1978 NFL Championship Series
NFL Escort Cup
Tournament details
Dates25 April – 25 July 1978
Teams16
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Adelaide (1st title)
Runners-upGlenelg
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Attendance52,529 (3,502 per match)

The 1978 NFL Championship Series was the third edition of the NFL Night Series, an NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the SANFL, the WANFL, the VFA and State Representative Teams.[1]

The 1978 NFL edition continued on a similar basis to the previous season with the VFL again running their own Night Series at VFL Park. However, the first signs of a breakaway appeared with the Tasmanian Representative Side choosing to participate in both the NFL and VFL competitions – making them the first non-VFL team to play in the VFL Night Series.

Qualified teams

Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL Winners of the 1977 South Australian National Football League 7th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976, 1977)
Glenelg Tigers SANFL Runners-Up in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1973, 1976, 1977)
West Adelaide Bloods SANFL Third Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1977)
South Adelaide Panthers SANFL Fourth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1893, 1896, 1977)
Norwood Redlegs SANFL Fifth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976, 1977)
Perth Demons WANFL Winners of the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1977)
East Fremantle Sharks WANFL Runners-Up in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)
West Perth Falcons WANFL Third Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1977)
East Perth Royals WANFL Fourth Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1972, 1977)
Port Melbourne Boroughs VFA Winners of the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Sandringham Zebras VFA Runners-Up in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Coburg Lions VFA Third Place in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Australian Capital Territory Rams ACTAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
New South Wales Blues NSWAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Queensland Maroons QAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Tasmania Devils TANFL State Representative Team 3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)
1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

Venues

Adelaide Melbourne Perth Brisbane
Norwood Oval Lake Oval Subiaco Oval Brisbane Cricket Ground
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 53,000 Capacity: 35,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

25 April 1978 Perth 94-76 West Adelaide Subiaco Oval, Perth  
14.10 (94) 11.10 (76) Attendance: 4,678


2 May 1978 Norwood 138-87 East Fremantle Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
21.12 (138) 13.9 (87) Attendance: 4,500 (estimate)


7 May 1978 Queensland 105-83 Tasmania Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane  
16.9 (105) 12.11 (83) Attendance: 10,000


9 May 1978 Port Melbourne 92-46 New South Wales Lake Oval, Melbourne  
12.20 (92) 7.4 (46) Attendance: 3,682


16 May 1978 South Adelaide 87-56 Port Adelaide Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
12.15 (87) 7.14 (56) Attendance: 2,000 (estimate)


23 May 1978 Sandringham 82-78 Australian Capital Territory Lake Oval, Melbourne  
12.10 (82) 12.6 (78) Attendance: 2,680


30 May 1978 Glenelg 71-69 West Perth Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
10.11 (71) 10.9 (69) Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)


6 June 1978 Coburg 71-49 East Perth Lake Oval, Melbourne  
10.11 (71) 7.7 (49) Attendance: 1,280


Quarter-finals

QF #1 13 June 1978 Perth 106-93 Norwood Subiaco Oval, Perth  
16.10 (106) 14.9 (93) Attendance: 2,209


QF #2 20 June 1978 Port Melbourne 96-60 Queensland Lake Oval, Melbourne  
13.18 (96) 9.6 (60) Attendance: 3,000


QF #3 27 June 1978 Glenelg 101-84 Coburg Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
15.11 (101) 13.6 (84) Attendance: 2,500 (estimate)


QF #4 4 July 1978 Sandringham 35-94 South Adelaide Lake Oval, Melbourne  
5.5 (35) 14.10 (94) Attendance: 1,000


Semi-finals

SF #1 11 July 1978 Glenelg 92-70 Perth Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
13.14 (92) 10.10 (70) Attendance: 2,500 (estimate)


SF #2 18 July 1978 Port Melbourne 63-68 South Adelaide Lake Oval, Melbourne  
9.9 (63) 9.14 (68) Attendance: 2,000


NFL Championship Series final

Final 25 July 1978 South Adelaide 63-26 Glenelg Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
3.0 (18)
4.2 (26)
5.3 (33)
9.9 (63)		 1.3 (9)
2.6 (18)
2.7 (19)
3.8 (26)		 Attendance: 9,000
Umpires: Peter Mead
    Goals  
Ruscuklic, Hateley, Lyons 2
Harradine, Keam, Schneebichler 1		   Rady, McFarlane, Cornes 1

References

  1. ↑ David Eastman. "1978 NFL Escort Cup".
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