1905

Background

North had two fairly disappointing years after their 1902 premiership, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

For the 1905 season, they picked up a star recruit in T. D. ("Tommy") MacKenzie from West Torrens. MacKenzie had won the 1902 Magarey Medal and was an established star. Under the direction of captain Jack Reedman (the concept of a coach had not yet evolved), North were a champion team who played magnificent football. They lost only one game for the year and drew another and therefore of course finished minor premiers. They played Norwood (3rd) in their semi final, thrashing them 13.12 to 4.17. Port (2nd) accounted for South (4th) comfortably, thus setting up a North-Port grand final.

Premiership Team

Forward :	E. Johns	A. Daly	J. Reedman
Half-forward :	C. Jessop	W. Drew	P. Fleet
Centre :	J Rees	E. MacKenzie	N. Pash
Half-back :	T. MacKenzie	F Odlum	H. Ward
Back :	A. Ewers	J. Matthews	C. Fotheringham
Followers :	J. Earl	F. Young	H. Pash

(Captain : J. Reedman)

The Grand Final

Defence wins the day

North went into the match as firm favourites, but it was hoped that Port would provide stern opposition. Port won the toss and elected to kick to the Southern end which was favoured by a strong breeze. Play opened at a blinding pace with excellent skills shown by both sides, but after 15 minutes no score had been recorded. Fleet finally scored a goal for North, and Port goaled just before the siren to level the scores. It was to be their only goal of the match.

Almost immediately after the start of the second quarter it was apparent that North were playing the superior game and this they continued to do throughout. Jessop scored an early goal for North but it began to drizzle from mid-way through this term, making conditions slippery and hampering the players. Port were unable to advance at all as North dominated play but North could only add 6 more points for the term.

North were immediately into attack after the long break, scoring an early goal through the agency of Johns and extending their lead to 18 points. From that point defences dominated, until North rallied towards the end of the quarter. Jessop scored their 4th goal just before three-quarter time.

North held sway again in the last quarter and two early goals to Jessop put the issue beyond doubt. North's third premiership in 6 years had been secured.

An interesting sidelight to this game is that Port's final score of 1.6 was the lowest recorded in a grand final, a dubious record that still stands to this day !

Scores

	First	Second	Third	Final
North	1.1(7)	2.7(19)	4.7(31)	6.8(44)
Port	1.1(7)	1.1(7)	1.2(8)	1.6(12)

Goals : Jessop 4, Johns 1, Fleet 1

Attendance : Approximately 11,000

Team Photo

Rear, L to R : J. Burke, B. Gay, C. Fotheringham, R. Gurr, C. Kellett (Committee), J. Pile, J. Matthews, J. McNamara.
Second row, L to R : R. Burton, F. Lewis, W. Shields, T. G. Ward (Secretary), J. Earl, A. Ewers, F. Odlum, B. G. Lamprell (Treasurer), H. Ward, T. Hodge, J. Lewis.
Third row, L to R : F. Young, C. H. Nitschke (Delegate), H. Pash, L. Cohen (Patron), J. C. Reedman (Captain), G. M. Evan (President), E. MacKenzie (Vice-Captain), H. Sutherland, T. MacKenzie.
Front row, L to R : A. Rosser, W. Drew, A. Daly, P. Fleet, J. Rees, C. L. Jessop, N. Pash, E. Johns