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1978 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

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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)
1977
1979

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

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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

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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

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Round 1

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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

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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

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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

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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

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