‘It was like being shot by a machine gun’: Central’s defender recalls day Glenelg piled on record 49 goals
In 1975, Glenelg destroyed Central District at the Bay, kicking a record 49 goals. We catch up with the key players as we launch our SANFL Classic Clashes video series and reminisce about how it all unfolded.
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Central District defender Julian Swinstead joked that he watched so many footballs go over his head he had to see a chiropractor for a month.
“It was just extraordinary, every time you looked up the ball was coming towards you and then going over your head,’’ he said 45 years after Glenelg kicked an Australian league record 49 goals against the Bulldogs at the Bay.
“Glenelg was unstoppable, magnificent, and had one of those days when the gods were with them.
“They played like the most incredible champions and looking back on it, playing in the backline, it was like being shot by a machine gun with an endless supply of footballs.’’
On August 23, 1975, legendary coach Neil Kerley’s Tigers kicked the highest-ever SANFL score of 49.23 (317), hammering the shell-shocked Bulldogs, who kicked 11.13 (79), by a remarkable 238 points.
Full forward Fred Phillis booted 18.6 from 17 marks, including his 100th goal for the season in the third quarter, while Australian Football Hall of Famer and current Glenelg president Peter Carey bagged eight goals and midfielders Greg Bennett (48 disposals) and captain Peter Marker (47) ran riot.
Only a flying shot which slammed into the goalpost from wingman John MacFarlane on the final siren denied the Bays a 50th goal.
“No-one would have stopped Glenelg – or Fred – that day,’’ said Swinstead.
“It wouldn't have mattered if we had (Ron) Barrassi, (Bob) Skilton or (Malcolm) Blight playing for us, Glenelg still would have won because everything just clicked for them, it was like a computer.
“The ball would fly down from their backline, through the midfield and be put down Fred’s throat.
“He was supremely confident and marked everything in sight and there was nothing we could do about it. It became a slaughter.’’
In a staggering day of record-breaking statistics, the Tigers, who kicked 12 goals in the first quarter, 13 in the second, nine in the third and 15 in the last, became the first league team to kick more than 300 points in a game.
Incredibly, they slammed through a goal every two minutes of normal playing time, not including “time-on’’.
The time taken as the boundary umpires ferried the ball back for centre bounces accounted for most of the 41 min. 34 sec. of “time on.”
Phillis, the 1969 Magarey Medallist, described his personal record goals haul – the 18 beat his previous best of 15 against South Adelaide six years earlier – as “just one of those days’’.
“The supply I got was endless,’’ said Phillis, who swapped his black boots for bright yellow ones at quarter-time after going goalless in the first term.
“As soon as we got hold of the ball I was on the move and my teammates generally hit me on the chest.
“We played such a great team game that it felt like we were driving a Porsche in cruise control.’’
Central ruckman Terry Moore said he was so embarrassed by the scoreline that he had never watched a replay of the famous match.
“I haven't looked at a replay, I haven’t read an article about the game, because, from our point of view, why would you want to remember a loss like that, it was an embarrassment,’’ he said.
Swinstead said the only positive for the Bulldogs was MacFarlane’s late miss, which denied Glenelg a 50th goal.
“When that happened, I just looked to the heavens and thought, ‘there is a god after all’,’’ he said.
