The day we won our 27th premiership
GRAND FINAL 1997
Venue: Football Park
Umpires: R.Bettridge, K.Chambers, D.Woodcock. Crowd: 44,161
1st 2nd 3rd Final Pts
Norwood 3.4 6.5 13.8 19.12 126
Port 1.2 3.3 4.7 7.11 53
Date 5 October 1997 Win by 73 points
Best: J.Cunningham, S.Pitt, A.Harvey, L.Bowman, S.Eastaugh, A.Jarman,
G.D’Antiochia, D.Obst, T.Clements, J.Thiessen.
Goalkickers : J West, A Harvey 3, J Cunningham, A Pascoe, R.James, S.Bassett 2,
J D’Antiochia, S Eastaugh, T Clements, G Molloy, S Rowe 1.
Game Review:
Motivated by the absence of suspended captain Garry McIntosh, Norwood emphatically trounced arch-rival Port Adelaide to claim it's 27th premiership.
The Norwood players ran through a banner demanding "Do it for Macca as he would do it for you"
The game was still there to be won at half time, but a stunning 15 minute burst by Norwood in the third quarter put the result beyond doubt at three quarter time, allowing Redlegs supporters to really enjoy the last quarter.
"At the start of the third quarter we looked a little shaky, but then all of a sudden, we were able to break them open, which is what we've been able to do all year," coach Peter Rhode said. "I'm really glad and I think it's fair that it happened in a grand final, because that's what we've done to teams most of the year".
The third quarter also saw a sickening head clash between Todd Davey and Port's Simon Tregenza on the outer wing; resulting in 10 stitches to the Redleg half-back flanker and in Tregenza been hospitalised.
Dynamic rover John Cunningham - whose season appeared over after a knee reconstruction in April was best on ground, and the popular winner of the Jack Oatey Medal. Acting captain Anthony Harvey, speedy wingmen James Thiessen and Damien Obst, the quick hands of Andrew Jarman combined with the rebound of Davey, Steven Pitt, Lachlan Bowman, Jerry D'Antiochia and Dale Fleming exposed the Magpies' lack of genuine speed. Simon Eastuagh and Andrew Pascoe were the two dominant ruckmen on the ground, and gave Norwood first use of the ball.
From The Advertiser 6 October 1997
Our team in the 1997 grand final was :
Coach: P.Rohde
F J.West G.Molloy S.Cook
HF R.James A.Pascoe B.James
C D.Obst A.Jarman J.Thiessen
HB T.Davey L.Bowman T.Clements
B G.D’Antiochia D.Fleming S.Bassett
Followers S.Eastaugh A.Harvey J.Cunningham
Reserves A.Keating S.Rowe S.Pitt
Page prepared by R.Cialini May 2012
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