Adelaide’s stunning September surge to the 1997 premiership started on this day, 19 years ago.
The Crows finished the minor round in fourth place, having won 13 of 22 games, to earn their first home final against West Coast at Football Park.
The Qualifying Final was originally scheduled for the Saturday night but was moved to the following day to avoid a clash with the televised funeral of Princess Diana, killed in a car crash in Paris a few days earlier.
Adelaide had lost to lowly ranked Essendon in the last minor round and although it was returning to the finals for the first time since 1993, external expectations were not high.
Even coach Malcolm Blight was cautious. “If we win a final, we might get the verve and vitality back in the club,” the first-year Crows coach said. “We will see how the players react to playing a fair dinkum side in a cut-throat final.”
All Australian midfielder Mark Ricciuto was ruled out late with what would be a season-ending groin injury and West Coast captain John Worsfold won the toss and chose to kick with the assistance of a strong wind.
Adelaide started strongly, however, and led by nine points at the first change. Captain Mark Bickley (20 possessions in the first half) was busy as the margin was extended to 16 points at half-time and then some late goals in the third quarter extinguished the Eagles’ hopes.
The final margin was 33 points, with Ben Hart, Bickley, Peter Caven and Andrew McLeod rated the best by the Club and Coleman Medallist Tony Modra kicking three goals to lift his season tally to 84.
Although Adelaide had finished fourth, it still needed to win four consecutive games to claim its first AFL premiership.
The following week the Crows won at home again – overcoming Geelong by eight points – and then hit the road to beat the Western Bulldogs by two points in a thrilling preliminary final at the MCG.
Adelaide returned to the MCG the following week on Grand Final day and defeated St Kilda by 31 points.
