1994 SANFL Grand Final
| 1994 SANFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | Sunday 2 October 1994 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Football Park | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 40,598 | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Tim Pfeiffer, Richard Williams | |||||||||||||||
| Coin toss won by | Woodville-West Torrens | |||||||||||||||
| Kicked toward | North End | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Best on Ground | Darryl Wakelin | |||||||||||||||
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The 1994 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Grand Final saw the Port Adelaide Magpies defeat the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles by 37 points after being 35 points behind in the first quarter. The match was played on 2 October 1994 at Football Park in front of a crowd of 40,598.
Despite Port Adelaide's recent success, having won 4 premierships in the 6 years leading up to 1994, the Eagles were seen as the superior team coming into the Grand Final. Port had lost several key players in recent years to the AFL and retirement, and the Eagles had thrashed Port just 2 weeks earlier in the 2nd Semi Final by 73 points.
Betting before the Grand Final saw Woodville-West Torrens as clear favourites with 1/3 odds and Port at 25/10. Port's odds could have been even higher if not for their outstanding record in Grand Finals, and their reputation for beating better teams.
At the 25 minute mark of the first quarter, the Eagles led by 35 points and seemed to be headed towards certain victory. Port kicked the last 2 goals in the quarter to leave the Eagles with a 22-point lead.
The second quarter was evenly matched with both teams scoring 2.3, however the Eagles still seemed to have the game under control.
Port Adelaide fought back in the third quarter and outplayed the Eagles, but Port failed to capitalise due to inaccurate kicking for goal, scoring 2.6 (18) to 1.2 (8) for the quarter and still trailing by 12 points.
Port went into the final quarter with momentum and ran over the top of the Eagles. Port kicked 3 goals in the first 7 minutes to take the lead, and kicked 9.3 (57) to 1.2 (8) for the quarter to run out winners with a margin of 37 points. Full-forward Scott Hodges kicked 5 goals for the quarter.
When the Eagles led by 35 points in the first quarter, the game seemed headed toward an inevitable Eagles victory.
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