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GLENELG - Part One
Affiliated: SAFL 1921-26; SANFL 1927-present
Club Address: P.O. Box 72, Glenelg 5045, South Australia
Home Ground: Challenge Recruitment Oval (formerly known as Glenelg Oval)
Formed: 1920
Colours: Black and gold
Emblem: Tigers (also popularly known as ‘the Bays’)
Premierships: SENIORS - 1934, 1973, 1985, 1986 (4 total) SECONDS/RESERVES - 1967, 1981-2, 2007 (4 total) THIRDS/UNDER 19S (from 1936) - 1959, 1967, 1969, 1979, 1992 (5 total) COLTS/UNDER 17S (from 1939) - 1958-9-60, 1971, 1975 (5 total) OTHER PREMIERSHIPS - Stanley H. Lewis Memorial Trophy 1969, 1973, 1975-6, 1981, 1990 (6 total) SANFL Night/Knock-out/Pre-season Series 1959, 1971, 1982, 1990, 1992 (5 total)
Magarey Medallists: J.Handby 1928; G.Johnston 1934; M.Brock 1940; M.Boyall 1941; A.Crabb 1949*; D.Phillis 1969; K.Hodgeman 1978; A.McGuinness 1982; B.Backwell 2006 (8 total)
Tassie Medallists: Graham Cornes 1980 (1 total)
All Australians: F.Davies 1953; B.Colbey 1969; G.Cornes 1979 & 1980 (as a player), and 1987 and 1988 (as non-playing coach); P.Carey 1979 & 1980; K.Hodgeman 1979; K.Kuhlmann 1980; S.Kernahan 1985; C.McDermott 1986 & 1987; S.Salisbury 1987 (12 total)
League Top Goalkickers: J.Owens (80) 1928, (83) 1929 & (102) 1932; C.Churchett (88) 1948, (72) 1949, (105) 1950 & (102) 1951; D.Phillis (137) 1969, (107) 1970, (99) 1971, (108) 1975 & (98) 1976 (12 total)
Glenelg's 'Hall of Fame': Click here
Highest Score: 49.23 (317) vs. Central District 11.13 (79) at Glenelg Oval in round 17 1975
Most Games: 448 by Peter Carey from 1971 to 1988
Record Home Attendance: 17,171 on 20 July 1968: Sturt 13.13 (91); Glenelg 13.12 (90)
Record Finals Attendance: 58,113 for the 1974 grand final at Football Park: Sturt 9.16 (70); Glenelg 8.7 (55)
Overall Success Rate 1921-2007: 43.3%
* indicates awarded retrospectively by SANFL in 1998.
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Bay Beauties |
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The Bay Oval during the Kerley era was very much the place to be - and be seen - on a Saturday afternoon. |
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| For a club which commenced its league career in just about
the most inauspicious way imaginable Glenelg have enjoyed a fair amount of
success, though not perhaps enough to satisfy its
many supporters. A return of four SANFL premierships in eighty-four seasons is respectable
but by no means outstanding; however, when you consider that three of those
premierships have come since 1973, and that the club has claimed the runners up
spot on no fewer than eight occasions during that same period, you cannot escape the
conclusion that the reputation of the Glenelg Football Club could - some would
doubtless say should - have been a whole lot different.
"Nearly always the bridesmaid but seldom the bride" might be a somewhat facile observation, but it adequately describes the fortunes of Glenelg since the appointment of Neil 'Knuckles' Kerley to the senior coaching position for the 1967 season. Kerley remained at the Bay Oval for ten seasons, and during that time he established an unfortunate 'tradition' which each of his next half a dozen successors were to maintain, albeit unwittingly. In 1966 the Tigers had finished bottom of the pile, a position with which they were by no means unfamiliar, and the immediate prospects for improvement did not look at all promising. For much of the 1966 season, the Glenelg players had functioned as loose cogs, lacking the cohesion and purpose which yields results (see footnote 1). |
Neil Kerley |
Glenelg commenced their 1967 campaign with virtually the same group of players who had managed just 3 wins from 20 starts the previous year, but almost from the opening bounce of the season it became apparent that there was a difference. At the risk of being over-simplistic, that difference was Kerley. Having already coached both West Adelaide (in 1961) and South Adelaide (in 1964) to premierships - the latter after a wooden spoon the previous year - 'the King' as he was affectionately known was eminently qualified for a job which few would have wanted. More to the point, it was exactly the kind of challenge he relished. As a playing coach, he led by inspiration, after the fashion of his great Victorian rival (and friend) Ted Whitten. Kerley's teams tended to play in a resolute, hard-hitting, full-throated fashion which reflected his own philosophy, and the result in Glenelg's case, as it had been in South's, was a rapid climb up the premiership ladder.
In his first season with the Bays, Kerley led from the front in classic style, winning the club's best and fairest award. It was noted that
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Ken Eustice |
Often last season his broad shoulders, strong legs and outsize heart guided his young Tiger cubs to victory. Kerley has a reputation as a man of brawn but adversaries are quick to concede that that phase of his game is no more devastating than his football brain. Since 1953 when he coached Kollymilka to a premiership in the Woomera League, he has not missed a major round. (See footnote 2) During the 1967 season a number of highly promising youngsters - notably Graham Cornes, Peter Marker and Rex Voigt - had been unearthed, but the retirement at the end of the year of several experienced players left a serious gap which Kerley sought to plug, at least in part, by the audacious recruitment from Central District of his former West Adelaide team mate, Ken Eustice. Famously described by Fos Williams as "pound for pound, the best footballer in Australia", 1962 Magarey Medallist Eustice was still very much at his peak as a player, and was a proven on field leader. |
For most of the 1968 season, Kerley's record of never having failed to propel his teams to finals participation seemed likely to continue, as Glenelg - the new 'glamour team' of South Australian football - appeared to be playing with even greater cohesion and purpose than in 1967. For a time, the side even looked likely to qualify for the double chance, but in the final few minor round matches the underlying inexperience of the team told, and the loss of a couple of key games ultimately saw the Tigers finish a game shy of finals qualification in 5th place.
| Identifying inexperience, and the susceptibility under pressure which often attends it, as the team's main weakness, Kerley enticed former Bay ruckman Harry Kernahan, who had spent the previous three seasons in Whyalla, back to the fold. It was an inspired move, as Kernahan enjoyed a splendid season, capped by selection for South Australia at the 1969 Adelaide Carnival. He was not alone: Ken Eustice, whose form in 1968 had been patchy, was back to his brilliant best, winning the club's best and fairest award; half back flanker Brian Colbey was one of half a dozen Tigers included in South Australia's carnival squad and was accorded All Australian status; high flying Ray Button, who had been under a cloud with injury for several seasons, recaptured his most dynamic and spectacular form to give the side a formidable marking presence in the forward lines; and previously wayward full forward 'Fred' Phillis finally found his shooting boots to become the first SANFL player since Colin Churchett (also of Glenelg) in 1951 to kick a century of goals. Phillis was rewarded with the 1969 Magarey Medal, becoming in the process the first full forward in history to win the award. |
Mercurial Glenelg half forward Ray Button. Click image to enlarge. |
Prior to the Australian championships in June Glenelg was in awesome, indefatigable form, winning all 9 matches played, and all bar one by hefty margins. Combining the power and aggression traditionally associated with Port Adelaide with precision skills of the sort that that had carried Sturt to the previous three premierships, the Bays looked to have found a guaranteed winning formula, in the process elevating football in South Australia to a new level. During the 2nd half of the season, however, a few chinks began to appear, and losses during the final 9 games to each of the other three eventual finalists - Sturt, West Adelaide and West Torrens - posed more questions than they answered.
| Some of the answers were perhaps uncovered during a 2nd
semi final in which Glenelg proved incapable of maintaining a finals intensity
for the full two hours, and eventually went under by 38 points to resurgent Sturt
which had seemingly come good just at the right time. In the following
week's preliminary final, however, the Bays tapped into a vein of form
reminiscent of that which they had displayed during the first half of the year,
and swept West Adelaide aside with ease by 53 points.
Pundits previewing the 1969 grand final were confronted by a quandary: which was the 'real Glenelg'? Equally to the point, what impact would Royce Hart, who had been leased by the South Australian Tigers from their Victorian counterparts, have on the game? (See footnote 3) Perhaps predictably, the forecasters were divided, although on balance there were probably slightly more who sided with the preview writer in the grand final issue of the 'Football Budget' in regarding the Double Blues' extra finals experience as the most likely decisive factor (see footnote 4). Bill Sutherland, however, writing in 'Footy World', was not entirely alone in predicting an upset: |
Prime Minister John Gorton tosses the coin prior to the start of the 1969 preliminary final Click image to enlarge.. |
I expect Glenelg to have reaped enough benefit from last Saturday's victory against West Adelaide to enable them to take their second League premiership.
And:
I think that the Glenelg side is at least five goals better than recent Port Adelaide final sides. Bearing in mind that Sturt took three and a half quarters to get away from the Magpies last year........I think Glenelg will take this year's pennant. (See footnote 5)
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'Fred' Phillis in action - click on image to see an enlarged version. |
To the immense disappointment of its hordes of
success-starved supporters, Glenelg capitulated to both tension and the
opposition, in more or less equal measure, in the 1969 grand final. Sturt
won with almost embarrassing ease by 65 points, racking up a record grand final
score in the process. Possibly the only bright spot to emerge for the Bays
was the effort of 'Fred' Phillis' in edging past Ken
Farmer's thirty-three year old record for the most goals kicked by an individual in a
season. Back in 1936, Farmer had booted 134 goals; Phillis' 5 in this
match took his total for the year to 137. This achievement by Phillis
apart, however, Marker, Hart, Terry Crabb, Chris Hunt and Kernahan were almost
alone among the Glenelg players in putting in performances commensurate with
their
ability. 'King'
Kerley, who retired as a player after the game, clearly had his work cut out
to transform Glenelg from also rans into the genuine article.
For much of the 1970 season, however, the team appeared to be going backwards, and in the end finals qualification was only procured on percentage. With just 11 wins from 20 minor round games - the lowest total by a finalist since 1962 - Glenelg had done little to convince anyone of its premiership credentials. September is a month apart, however, and the Tigers of 1970 played probably the club's best finals football since its only ever flag, in 1934. Both the 1st semi final, against North Adelaide, and the preliminary final, against Port Adelaide, were hard, gruelling affairs against high standard opposition, but the Bays performed with conviction and tenacity in both to emerge victorious by 16 and 18 points respectively. 'Fred' Phillis booted his 100th goal of the season in the preliminary final. |
If the two lead up finals had been arduous, they were nothing compared to the 'big one'. On a cool, wet, windy afternoon, viewed by probably less than half of the 48,575 spectators in attendance (see footnote 6), Glenelg and Sturt engaged in two hours of open air, all in mud wrestling in which the Double Blues' 4 goals to 1 3rd quarter proved decisive. Peter Marker, with 30 possessions, played a splendid game for Glenelg in the pivot, with Graham Cornes, Ray Button, Brian Colbey and John Sandland also prominent. Perhaps crucially, however, Bays rover Rex Voigt, later to win the club's 1971 best and fairest award, was heavily felled early on, and managed only 6 kicks over the final three quarters of the match. Meanwhile, Sturt rovers Rigney and Endersbee were among their side's most damaging performers.
| At Glenelg's Annual General Meeting in February coach Neil Kerley told club members that the team was "at the crossroads" and "a premiership was essential in 1971 or 1972" (see footnote 7). In the event, the 1971 and '72 seasons proved to be Kerley's worst as a league coach up to that point, as the Bays plummeted to 6th both years. In hindsight, it seems clear that Kerley's 'Mark 1' Tigers reached their peak in 1969, when a premiership was probably within reach, but was ultimately missed; then, following the retirement over the next few seasons of key, experienced players like Doug Long (who retired in 1969 after 135 games), Ken Eustice (1970 - 52 games), Harry Kernahan (1971 - 176 games), Keith Pattinson (1971 - 91 games), Terry Crabb (1971 - 65 games) - not to mention Kerley himself (1969 - 55 games) - it became necessary to re-build. In this context, Glenelg's 1970 grand final appearance can be viewed as a veritable over-achievement, while its returns of 9 wins in 1971 and 11 wins in '72 were probably more truly indicative of ability. All this time, however, the seeds of the club's greatest ever season - indeed, one of the greatest seasons in South Australian football history - were being sown. |
Doug Long wins a ruck tap against Norwood at the Bay. An enlarged version of the image can be viewed by clicking on it. |
In 1973, the quintessential 'Kerley method' - glimpsed, perhaps, in 1964 with South Adelaide, and again with the 1969 Tigers - came at last to full fruition. Glenelg in '73 was, in terms of its average standard of performance, a VFL side in all but name. With the exception of its round 7 meeting with North Adelaide at Prospect it not only never lost, but - until that fateful 'one day in September' - it never looked even remotely like doing so. "There's greater depth this year," observed Kerley half way through the year, endeavouring to pinpoint the reason for the team's spectacular improvement. "And we've got bigger players - and the biggest are a lot quicker than those of the past. Experience is another factor. This is a good side." (See footnote 8)
Just how good became clear after the round 15 return meeting with North Adelaide when the Bays blasted the reigning Australian champions off Glenelg Oval to the tune of a staggering 160 points. It was, according to Kerley, "the best effort I've seen from a Glenelg side", while Alan Shiell, writing in 'The Sunday Mail', suggested that "the remarkably ruthless manner in which Glenelg tore North apart almost defies description". (See footnote 9)
The Bays were in a similarly merciless frame of mind for the 2nd semi final, in which they demolished their nemesis of '69 and '70, Sturt, with arrogant ease, 20.13 (133) to 11.10 (76). Surely now nothing could stand in the way of 'Kerley's Mob' as they sought that elusive 'holy grail' of football, the Thomas Seymour Hill trophy?
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No, not that mark, but one of many other 'screamers' taken by Graham Cornes during his 16 season, 317 game League career with the Bays. Click image to enlarge. |
The 1973 SANFL grand final, the last to be played on Adelaide Oval, would have to be a serious contender for the title of 'best ever'. Glenelg's grand final opponents, North Adelaide, had, in addition to the 1972 club championship of Australia, won both of the previous two premierships and, in Barrie Robran, boasted a player who, in the view of some, was the most audaciously gifted exponent of the game in history. In the previous weekend's preliminary final the Roosters had vanquished the Double Blues with even greater conviction, and by an even greater victory margin (87 points), than Glenelg had managed in the 2nd semi. This time 'round it most emphatically would not be a repeat of the round 15 meeting between the two sides. Right from the outset of the 1973 grand final it was clear that Glenelg was in for its toughest match for some time. Kicking with the aid of a strong breeze, North Adelaide withstood a strong start from the Tigers to outscore them 7.6 to 4.3 in a vibrant, free-flowing opening term. The 2nd quarter saw the Bays fight back to lead 9.10 to 8.10 at half time, and when they emerged from a topsy turvy 3rd term still 8 points to the good, and with the aid of the wind to come in the final quarter, victory, and that long sought flag, seemed assured. However, the Roosters staged a desperate fight back which saw them lead by 5 points with three minutes of time-on already played. What followed rapidly found a place in South Australian football folk lore - not to mention becoming a conspicuous cornerstone of the tradition, indeed the very soul, of the Glenelg Football Club. |
With time running out, the Bays mounted one last, frenzied assault on goal, only to come up against the stern, resolute figure of North Adelaide's veteran full back, Bob Hammond, who had been virtually impassable all day. With an apparent calmness that he probably did not feel, Hammond careered out of the backlines paddling the ball in front of him; finally, the ball reached a recumbent Neil Sachse in the left half back flank region, and he endeavoured to handball it over the boundary line. However, Glenelg's twentieth man, Craig Marriott, who had only just come onto the ground, and was probably the only player afield still with a spring in his step, managed to intercept the ball, and launch a towering, hopeful punt kick back towards goal. The ball came back to earth in Glenelg's right forward pocket, directly into the hands of Graham Cornes, who had taken the preliminary insurance of perching two metres above the ground on the necks of the waiting pack. Cornes, who had scarcely been sighted all afternoon, coolly went back and goaled with a nonchalance that belied the acuteness of the angle: Glenelg was in front by a point.
If poetic justice had been served, that was how it ought to have ended, but Glenelg's nineteenth man John Sandland added another goal after the siren to give an illusion of comfort to the scoreline, the Bays winning by 7 points, 21.11 (137) to 19.16 (130). Centre half forward Peter Carey and rover-cum-forward pocket Rex 'Noddy' Voigt, with 6 and 7 goals respectively, vied for Glenelg's best, while prolific kick winning centreman Kerry Hamilton, Western Australian rover Greg Bennett, and full back Peter Anderson - a former North Adelaide player - were others among many to shine. (Visit the GREAT GAMES section for an in-depth review of this match.)
In the Australian club championships the following week Glenelg, playing in unfamiliar pastel-coloured jumpers, probably paid the price for conferring too much respect on 1st round opponents, Richmond, enabling the VFL Tigers to 'get the jump' and lead by 41 points at the main break. Thereafter, Glenelg performed much more fluently, getting to within 15 points at the death. In the consolation match, Tasmanian team Scottsdale was comprehensively put to the sword, the Bays winning by 133 points, 29.27 (201) to 10.8 (68).
When asked about the secret of his coaching success, Kerley denied that he had one. "My methods have been the same with West, South and the Bays," he said, adding that the only thing he would not tolerate was "anything less than 100% effort" (see footnote 10).
Where now?
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Footnotes
1. Reviewing the Tigers' 1966 season the 1967 South Australian Record Year Book, page 27, suggested that the primary reason for the side's fall from grace was that had "relied on the efforts of too few - players such as Colin Richens, Doug Long, Bob Anesbury and Brian McGowan". Moreover, "The selectors 'blooded' many newcomers but gave them insufficient time to settle down. And the incentive payment of $30 for winning a match was not the answer." Return to Main Text
2. 1968 South Australian Football Record Year Book, page 64. Return to Main Text
3. Richmond centre half forward Hart, who was a National Serviceman, had been stationed in Adelaide during the 1969 season, and had been training with Glenelg under Kerley during the week. However, at weekends he would be flown across to Melbourne by Richmond in order to play in the VFL. A drawn game in the SANFL finals meant that the SA grand final would be played a week later than that in the VFL, and a somewhat controversial leasing arrangement was entered into whereby Hart, who had been a member of Richmond's grand final winning team the week before, could play alongside his season long training companions in a bid to make it 2 flags in 2 weeks. Return to Main Text
4. 'South Australian Football Budget', 4/10/69, page 6. Return to Main Text
5. 'Footy World', volume 3, number 27, 30/9/69, page 1. Return to Main Text
6. On a fine day, a football match at Adelaide Oval afforded optimal viewing for a maximum of perhaps 40,000 spectators. If it rained, however, the 'umbrella factor' came into play, reducing that total significantly. Return to Main Text
7. Reported in the 1971 South Australian Football Record Year Book, page 33. Return to Main Text
8. Quoted in Pride of the Bay: the Story of Glenelg Football Club by Peter Cornwall and John Wood, page 202. The word 'good' is a Kerley-ism meaning 'superb, outstanding or great'. Return to Main Text
9. Ibid, page 202. Return to Main Text
10. 1974 South Australian Football Record Year Book, page 11. Return to Main Text