South Australian Greats in Australian Football Hall of Fame

By ZAC MILBANK 

SANFL is celebrating Australian Football Hall of Fame honours for three South Australian greats of our game – the late Ken Farmer, Peter Darley and Erin Phillips.

Farmer’s posthumous elevation to Legend status and Darley and Phillips’ entry into the Australian Football Hall of Fame were announced on Tuesday night at a ceremony in Melbourne.

SA Football Commission Chairman Rob Kerin tonight paid tribute to the late Ken Farmer, congratulating his family and the North Adelaide Football Club on his elevation to ultimate official status as a Legend of Australian football.

“Ken’s incredible record sits comfortably among the best all-time goal kickers of our game so it is only fitting that he has now been recognised on the national stage in this way,” Mr Kerin said.

An inductee in 1998, Farmer became the fifth South Australian to be bestowed the game’s highest honour alongside 10-time premiership coach Jack Oatey and Magarey Medallists Barrie Robran, Malcolm Blight and Russell Ebert.

Farmer, who is fittingly recognised with a statue outside the northern gates at Adelaide Oval, kicked a remarkable 1417 goals in his 224 games for the Roosters from 1929-1941.

Averaging an astonishing 6.33 goals per game, the highly-regarded spearhead also kicked 71 majors while proudly representing South Australia on the national stage.

His remarkable consistency is also underlined by him being SANFL’s leading goal kicker for 11 consecutive seasons from 1930 to 1940 and as North Adelaide’s leading goal kicker for 13 consecutive seasons from 1929 to 1941.

An inaugural inductee to the South Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002, Farmer – a dual premiership coach with the Roosters – is also a member of North Adelaide’s Team of the Century.

• 224 games for North Adelaide 1929-1941
• 1417 goals at an average of 6.33 goals per game
• 17 games for SA, 71 goals
• 1930 1931 Premierships
• 1936 Best and Fairest
• SANFL leading goalkicker 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
• North Adelaide leading goalkicker 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941
• North Adelaide Captain 1934-35, 1937-38, 1941
• Selected in North Adelaide Team of the Century
• North Adelaide Premiership coach 1949, 1952

Lion-hearted South Adelaide ruckman Peter Darley won an incredible seven Knuckey Cups as the Panthers’ best-and-fairest across his distinguished 206-game career from 1962 to 1974.

An integral member of the Panthers’ famous 1964 premiership team, Darley – who booted a total of 123 goals – was the club’s captain from 1967 to 1969 and in 1971.

The proud South Australian also donned the Croweaters’ guernsey on 13 occasions, receiving All-Australian honours at the 1969 carnival.

Introduced in 1992, the Carey-Darley Cup is contested annually by South Adelaide and Glenelg in honour of Darley and Tigers ruckman Peter Carey.

• 206 games and 123 goals for South Adelaide 1962-74
• 13 games for South Australia
• 1964 South Adelaide Premiership
• 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973 South Adelaide Best and Fairest
• 1969 Carnival All-Australian
• 1974 South Adelaide leading goal kicker
• South Adelaide Captain 1967-69 and 1971

Triple AFLW premiership star Erin Phillips is fittingly the first South Australian woman to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

“Erin has been a wonderful ambassador for women’s football in South Australia and a role model for so many young players,” Mr Kerin said.

“The extraordinary growth of women’s football in this State is a tremendous legacy of Erin’s illustrious career which has inspired so many to play our great game.

“We are absolutely thrilled to see both Peter and Erin receive this richly-deserved honour of being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.”

A trailblazer for the sport in SA, Phillips’ natural flair was on full display in her 66 AFLW appearances for Adelaide and Port Adelaide between 2017 and 2023.

The daughter of South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee Greg Phillips, the gifted midfielder/forward won two AFLW best-and-fairest awards in 2017 and 2019, the same two seasons she claimed the medal for best afield in the Grand Final and the Crows’ best-and-fairest trophy.

A triple All-Australian, Phillips’ leadership qualities also shone as inaugural captain of the Crows from 2017 to 2020 and in Port Adelaide’s first two AFLW seasons of 2022 and 2023.  

• 46 games for the Adelaide Crows 2017-22, 50 goals
• 20 games for Port Adelaide 2022-23, three goals
• 2017, 2019, 2022 AFLW Premierships
• 2017, 2019 AFLW Best and Fairest
• 2017, 2019 AFLW Grand Final Best on Ground
• 2017, 2019 Adelaide Club Best and Fairest
• 2017, 2019, 2021 All Australian
• 2018, 2021 Adelaide Leading Goal Kicker
• Captain Adelaide 2017-20
• Captain Port Adelaide 2022-23
• 2017, 2019 AFLW Players MVP
• 2019 AFLW Coaches Champion Player