South Adelaide’s band of greats reunite to celebrate 1964 Cinderella story

IF you knew it was going to be 50 years - and counting - between premierships, you’d want the flag you won to be something like South Adelaide’s in 1964.

IF you knew it was going to be 50 years - and counting - between premierships, you’d want the flag you won to be something like South Adelaide’s in 1964.

You’d assemble a cast of memorable characters including Peter Darley, Ian Day and David Kantilla led by a once in a lifetime coach in Neil Kerley.

Then for good measure you’d add the romance of going from bottom to top in one season and ensure you had the most dastardly of Grand Final opponents in Port Adelaide.

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To top it off you’d play it in the year before television broadcasts were introduced to the competition, so all of the stories from the season could be embellished without fear.

“It really was something special,” said Tony Shaw, who was a reliable back pocket for the Panthers.

“You have to remember our supporters had been waiting 26 years for that premiership too ... but that doesn’t sound so bad now after the past 50 years. The next one is going to be even bigger.”

South - despite finishing bottom in 1963 - wasn’t as bad as its 2-18 record suggested.

Seven of those defeats had been by less than 20 points and there were a host of talented players like Darley, Bob Schmidt and Alf Skuse beginning to make their mark on the competition.

What the Panthers needed was a leader, someone to instil a winning mentality and erase the complacency that had been part of the club’s culture since the Second World War.

Enter Kerley.

The SA football legend had achieved a similar breakthrough premiership with West Adelaide in 1961 but was dumped as coach in 1962 and at 30 was looking for a change.

“South came to me first and put an offer to me and I was very happy with that,” Kerley said.

The Panthers didn’t recruit heavily and because Kerley was forced to sit out the first six games of the season because West wouldn’t clear him, the only new player who lined up in round one was Alan White, who had crossed from North Adelaide after managing only three league games in three years with the Roosters.

But a summer spent running up and down Montefiore Hill and the sandhills at West Beach had the Panthers primed for a climb up the ladder.

“I knew we had to change things quite a bit and the boys were prepared to do that,” Kerley said.

“The number one thing was fitness, number two was discipline and number three was a gameplan.”

South surged to a 7-1 start before eventually finishing the minor round in second place behind Port on percentage.

It set up a second semi against the Magpies, who had won eight of the past 10 premierships.

South was on track for the upset at three quarter time, leading by 32 points, but lost by a point as Port charged home.

“I made a ridiculous decision at three quarter time and went defensive,” Kerley said.

“That was the last time I ever went defensive in my football life. It was bloody ridiculous. I still have nightmares over it.”

The Panthers comfortably accounted for Sturt in the prelim to set up a rematch with Fos Williams’ side.

They kept the Magpies goal-less in the first half and with Kantilla, Day, Skuse and Lindsay Backman shining, won by 27 points in front of a crowd of 56,358.

“We were the fittest team in the comp by a long way and were completely committed,” Kerley said.

“Darley and Kantilla formed an incredible ruck combination and then you had the rovers in Day, White and Skuse who developed into the three best rovers in the comp that year.

“Backman proved how good a player he could be when he had a bit of freedom to go forward, which we allowed him to do.

“They were such a close-knitted team. Every line had good players on it. It was the ultimate team effort.”

Given the amount of time between drinks, South’s premiership has become one of the most celebrated flags in SANFL history.

After gathering for the 30th and 40th anniversaries, the players have met annually for the past 10 years.

On Saturday night they will fill the Ian McLachlan Room at Adelaide Oval to mark the 50-year milestone and Shaw, who has been the driving force behind the get-togethers, says the bond is as strong as ever.

“It’s quite amazing really, how we’ve been able to retain that togetherness,” Shaw said.

1964 SANFL GRAND FINAL

SOUTH 2.5 5.6 7.10 9.15 (69)

PORT 0.5 0.10 4.12 5.12 (42)

Best - South: Kantilla, Day, Skuse, Backman, Christie, Roennfeldt, Kerley. Port: Errey, Hannaford, Elleway, Gill, Freeman, Spiers.

Goals - South: White 3, Day 2; Backman, Skuse, Darley, Jackson. Port: Freeman 3, Potter 2.

Umpire - Ken Cunningham

Crowd - 56,358 at Adelaide Oval