A tradition we love

24 April 2025

BY ROBERT LAIDLAW

Ingrained in SANFL history, the annual Anzac Day clash between the previous season’s grand finalists is an occasion celebrated as one of the most important dates on the football calendar.

It’s a chance to remember the heroic efforts of those who fought in World War I and other battles, with World War II hero Bob Quinn honoured with a medal presented in his name to the best player on the ground.

On 25 April 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Gallipoli as part of a defensive action in World War I, which lasted eight months and in which more than 8000 Australian soldiers were killed in action.

After the great war, efforts to raise money for the RSL were organised, including football games, with teams from the Returned Sailors and the Soldiers Imperial League playing on Adelaide Oval to commemorate Anzac Day.

While special games were played on Anzac Day regularly, they were usually the week before the SANFL season started, with the first recognised official league match in 1948, between the previous year’s grand finalists, West and Norwood. And so, the SANFL tradition of the grand finalists playing on Anzac Day started, on the holiday Monday at Adelaide Oval to kick off the 1948 season.

Former Sturt great Bo Morton in The Sport, previewing the game, said: “On Monday, Anzac Day, last year’s grand finalists will meet in a game which should be a real treat, and we can look forward to a high standard of play from these teams.”

The event supported the RSL’s distress funds, with half the gate donated to the cause. West had come from the first semi to beat Norwood in the 1947 grand final by five goals but in the Anzac Day re-match the Jack Oatey-coached Redlegs triumphed by 38 points.

There were several changes for the 1948 season, with league matches starting 10 minutes earlier, at 2.30pm, while Westies swapped to hooped black and red socks, from the previous black, topped with a red band. And the game that started our Anzac Day tradition was wet, which has over the years seemed like that’s a tradition.

While games continued to be played on Anzac Day, it wasn’t until 1954 that the previous year’s grand finalists clashed again, with Port reversing the result of the 1953 premiership decider it lost by seven points to West Torrens in beating the Eagles by nine points at Adelaide Oval.

Moving forward, it was rare for the previous season’s grand finalists not to play on Anzac Day, except for a period between 1985-98, when there were just two clashes. In all but a handful of years the traditional Anzac Day encounter has been held at Adelaide Oval or Football Park, but since 2017 the premier has had hosting rights.

The AFL has its Anzac Day tradition of Collingwood v Essendon games but the SANFL has a more rewarding way of doing it, making teams earn the right to play on one of Australia’s special days.

The reigning premier has been successful 30 times in the 58 Anzac Day clashes, with one draw, between Port and Glenelg in 1982. With 27 appearances Port leads the way, from Sturt and Norwood with 16 each. There have been eight games decided by a kick, with West beating the Magpies three times by less than a goal – in contrast to three heart-breaking losses in grand finals from 1954-62.

The Bob Quinn Medal has been awarded since 2002, with just one multiple winner, Central coach Paul Thomas, who won four, in 2003-4, ’08 and ’11.