Ron Phillips, shown above receiving the first of his two successive Magarey Medals in 1948.

On the resumption of full scale competition in 1945 the red and whites remained competitive, reaching the first semi final before losing to eventual premiers West Torrens in controversial circumstances. With the score locked at 100 points apiece the bell rang to end the game, but umpire Aplin, failing to hear it, allowed play to continue, whereupon Torrens rover Jim Thoms kicked what proved to be the match-winning goal. North's post-match protests were in vain as the laws of football clearly state that play shall cease, not when the bell (or siren) sounds, but when "the field umpire signifies that he has heard it by sounding his whistle".

During the remaining years of the 1940s North looked to be experiencing their customary fade-out, failing to reach the finals between 1946 and 1948. However, in 1949 the club appointed Ken Farmer as senior coach and he proved to have an immediate and beneficial impact. The northerners finished minor premiers with 12 wins from 17 before annihilating Norwood to the tune of 73 points in the second semi, 23.14 (152) to 11.13 (79). The grand final against West Torrens was more closely contested, but North were never really in trouble and finally got home by 23 points, 13.17 (95) to 9.18 (72). Farmer's master stroke this year was restoring thirty-three year old former Magarey Medallist Jeff Pash to the senior side. Pash had spent the entire 1948 season in the Seconds, but in 1949 he held down centre throughout the year and was particularly prominent in the grand final.

North's customary premiership hangover saw the side drop to 5th in 1950, but they were back as a force the following year when they featured in a pulsating grand final against Port Adelaide, which the Magpies finally won by 11 points, 10.12 (72) to 8.13 (61).

The team's valiant effort in 1951 had a discernible effect off the field as club membership rose to a record 1,700 the following year. On the field, too, there was progress, with the side winning 14 out of 17 matches to secure the minor premiership, followed by a stirring 3 point victory over Port Adelaide in the second semi final.

The grand final record crowd of 50,105 spectators who turned up expecting to see a closely fought tussle between North and Norwood were not disappointed in the first term as the red and whites edged their way to a 3.1 to 2.0 lead. However, thereafter the game developed into something of a rout, North adding 20.14 to 4.9 over the remaining three quarters to win by a SANFL grand final record margin of 108 points.

North's pre-eminence was once again annoyingly brief. In 1953 they managed only 8 wins from 18 matches to miss the finals, although one of their wins was quite noteworthy.  In round 9 North defeated Norwood by 4 goals at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of an impressively large - and largely impressed - audience of 20,000 spectators.

For most of the remainder of the 1950s North continued to disappoint, managing only two further finals appearances for the decade. In 1959 the team finished second to last with just 4 wins for the year from 18 matches, one of the worst returns in the club's entire history up to that point. Clearly, some drastic remedial action was required.

Ian McKay, North full back, and arch nemesis of Essendon great John Coleman.

1950s action: Bill McKenzie takes a 'ripper'.  (Click on the image to view an enlarged version.)

True to form, North followed their premiership success with a mediocre showing a year later to miss out on the finals. It was a similar story in 1962, but in 1963 the Roosters - as they were by now popularly known - made the grand final from 3rd after finals wins over West Adelaide (by 4 goals) and West Torrens (by 2 points). On grand final day, however, Port Adelaide effectively won the match in the first term by registering 5.8 to 0.1, and although the remaining three quarters were fairly evenly contested at no stage did North appear capable of mounting a seriously sustained challenge.

North missed the finals in 1964 and 1965 but they returned in 1966 with a 25 point first semi final win over South Adelaide followed by an abject 85 point capitulation to eventual premiers Sturt in the preliminary final. Of immeasurably greater long term significance, although it could hardly have been realised at the time, the club's Annual Report for 1966 noted:

High hopes are held that Barrie Robran......will continue to show the form of this season's Second Eighteen Finals. Barrie could be an important acquisition to our senior side. [see footnote 6]