Luck of the Draw

By DION HAYMAN

A game that is decided by a free kick – especially if the kick is taken after the final siren – is always going to be surrounded by drama.

And that was certainly the case on the Anzac Day public holiday of 1982.

Some labelled umpire Ric Charlesworth’s decision controversial – others were less diplomatic. But his last-minute call to award Andy Porplycia a free for holding the ball against Chris McDermott 15 metres from goal added another layer to the festering rivalry between Port and Glenelg.

The siren rang out 10 seconds after the kick was awarded and Porplycia just snuck the ball inside the right hand post to draw the game as fans poured onto the ground.

Peter Carey stood the mark with no fewer than seven Glenelg players within 10 metres of him, trying desperately to distract Porplycia. McDermott was just 18 and in his second season. “I remember not being overly thrilled with it,” he recalled.

The game was the Anzac Day grand final re-match and it was played on a typically, cold, wet and miserable Sunday afternoon at Football Park, which was in the midst of having its iconic silver benches fitted around the stadium.

Ominously, David Granger resumed after serving a six-game suspension for striking Neville Caldwell in the 1981 grand final. Granger’s impact was significant in the first half, booting three goals after Glenelg wasted first use of the breeze as Port opened up what seemed a matchwinning 37-point lead by half-time.

Graham Cornes missed the second quarter for treatment on a shoulder injury but made an impression after being swung to full forward after half-time. David Holst restricted Russell Ebert to just four possessions for the match and kept him kickless after half-time.

Stephen Kernahan struggled at centre half-forward on Greg Phillips but Robbie Walter began to give the Tigers a path forward. Kernahan marked and goaled from a searching Cornes punt into the breeze after five minutes of the last term and, suddenly, Glenelg was in front, 11.6 to 9.13.

Granger ran out of steam and was replaced by Anthony Williams and within one minute, his snap restored Port’s lead. But Mark Hewett roved nicely and the Bays led again.

Skipper Paul Weston should have sealed the game from 20 metres but missed to stretch the buffer to eight points before behinds from Tim Evans and Craig Bradley cut the margin to six entering time-on.

The Magpies attacked relentlessly but were thwarted by repeat ball-ups when Carey’s tap into the ground bounced up into the arms of McDermott. He was immediately grabbed from behind and wrestled to the ground as he took possession.

Bradley motioned an appeal for holding the ball and Charlesworth upheld it. “Well, have you ever seen one given so quickly?” cried Peter Marker in commentary. “Ric Charlesworth has given an incredible decision and the Glenelg players I can tell you are not happy.”

Charlesworth has a different view. “I gave Chris plenty of time to get rid of it,” he said. Now 79, he umpired until, aged 62, he was assaulted by a player after a country game and required a back operation that restricted his ability to run. He stands by his decision.

“Murray Ducker (former SANFL umpires coach) said you should only have three bounces before you have to find a free kick,” Charlesworth said. “I didn’t know what the score was – I never used to look at the scoreboard.

“I remember McDermott grabbing the ball and at no stage did he try to get rid of it. He had the ball in his stomach and he was punching his stomach. Well, that’s making no attempt to get rid of the ball, so I pinged him holding the ball.”

Porplycia had a happy knack of being in the right place at the right time. He endured several injury-interrupted seasons but still played 163 games for the Magpies between 1974-83. And he played in all four premierships, including being named on the interchange bench in the hat-trick from 1979-81.

“I missed a number of games but I was lucky enough towards the end of the year that (Port Adelaide coach) John Cahill was prepared to pick me,” Porplycia said. But his tongue was lodged firmly in his cheek when asked about the decision which led to his one and only kick after the siren. “He was caught cold mate, absolutely,” Porplycia said. “It was a pretty quick call but on investigation I think it probably had to be called that way.”

McDermott joined six team-mates in arguing the point with Charlesworth and then threw his arms up in horror when the siren sounded. “The 80s were a time when it was a very conversational game back then. And Ric was one who bought into the running commentary. They gave it back as good as they got, if not better and in the end they had the last laugh – they had the whistle. But once the game was over, you’d have a beer or a conversation and it was all okay.”

Ian Day found beauty in the result, if not its formula. “What a magnificent finish and deservedly so. Port Adelaide’s first half, the Bays’ second half. A brilliant finish, a controversial finish. What a game of football,” he screamed in commentary.

But Geoff Kingston was more blunt in his assessment in The Advertiser. “The game that was Glenelg’s was taken from it by a decision that should not have been made,” he wrote.

“We were lucky,” Cahill said after the game. Glenelg coach John Halbert said: “I still can’t believe it. It was a moral victory for us. We won it and I am very proud of the way the boys played.”

Ultimately, the result had no impact on the final ladder. Port finished three points clear on top and Glenelg, three points and percentage behind third-placed Sturt.

But the sequel was played out in the preliminary final in similar conditions. This time Glenelg forfeited a seemingly matchwinning lead but held on to win by a point on an infamous afternoon when Granger ran riot, felling multiple Tigers, in what would be his final SANFL match.

GLENELG  2.3  3.3  9.6  12.9 (81)

PORT  3.4  8.10  9.13  11.15 (81)

BEST – Glenelg: Carey, Holst, Weston, McGuinness, MacFarlane, Marshall. Port: Belton, Johnston, Eckermann, Kinnear, Granger, Giles.

GOALS – Glenelg: Weston 2.2, Cornes, Seebohm, Walter 2.0, Kernahan, Hewett 1.1, Marshall, Garton 1.0, McGuinness 0.2, Paynter, McDermott 0.1, rushed 0.1. Port: Evans 3.4, Granger 3.2, Manogue 2.0, Belton 1.2, A. Williams, Porplycia 1.0, Bradley 0.3, Cunningham 0.1, rushed 0.3.

UMPIRES – Ric Charlesworth, Laurie Argent.

CROWD – 22,106 at Football Park