1987

Background

North were again around the mark in 1973, finishing second with 16 wins and 5 losses.  It was the first year of a new final five system and North had to play Sturt in the qualifying final (second versus third).  North lost by six points and in a strange piece of programming then had to confront Norwood at Norwood Oval in the first semi-final.  Again North struggled to get their game going but, inspired by Robran, eventually got home by five points.  In the preliminary final it all clicked and North humiliated Sturt 25.18 to 9.21.  The 1973 Grand Final against Glenelg was the last to be played at Adelaide Oval and it was a classic.  In a game many observers believe to be the best Grand Final of all time the lead changed hands many times before Glenelg finally won 21.11 to 19.16.

The Club slipped to seventh in 1974 and was fifth in 1975 but was beaten in the Elimination Final.  The next five seasons were very forgettable with the Club finishing 8th, 8th, last, 6th & 8th.  Mike Nunan was appointed senior coach in 1981 and he brought a lot of new ideas to the Club.  North were 8th again in 1981 but improved to win 10 out of 22 games in 1982 although they finished 7th.  Despite only slight improvement in 1983 (11 wins) North made the final five and easily accounted for South in the elimination final before losing to Sturt in the first semi final.

The Club slipped back to 8th position in 1984, winning only six games.  At the Annual General Meeting, North members voted overwhelmingly for change. As a result there were sweeping changes to the Board.

It all came together in 1985 with the team playing skilful run-on football and being undefeated in the first round of matches.  They finished minor premiers but lost the second semi final to Glenelg before defeating West in the Preliminary Final.  Although North led for most of the first half in the Grand Final and had its chances to go in with a comfortable half time lead, in the end Glenelg were too strong.

North continued their domination of the competition in 1986, again finishing minor premiers.  This time North beat Glenelg in the second semi final and were red hot favourites to win the premiership.  However, Glenelg applied a lot of physical pressure (some of it legal) in the Grand Final and North were again defeated.  Many observers predicted that North would be a spent force in 1987.

Contrary to that expectation, North were even more dominant in 1987 and finished minor premiers for the third successive year.  They won 19 out of 22 minor round games, scoring 20 goals or more in nine of those games.  This time they defeated Norwood in the second semi final and waited to see who their opponent would be in the Grand Final.  For the third successive year it was Glenelg.  Despite their clear superiority throughout the year, North were not favoured to win the premiership because they had to face their nemesis of the previous two seasons.

Premiership Team

(Coach : M. Nunan ; Captain : D. Hart)

The Grand Final

Power, guts and glory

Even before the ball was bounced, it was evident that North were not going to be physically intimidated in this game.  This was perhaps best exemplified by big Mick Redden singling out the Stringer brothers and advising them that no rough-house tactics would be tolerated.

North won the toss and kicked with the breeze to the Southern end.  Their early aggression towards the ball and opposition created a few free kicks for Glenelg, but the mood had been set.  At the seven minute mark Sims took a ball from a field bounce and threaded a magical goal through a pack to open North's score.  An even more miraculous goal followed shortly after when Darren Jarman ran on to a loose ball forward of centre, bounced once, and, tucked against the boundary line, threaded a left foot snap from 45 metres.  Roberts, Darren Jarman and Sims all goaled from left foot snaps and the Roosters held a commanding 31 point lead at quarter time. 

It was Glenelg's turn with the breeze in the second quarter, but it took North only 22 seconds to score a goal through Burton after a series of clever taps and handballs.  Glenelg finally opened their account at the seven minute mark, but North's run-on play was magnificent and in two minutes, three goals through Burton, Parsons and Darren Jarman gave North the ascendency again.  Further goals to Parsons and Roberts without reply from Glenelg stretched the lead to 59 points at half time. 

Any thoughts of a come-back from Glenelg were quickly removed when Parsons, Burton, Andrew Jarman and Parsons again all goaled in the first eight minutes of the third term.  The second of these featured a magnificent 'blind' handball from Sims over his head  which hit Burton on the chest as he streaked towards goal.  Knowing the game was won, North probably relaxed a little although they continued to play fantastic football.  Glenelg got the next two goals, then Roberts scored two for North.   Glenelg got another but North rounded off the quarter with another goal to Sims.

Parsons brought up his fifth goal early in the last term and after Glenelg got one back, Roberts scored his fifth after marking a pass from Andrew Jarman.   Two more goals to Glenelg were followed by Parsons' sixth goal and after another two to Glenelg, first Sims and then Andrew Jarman kicked left foot goals to complete a memorable win. 

Paul Weston described the match thus :
"This surely was the greatest performance in the history of the North Adelaide Football Club.  And I don't think it's stretching the point too far to say that, in the mood North players were in on Saturday, any team in Australia would have struggled to beat them.

Think of all the superlatives, and they belong to the Roosters.  North's devastating come-back from all the pain and humiliation of the previous two seasons must rank as one of the most supreme achievements in the annals of SA sport.  It was evident very early in the grand final that it would belong to North because of its fanatical desire for the ball and the way it was absolutely committed to confront every challenge.  Each time a North player went down, team-mates seemed inspired to greater heights.  They couldn't be hurt.  They simply bounced up and tore into the fray repeatedly.

It is one of the best things about team sport that occasionally you can see a performance where every player operates at maximum efficiency, totally committed to a collective goal.  It was always a lop-sided contest, yet North's dominance and the manner in which it went about its annihilation of Glenelg kept almost everybody's attention."

Scores

Goals : Parsons 6.1, Roberts 5.0, Sims 4.1, D. Jarman 3.1, Burton 3.0, A. Jarman 2.1, Hart 0.1, Klomp 0.1, rushed 0.1

Attendance : 50,617

Team Photo

Back row, L to R :  C. Burton, T. Clisby, P. Bennett, J. Brealey, D. Wildy, P. Arnold
Second row, L to R : S. Sims, J. Roe, R. Carlaw, D. Sanders, P. Simmons, S. Riley, W. Slattery, I. White, J. Riley
Front row, L to R :  K. Klomp, M. Armfield, M. Redden, D. Hart (Captain), M. Nunan (Coach), D. Tiller (Vice-Captain), J. Roberts, A. Jarman, D. Jarman