL clubs.
South Australia	One	Neil Kerley	Rick Davies	Category A	The 'player drain' had still to affect South Australia anywhere near as much as most other states, but, a shock 5 goal win over Western Australia earlier in the year notwithstanding, the croweaters traditionally tended to under perform in Perth. Consequently, they were not expected seriously to challenge the Vics in their opening game. All but 4 of SA's 26 players were with SANFL clubs.
Tasmania	One (after play off)	Barry Lawrence	Peter Hudson	Category B	On paper, the Tasmanians had a strong list, and were expected to perform creditably. In all, 18 members of the 26 man Tasmanian squad were on the lists of VFL clubs, with 7 players based in Tasmania, and 1 (South Fremantle's Noel Carter) in WA.
Queensland	Two (after play off)	Warren Roper	Barry Clarke	Category B	Queensland football had emerged from the doldrums during the 1970s and the state was the reigning section 2 carnival champion after its success at Sydney 5 years earlier. All but 2 of the 26 Queensland players were home based.
ACT	Two	Kevin Delmenico	Kevin Neale	Category B	Football in the ACT was thriving. In 1978, the side had beaten Tasmania for the first time, and performed creditably against the VFL. Alex Jesaulenko's unavailability left ACT coach Kevin Delmenico with just 1 VFL based player (Michael Conlan) in his 26 man squad.

The inception of state of origin football in 1977 brought renewed interest in interstate competition, for the simple reason that Victorian pre-eminence was no longer guaranteed. In 1979, precisely 100 years after the first intercolonial football match was held, a state of origin carnival, ostensibly run by the National Football League, but with its costs being underwritten by the Western Australian National Football League, was conducted in Perth. Unlike every previous carnival, however, this one took place at season's end, between 4 and 8 October, a move which may have ensured the participation of most of the game's stars, but which conversely seemed to undermine public interest, meaning that the carnival ran at a significant financial loss.

On the football side, however, there could be few complaints, with - in stark contrast to the previous 3 carnivals - all matches bar one being closely contested, and players of the calibre of Bartlett, Templeton, Flower, Dempsey, Moss, Peake, Malarkey, Hunter, Ebert, Davies, Blight, Cornes, Hudson and Roach ensuring that the product on display was of the highest order.

Tasmania and Queensland opened proceedings at Perth Oval, with the Apple Islanders taking control after an even opening term to win in the end by 32 points. This result saw the Tasmanians qualify to participate in section 1, along with the 'heavyweight' states of South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Queensland went on to confront the ACT 3 days later at Leederville in a play off to determine the section 2 champions. In a high standard encounter the Queenslanders, after leading by a solitary point at the long break, added 12 2nd half goals to 7 to win 'pulling away' by 31 points. (Earlier in the season, Australian Amateurs, New South Wales and Northern Territory had been eliminated from contention for the section 2 title, although these games had not been conducted along state of origin lines. Click here for a summary of the results.)

Section 1 got underway with the host state comfortably accounting for a perhaps jaded Tasmanian side by 97 points, before Victoria and South Australia staged a match of breath taking quality that saw the 'Big V' storm home in the last term after there had been nothing between the teams for 3 quarters. In the 3rd place play off encounter Tasmania took the game right up to the croweaters until lemon time, only to wilt during the final quarter, allowing South Australia to ease home by a somewhat flattering margin of 39 points. The final between Western Australia and Victoria was another genuine classic, with the sandgropers' 6 goals to 3 final term ultimately enabling them to take the spoils. The state of origin concept had been vindicated in the most spectacular and dramatic way.

1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival: Match Results
Thursday 4 October - Perth Oval: Section 1 Qualification Play Off
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
Tasmania	2.7	10.10	14.16	17.20	122
Queensland	3.1	6.7	9.7	13.12	90
Goals -	Tasmania:	Hudson 7; Carter, Davis 3; Roach 2; Pickett, Young
	Queensland:	Rushbrook 4; Clarke, Dunell 2; Backwell, Guilford, Ives, Stackpoole, Z.Taylor
Best -	Tasmania:	Sutton, Marsh, James, Hudson, Good, Neal
	Queensland:	Clarke, Pretty, Stackpoole, Rushbrook, Dunell, Murrie
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Saturday 6 October - Subiaco Oval: Section 1 Semi Final 1
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
Western Australia	4.5	10.7	13.12	23.23	161
Tasmania	2.3	3.7	7.10	9.10	64
Goals -	Western Australia:	Buhagiar 6; Spencer 3; Beecroft, Featherby, Monteath, Moss, Sidebottom 2; Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Melrose, Michael
	Tasmania:	Carter, Davis, Goulding, Hamilton, Marsh, Martyn, Roach, Towns, Williams
Best -	Western Australia:	Monteath, Magro, Peake, Malarkey, Hunter, Moss
	Tasmania:	Sutton, Good, James, Davis, Marsh, Mount
Back Back to Top
Saturday 6 October - Subiaco Oval: Section 1 Semi Final 2
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
Victoria	7.10	12.17	17.23	25.30	180
South Australia	4.2	15.7	19.13	20.15	135
Goals -	Victoria:	Bartlett, Templeton 4; Irwin, Moore 3; Dempsey, Schimmelbusch, Wilson 2; Cloke, Flower, Nankervis, Tuck, Turner
	South Australia:	Bennett, Blight 4; Graham 3; Jonas 2; Cornes, Davies, Ebert, Fry, Lindsay, Morris, Phillips
Best -	Victoria:	Wilson, Bartlett, Picken, Cloke, Tuck, Irwin
	South Australia:	Cornes, Blight, Carey, Jonas, Ebert, Hodgeman
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Sunday 7 October - Leederville Oval: Section 2 Final
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
Queensland	6.4	11.5	18.8	23.13	151
ACT	5.2	11.4	13.10	18.12	120
Goals -	Queensland:	Clarke 5; Banfield, Rushbrook 4; Ives, Jones, Pretty, Stackpoole 2; Karklis, Thompson
	ACT:	Neale 4; Conlan, Manson, Smith, Widera 3; Rafferty 2
Best -	Queensland:	Clarke, Rushbrook, Karklis, Banfield, Gillespie, Jones
	ACT:	Conlan, Miller, Kenny, Rafferty, Smith, Widera
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Monday 8 October - Subiaco Oval: Section 1 3rd Place Final
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
South Australia	4.6	9.12	15.13	22.20	152
Tasmania	3.2	10.4	15.9	17.11	113
Goals -	South Australia:	Davies, Jonas, Lindsay, Meuret 3; Hewitt, Hodgeman, Morris 2; Carey, Graham, Klomp, Nunan
	Tasmania:	Roach 6; Good 3; Carter, Davis, Hunnibell 2; Mount, Pickett
Best -	South Australia:	Hodgeman, Taylor, Cornes, Jonas, Morris, Meuret
	Tasmania:	Sutton, Robertson, Hunnibell, Good, Davis, Roach
Back to Top
Monday 8 October - Subiaco Oval: Section 1 Final
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Pts
Western Australia	2.4	6.9	11.15	17.21	123
Victoria	6.1	9.3	13.9	16.12	108
Goals -	Western Australia:	Michael, Spencer 4; Melrose 3; Bosustow 2; Buhagiar, Featherby, Monteath, Sewell
	Victoria:	Wilson 5; Bartlett, Cloke 2; Allan, Flower, Irwin, Moore, Raines, Turner
Best -	Western Australia:	Peake, Monteath, Magro, Spencer, Buhagiar, Sewell
	Victoria:	Doull, Moore, Tuck, Turner, Wilson, Bartlett

1979 All Australian Team

South Australia	Peter Carey (Glenelg), Graham Cornes (Glenelg), Kym Hodgeman (Glenelg), Peter Jonas (Central District), Geoff Morris (West Adelaide)
Tasmania	Des James (Sandy Bay), Michael Roach (Richmond), Darryl Sutton (North Melbourne)
Victoria	David Cloke (Richmond), Bruce Doull (Carlton), Peter Moore (Collingwood), Kelvin Moore (Hawthorn), Michael Tuck (Hawthorn ), Michael Turner (Geelong), Garry Wilson (Fitzroy)
Western Australia	Tony Buhagiar (East Fremantle), Ken Hunter (Claremont), Gary Malarkey (Geelong), Bruce Monteath (Richmond), Brian Peake (East Fremantle - captain), Barry Cable (East Perth - non-playing coach)

1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival: Tassie Medal

WINNER: Brian Peake (Western Australia)

1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival: Leading Goalkickers

M.Roach (Tasmania) 9; R.Rushbrook (Queensland) 8; A.Buhagiar (Western Australia), B.Clarke (Queensland), P.Hudson (Tasmania), P.Spencer (Western Australia) & G.Wilson (Victoria) 7

Selection Eligibility Criteria for the 1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival
Category	Criteria
A	Selectors had access to any players who had played their first senior games in the major competition of their own state (i.e. SANFL for SA; VFL-Victoria; WANFL-WA).
B	In addition to being able to select any players who had played their first senior games in their own states, selectors had access to any interstate players based there who were not required by the selectors of their home states.

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