Paul Roos has done an amazing job
G'Day Footy Fans - PAUL ROOS WINS COACH AWARD GENERAL NEWS Recreational Partnership Announced Another Finals Bonanza The afternoon Preliminary Final between Collingwood and Port Adelaide also provided outstanding ratings drawing an average audience of 1.16 million viewers and a peak of 1.4 million. 2004 Wizard Cup Fixture After concerns from Adelaide over the playing of the grand final in Melbourne this year, the AFL has decided the grand finalist that kicks the most goals - nine and six-point varieties included - in lead-up matches will host the final. Technicolor Umps In related news, Wizard will not only sponsor the preseason comp but the umpires as well TRIBUNAL Umpire Brett Rosebury reviewed footage of an incident involving Brisbane's Justin Leppitsch and Adelaide's Brett Burton. Rosebury determined that Leppitsch was committed to the marking contest and was off balance after his attempt to spoil the mark. It was his view that the contact was unavoidable and the force was not sufficient to warrant a report. Port Adelaide's ruckman Brendon Lade was found not guilty of rough play despite admitting he "did not at all" watch the ball when he kneed Essendon skipper James Hird in a ruck contest. The umpire argued the Power bigman had used his knee unreasonably to contact the rib cage of Essendon skipper James Hird at a ruck contest. Essendon's Dean Rioli was also found not guilty, with the tribunal taking only a minute to decide his charge of striking Port Adelaide's Gavin Wanganeen should not be sustained. AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou has floated the idea of televising hearings of the AFL Tribunal to assist the transparency of the process. MILESTONES TEAM NEWS Injury Update: FREMANTLE COLLINGWOOD The club, as expected, recalled Brodie Holland this week after his suspension. But a surprise inclusion was Leon Davis, who has not played a senior game since round 13 when he managed just 4 possessions against the Bulldogs. The club believed his versatility to play midfield or forward would help the team match up against the pace WEST COAST Brilliant West Coast defender David Wirrpunda has won the inaugural AFL community leadership award for his achievements in leadership and excellence in making a voluntary commitment to the community in 2003. HAWTHORN WESTERN BULLDOGS MELBOURNE More bad news is that the club is facing an annual loss of almost $1 million. Despite the club's claims during the season that it would make a profit of about $500,000, an audit has revealed that the Demons will, in fact, lose about $900,000 on top of last year's $1.6 million loss. It is understood that outgoing president Gabriel Szondy was aware of the massive deficit when he announced he was stepping down. Szondy announced at Melbourne's round-22 clash with Sydney that he had overseen "much off-field success". ST KILDA Retired champion Nathan Burke has not ruled out a return to his former club next season as he looks to snare an assistant coaching role. PORT ADELAIDE ADELAIDE SYDNEY The Swans brought back Jason Saddington to bolster its defence. As well as rushing back Saddington, the Swans also regained forward Ryan O’Keefe – a late withdrawal from the qualifying final win over Port at AAMI Stadium with a shoulder injury. GENERAL SILLINESS Like most clubs, the Pies have long been aware of Warren Tredrea's talents and, in 1999, they were among the bidders for his services when the young powerhouse was out of contract. Tredrea, though, was never going to leave Alberton, where his father had become an off-field fixture. "We didn't get far," said one Collingwood official of the Tredrea approach. On to the scores How To Subscribe / Unsubscribe To subscribe please go to:
Melbourne Radio Stations Triple M announced last week that Sydney Swans Coach Paul Roos as the winner of the inaugural Triple M Coach of the Year Award for the 2003 AFL Football Season.
Hawk Coach and president of the Coaches Association Peter Schwab made the announcement at a glittering harbour-side function hosted by the Triple M Football commentary team of Stephen Quartermain, Brian Taylor, Sam Newman, Dermott Brereton, Craig Hutchison and Mike McLean.
To reward Paul Roos on his outstanding success, Triple M Melbourne and Ford have provided Paul with a two week world tour in November to meet and exchange ideas with some of the world’s leading sports coaches and teams, including the Washington Redskins, the Philly Eagles, Manchester United, the NFL Players Asso. and the NFL Coaches Asso.
Paul Roos also was named the AFL Coaches Association's coach of the year.
The 16 coaches also voted Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley - nominated by Coach Mick Malthouse - as the best captain he had played with or coached - their best player of the year and awarded West Coast midfielder Chris Judd the best young player prize.
Adelaide assistant coach Neil Craig received the assistant coach development award, and long-time Hawthorn physiotherapist Barry Gavin, who last year had a lifesaving liver transplant, was honored with the support staff leadership award.
The lifetime achievement award was won by Haydn Bunton jnr, who played and coached in South Australia and Western Australia. Age journalist Martin Flanagan won the media award. The awards were announced on Channel Seven's Talking Footy.
The AFL and the WAFL have launched AFL Recreational Football, an exciting new Australian Football game designed especially for social participants. AFL Recreational Football “The Game for Everyone” is a non-contact and more accessible version of Australian Football, which has a minimal time commitment and minimal risk of injury. AFL Game Development General Manager Dr Ross Smith said AFL Recreational Football has been developed as a result of the Carter Report released in October 2001. The report recommended that Australian Football needed a more recreational version of the game to cater for the growing recreational participation
The idea is to have a modified game which is less demanding physically and puts an emphasis on enjoyment and safety to allow people of all ages and ability to play in male, female, or mixed teams.
AFL Recreational Football was trialled by AFL staff in October last year with great success.
The competition is due to commence in mid-October in each of the WAFL club districts
The 2003 AFL Finals Series continued to deliver exceptional figures for Network Ten after the Sydney v Brisbane game became the highest rating Preliminary Final since 1996 (Sydney v Essendon – 1.8 million) attracting an average audience of 1.6 million viewers and a peak of 2.15 million.
The competition will begin Feb. 20
Group A
1 Adelaide v St. Kilda, AAMI Stadium
2 Western Bulldogs v Richmond, Telstra Dome
3 Essendon v Fremantle, Marrara
4 Hawthorn v Brisbane, York Park
Group B
5 Sydney v Carlton, Telstra Stadium
6 Port Adelaide v Geelong,Bundaberg Rum Stadium
7 West Coast v Collingwood, Subiaco
8 Kangaroos v Melbourne, Manuka
Week 2
9 Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
10 Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4
11 Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
12. Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8
Week 3 - Semi Finals
First Semi Final
Winner Match 9 v Winner Match 10
Winner Match 11 v Winner Match 12
Week 4 - Grand Final
Winner First Semi Final v Winner Second Semi Final
In the past two seasons the grand final of the preseason competition has been played between teams from Melbourne and Adelaide leading to much debate over whether the premiership decider should have been staged at either AAMI Stadium or the Telstra Dome.
Orange has won out as the dominant color for umpires' uniforms.
The AFL's experiment with colorful uniforms for umpires will become official next year with the all-white uniforms set to be replaced by orange shirts throughout the home-and-away season.
Umpires were seen in red, blue and gold during the experiment, which began in the Wizard Cup and extended into the season-proper, but orange has won out.
AFL chief executive-elect Andrew Demetriou said the bright uniforms had helped players in avoiding contact with umpires.
Port's Brendon Lade was reported on video evidence by umpire Scott McLaren for engaging in rough play against Bomber James Hird.
The panel ruled that because Hird had received no injury, was not knocked to the ground and did not seem "inconvenienced" by the clash, that the charge of rough play could not be sustained.
Lade had used as his defence what he called a "team rule" at Port Adelaide of always making solid contact during a ruck contest to protect the space into which the ball was going to drop. He told the tribunal that on many occasions he would actually attack the player with his knee without first watching the ball and would then use his tap skills after contact was made. Lade said that, while airborne, he had also been trying to avoid teammate Chad Cornes, who was "second man up" in the ball-up and eventually got the hit-out.
Hird gave telephone evidence from hospital, where he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery to both knees, that he "didn't think much of" the incident. He said he "didn't feel any contact at all; there was nothing in it that was substantial or out of the ordinary".
Rioli, on his sixth visit to the tribunal and with a loss of voice after the traditional "Mad Monday" season wake, told the tribunal he had raised his forearm to protect himself before a clash with Wanganeen. Wanganeen was taken from the ground as a result of Rioli's forearm hitting him in the jaw, but soon returned to play a leading role in his team's win. The incident occurred in the second quarter as Rioli ran across the centre of the ground to clash with Wanganeen, who was being harried by Bomber Ben Haynes.
Rioli pleaded not guilty to the report, laid by umpire Scott McLaren during the match, but Matthew James, the controlling umpire at the time of the incident, disputed his colleague’s claims and provided evidence to support Rioli at the hearing.
McLaren said he was 35 metres from the incident that momentarily dazed Wanganeen after Rioli contacted his jaw area with his arms.
He argued Rioli had raised his arms in a striking motion, and contacted the jaw of Wanganeen with his upper forearm.
Umpire James said he was 15 metres from the players at the time of their collision, and paid a free kick after deeming Rioli’s contact was high. He did not believe any further action was required.
Rioli said he had turned his body before colliding with Wanganeen in order to protect himself, but argued the contact the to his opponent’s jaw was accidental.
All three players were running towards the ball, which Wanganeen managed to kick before falling forward and meeting Rioli.
Wanganeen testified that he was expecting a bump.
Demetriou said he believed that repeated television replays of reportable incidents in the lead-up to hearings had no influence on the Tribunal or the reporting umpires. He
suggested that it might be best to open up the entire process to the public gaze.
It's unclear whether Demetriou, who takes over from Wayne Jackson as AFL chief executive after grand final day, would favor the televising of hearings 'live' in full or whether they would be edited and repackaged into a highlights format.
100 games -- Brendon Lade, Port Adelaide
50 club games -- Jarrod Molloy, Collingwood
BRISBANE
Determined utility Aaron Shattock is back in the Lions line-up after veteran defender Marcus Ashcroft was sidelined by injury.
Shattock, 23, was in season-best form when he received a slight knee cartilage tear against the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome in Round 22. He subsequently missed the Lions opening two finals of 2003, a loss to Collingwood and last week’s win over Adelaide.
A member of the 2002 premiership side, he had played 15 consecutive games until sustaining the injury.
The remarkably durable Ashcroft misses his first game in three and half years and 87 matches, the third best streak in club history. The 32-year-old already holds the record of 170 straight games from Round 22, 1992 to Round 8, 2000.
Ashcroft, a veteran of 317 games, will be working overtime to try and get the knee right for next week in the hope the Lions advance to the grand final and put himself up for selection.
Fellow dual premiership player Chris Scott also missed this week’s game after being given more time to rehabilitate a nagging groin problem that prevented him from playing last week.
Young utility Richard Hadley retains his place in the side after a solid effort in the midfield and defence in the last 45 minutes of the second semi final.
Hadley had to wait two years and 21 games between his senior debut and his second game, but No.3 has come substantially sooner.
Hadley collected 19 possessions and was in the Lions’ best four players when they played Sydney in a preseason Wizard Cup game.
Speedy utility Tim Notting was listed with well performed state league duo Jason Gram and Shane Morrison among the emergencies.
Notting missed last week’s 42-point semi final win over Adelaide after being suspended by the AFL Tribunal for charging Collingwood’s Heath Scotland the week before.
Marcus Ashcroft, knee, 1-2 weeks
Jared Brennan, groin, 1 week
Beau McDonald, knee, indefinite
Brad Scott, ankle, ankle
Luke Webster damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, injured while playing for East Perth in last week's Preliminary Final against West Perth.
As a result, Luke had reconstructive surgery.
Luke was promoted onto the senior playing list in July this year a result of Greg Edgcumbe being placed on the long term injury list. Luke has been on the Club’s Rookie List since being drafted in 2001 and this setback follows Luke undergoing two reconstructions of his left knee, the second of which was sustained in a practice match in 2002 ending his 2002 season.
Webster had been in outstanding form with East Perth this year and was selected in the Western Australia state team that played South Australia on 21st June, a game in which Luke was awarded the Simpson Medal as best on ground for Western Australia. Luke played four senior AFL games following his promotion to the senior list, including the Club’s first finals appearance in the Elimination Final, a game where Luke was one of the Club’s best on the night.
Some Collingwood symbols are not sacred after all. Months after vowing never to surrender its black-and-white guernsey, the club has bowed to pressure to change another potent Magpie symbol: the club logo.
The club confirmed that the Federal Government had asked it to redesign the logo because it breached protocol on the positioning of the Australian flag. According to the Office of Protocol in the Prime Minister's Department, the flag should be on the left of the logo, not the right. The Government approached the club after a member of the public wrote to a federal MP complaining that the Australian flag was "inappropriately used" on the logo.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire confirmed that the Office of Protocol had been in touch with the club and they would begin to change the logo in the coming months.
McGuire said the club had been made aware of the problem with its logo and was acting as quickly as it could to have the Australian flag moved to the left of its logo.
of Port's runners.
Tristen Walker and Andrew Williams were omitted from the side, but are eligible to play for Williamstown in the VFL Grand Final
West Coast has sacked full-forward Troy Wilson, who was told he would not be offered a contract in 2004.
Wilson made his debut as a 29-year-old in 2001 after success with WAFL club East Perth and was leading goalkicker that year. But he was troubled by injuries in 2002 and played just five games in 2003.
Troy Wilson has not ruled out a radical career shift - to speedway racing. Wilson still hopes to be approached by another AFL club, but intends driving in the upcoming speedway season provided he can find sponsorship.
Wilson won the celebrity challenge at the recent Rally Australia and also won a race at Barbagallo raceway last year. About to turn 32, Wilson said he was "disappointed but grateful" when West Coast coach John Worsfold told him that his three-season, 37-game, 83-goal stint with the Eagles was over.
The 24-year-old received the award at AFL House on Thursday for his outstanding work with indigenous children and his devotion to spending time with remote communities.
He will receive a $5000 donation from the AFL Foundation and will be able to use the money towards helping his nominated charity, while he even plans to form the Wirrpunda Foundation, which will enable him to assist indigenous children.
The award is set to become a major accolade each season, with the announcement already mooted to be named on Brownlow Medal night.
Wirrpunda was one of four final nominations for the award, which included Collingwood’s Paul Licuria, Sydney’s Andrew Schauble and Port Adelaide’s Matthew Primus.
Hawthorn last week asked its senior players to accept a pay cut in order to prevent an Essendon-like fire sale from taking place at Glenferrie Oval. The club announced that it has recontracted eight players, including Angelo Lekkas and Sam Mitchell, to indicate that not only had the call for $600,000 worth of self-sacrifice been heard, but that the priority signing of Jade Rawlings was imminent. The Hawks, who are understood to have increased their offer to Rawlings to $900,000 over three seasons, are fending off interest in the 25-year-old from several clubs, Geelong in particular. It is believed the Cats have offered Rawlings $1 million over three years.
The scenario, as Hawthorn put it to the senior players last week, was that unless the pay cuts were agreed to, players would have to be shed to create the salary cap room necessary to retain Rawlings. But with most of those who might have had to make way now recontracted, the club is confident it can retain Rawlings.
The others who have signed new contracts are Adrian Cox, Mark Williams, Campbell Brown, Robert Campbell, Kris Barlow and Ben Kane.
Lekkas, 27, has signed a two-year deal that will tie him to Hawthorn until 2005 - his 10th year at the club - and ends a fine season in which he kicked 37 goals from 21 games.
Have re-signed midfielder Mitch Hahn.
Hahn, 22, agreed to a new two-year deal to be the first of a group of younger players the Bulldogs expect to re-sign in the next week.
Has reacted swiftly to its disastrous season by sacking Gary Moorcroft and Daniel Breese.
Moorcroft, 27, is understood to be keen to revive his career at Carlton, where he was destined last year until Melbourne intervened and took him with its fourth selection, six picks before the Blues entered the national draft. Carlton coach Denis Pagan has twice in the past expressed interest in securing him.
The Essendon premiership player of 2000 played only three games for the Demons in his one season, which was interrupted by a knee injury. He has played 98 games in his nine-year career.
Breese, by contrast, departs without having played a senior match in his three years with the club. He was selected with Melbourne's second pick in the 2000 national draft - from which the Demons were barred from the second and third rounds - which means that only Scott Thompson of the 2000 draft group now remains.
Luke Molan, a first-round draftee in 2001, was told that he was likely to be delisted and, at best, rookied.
And in a separate development, Melbourne's dumped assistant coach Brian Royal revealed that Neale Daniher had been on the verge of quitting as coach after the Demons' loss to the Western Bulldogs at the start of August. Royal, who will be replaced at Melbourne next season by retired Carlton captain Brett Ratten recorded an interview with the Fox Footy channel in which he claimed Daniher was so despondent after the round-18 loss that he was thinking of leaving the club at the end of the season.
Despite the club's poor on-and off-field results, the board has insisted that both Daniher and football operations chief Danny Corcoran would remain at the club in 2004. Corcoran said he was aware of Royal's claim but added he was surprised by the Daniher assertion.
Recently installed CEO Ray Ellis will also remain at the helm. Ellis has recently restructured the club's finance department and appointed a chief operating officer, Ray Ewart, previously at Hawthorn.
But, there seems certain to be at least a couple of changes at board level with Szondy considering whether to remain a director of the club and Peter Doorman looking to quit. It is not yet known whether there will be a challenge to the board, but Szondy's nominated successor, Paul Gardner, the group chairman of the Grey Global Group, believes he has the numbers to take over the club. Gardner is believed to be looking at expanding the board to include former club vice-president Bill Guest. Guest's former co-director Ian Johnson will not return as a director. Johnson looks certain to be taking over Channel Seven's Melbourne operation in an expanded role in which he will be the new network No. 2 to David Leckie with a strong influence at Seven Sport.
Not only did Melbourne's attendances fall $300,000 below expectations but the club's gaming revenue was down by $150,000 and the corporate function revenue - which included a disappointing turn-up at the hall-of-fame dinner several weeks ago - fell $100,000 short of predictions.
The club's major sponsor of the past six years, LG, Electronics seems certain not to take up its option for a seventh year, but the Demons are hopeful of securing a new deal before the end of the year. The extent of the loss has jolted the board, with at least two directors, Robert Flower and Peter Hayes, vowing to put extra time into the club next season. Former wingman Stephen Tingay is also expected to return to the club as a fitness coach.
Has committed an estimated $250,000 on a training camp in London, during which the Saints' senior list will spend two weeks working with athletic greats Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson and the Kenyan Olympic track and field team.
Every listed player at the club will contribute close to an average $5000 and depart next month as part of a Saints touring party of 50 in which St Kilda officials will also be seeking corporate sponsorship opportunities.
The trip is understood to have received board approval last month after the revelation that the Saints should make a profit of $500,000 this season.
The club's financial result, which will also result in a St Kilda contribution of $100,000 out of the 2003 profit to the London travel expenses, represents a staggering turnaround of more than $4 million.
The club recorded a $3.7 million loss last season and briefly looked at applying for special assistance funding. Cost-cutting this season and a $1 million increase in sponsorship has led to the positive result. Even allowing for the fact that $1 million of that loss represented a write-down on the value of Moorabbin, the profit this year still means the Saints have turned around their cash situation by $3.2 million.
Coach Grant Thomas spent last week in London with his fitness and training offsider Chris Jones organizing the players' training and leadership sessions with Coe, who will also take Aaron Hamill and his senior group on a tour of the British houses of parliament.
The pair co-ordinated an itinerary with Thomas's close friend and Australia's respected international athletics manager Maurie Plant, which will include training sessions at Crystal Palace and Eton College as well as trips to at least two Premier League soccer clubs.
Thomas, along with his assistants Dean Wallis and Matthew Rendell, will be joined by the club's marketing and merchandising boss David Friend, who will help organize two functions in London for supporters and potential sponsors.
The club originally mooted the London-based camp at the end of the 2002 season. The club's poor financial situation, coupled with the international fear of terrorism that followed the October 12 Bali bombing, meant Thomas's plans were set aside.
The party will leave for Britain on October 26 and return to continue preseason training on November 7.
Burke said he hoped to go straight into the AFL system next year as an assistant coach and would be prepared to do so under Saints coach Grant Thomas.
Burke said he had received interest from several clubs but as yet had not made any decision. Burke said he would be prepared to leave Victoria if a good offer came up.
The Ebert family now has five Magarey Medals – four to father Russell and one to younger son Brett.
The SANFL’s medal count on Tuesday night became a joyous celebration for the first father-son combination to win the league’s fairest-and-most-brilliant award since it was first presented in 1898.
Russell Ebert, Port Adelaide Magpies’ greatest player, won the medal a record four times – in 1971, ’74, ’76 and ’80 – and Magpie midfielder Brett, drafted by Port’s AFL team, the Power, last year under the father-son rule, was a runaway winner this year with 25 votes (six first preferences, two seconds and three thirds).
In only his second SANFL season, Brett won by six votes from Sturt midfielder Ben Nelson (19), a former Carlton utility player who is on Adelaide’s AFL list, and Woodville-West Torrens onballer Justin Cicolella (18).
Ebert, 19, is not as tall (178 centimetres) or yet as strong (83 kilograms) as his famous father, now 54, who was 183 centimetres and about 89 kilograms for most of his magnificent career, which spanned 446 senior games – 392 for Port Magpies and 29 for South Australia from 1968-85 and all 25 for North Melbourne in the VFL in 1979 (at the age of 30 when he commuted weekly from Adelaide to Melbourne).
Brett has inherited his father’s knack of reading the play to know where the ball is, and already he can burst through packs and deliver the ball powerfully and/or immaculately.
Adelaide’s first and to date only premiership captain Mark Bickley has announced his retirement before last week's loss to Brisbane.
Bickley, who began with Adelaide in the club’s inaugural year in the AFL in 1991, retires with 272 games to his name and was carried from the field after the match against Brisbane.
And he will be forever remembered as the man that captained Adelaide to its back-to-back premiership wins in 1997 and 1998. Bickley said he retires with no regrets.
Bickley’s retirement leaves key defender Nigel Smart as the only player left from Adelaide’s inaugural team of 1991.
Smart, who has played the exact same number of games as Bickley, has yet to decide if he will play on next season.
The Swans have appointed of Team Of The Century legend Tony Morwood to the position of General Manager Melbourne.
Tony Morwood played 229 games for the Swans between 1978 and 1989 kicking 397 goals. He was named half-forward flanker in the Team Of The Century earlier this year.
Saddington, one of the Swans’ best defenders, has not played since injuring a knee in round 20 and could be considered underdone fitness wise.
However the Swans decided to risk him after they were forced to again rule out champion forward Michael O’Loughlin due to a hamstring injury he sustained in round 22.
The much-improved Tadgh Kennelly (corked thigh) and ruckman Stephen Doyle (ankle) were both selected after overcoming injuries which sidelined them during the win over Port.
However Brad Seymour – one of the just five survivors from the Swans’ last grand final side in 1996 – was ruled out with a knee injury.
Not so much silliness as just another one of those strange twists of fate that lead to unique connections between clubs. This time it is between Collingwood and Port, who faced off in a preliminary final this weekend.
Collingwood and Port share a unique connection in footy. Not only did the Port Adelaide Magpies share the name, but also wore black and white stripes in the SANFL before joining the AFL.
There is also a player connection. Nathan Buckley began his career with the Port Magpies, as did teammates Alan Didak, Shane Wakelin, and Matt Lokan.
And if it weren't for a very strong team which featured the likes of Richardson brothers, Max and Wayne, Des Tuddenham, Barry Price and John Greening, Warren Tredrea might never have been born. His father Jack played 19 games for the Pies 1970-72.
At the end of 1972, Tredrea was unsettled. Collingwood, as was its wont, told him he wouldn't be cleared to another VFL club but it would let him go interstate.
His shift to Adelaide was not simply about football. It was also a lifestyle decision.
Tredrea thought about Queensland before opting for Adelaide, where he had friends, one of whom introduced him to Port's general manager, Bob McLean. So it was that in 1973 Gary Tredrea became a Port Adelaide player, changing from Collingwood's black and white stripes to Port's "prison bar" design. He played about 70 games for Port before a knee injury ruined his career, but he became firmly embedded in the Port scene, so much so that he was still coaching the reserves at Port Magpies (the SANFL club) until last year.
It was shortly after his arrival in Adelaide that Tredrea met his wife-to-be and mother to Warren, Debbie, who happened to be a cousin of Geof Motley, a Port Adelaide champion and premiership coach, father of former Carlton player Peter Motley and who, more recently, has the distinction of negotiating the contracts of Warren Tredrea and Nathan Buckley.
Gary Tredrea did not play enough games for Warren to be eligible to be selected by Collingwood under the father-son rule.
As for team colors, Collingwood adopted the black-and-white stripes and magpie logo at its inception, following the suggestion of a leading supporter, who had traveled to Adelaide and seen the South Australian state team attired as such. This happened 10 years before Port abandoned its magenta-and-blue for the black-and-white that the club still wears in the South Australian National Football League, where it has won a national record 36 premierships.
As far back as 1910 the teams played each other in Adelaide in a challenge match as the premiers of their respective states. Collingwood was annoyed that Port, which won the game, declared itself "champion of Australia". Yet, relations were mostly cordial.
Then there is Port Coach Mark Williams who played 135 games with the Magpies 1981-86, won the B&F in 1981 and 1985 and was captain 1983-86. A contract dispute saw him cross to Brisbane in 1987 where he finished his career.
And to top it all off, the match is the first time twin brothers - Shane for Collingwood and Daryl for Port - have faced off in a final.
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