The pride and passion of the Crows’ 19^th man impacted Adelaide’s stunning win against Collingwood at Adelaide Oval in an unexpected way … and repeated history at the mecca of South Australian sport.

The cheering of Adelaide fans had reached such a crescendo nearing three-quarter time of the thrilling round nine clash the siren could not be heard above the din as power forward Josh Jenkins stormed in for his fourth goal. The contentious major gave the Crows a 14-point lead and they went from strength to strength for a crucial 21-point success.

But it was not the first time there had been such controversy at the famous ground. And there have been similar instances in the VFL/AFL, a night competition grand final being won and lost after the siren had not been heard and one result even being overturned.

But nothing could match the farcical ending to Central District’s SANFL clash with Sturt at Elizabeth in 2003. There was at least two minutes left on the clock when the driver of a train charging past the ground unwittingly gave a blast on his siren. Disbelief and some nervous laughter turned to uproar as the umpires raised their arms, declared time and walked from the ground. Despite some muffled protests there was no turning back, an unsavory furore averted because the Bulldogs had been eight goals up.

Incredibly, a repeat was averted in this year’s round eight Central-Sturt clash at Elizabeth when a train siren blasted again with two minutes left in the last quarter and the umpire again raised his arms to signal the game’s end. Luckily this time the umpy quickly rectified the situation and the game went on. The Bulldogs added the only goal – this time with a set shot after the the real siren’s blast. Luckily again the scores weren’t close – this time Sturt won by eight-plus goals.

Against Collingwood, Adelaide’s Sam Kerridge, charging through the midfield with a couple of bounces, fired out a long handball towards Jenkins, who grabbed the ball as the timeclock clicked down to zero, coach Brenton Sanderson and his assistants yelling to get it on to his boot. He took a few quick steps to balance and thumped the ball through the big sticks to a deafening roar from the packed crowd of 50,051. The umpires did not realise the siren had sounded until they were reaching the centre for the next ball-up and the video review system could not sort it out because it does not feature audio. AFL rules state play only concludes when any one of the field umpires hears the signal, acknowledges it and brings play to an end.
“I did try to get it on the boot as quickly as possible because I knew it was late in the quarter,” Jenkins said. “They've given me the six points and I'm not giving it back … I guess I have the 19^th man to thank for that one.”
While Collingwood president Eddie McGuire vented his disapproval at Jenkins’ controversial goal, the vast majority of the fans at Adelaide Oval on this memorable Thursday night left in decidedly good spirits.
That wasn’t the case at SA’s premier sporting venue back in 1945 when a goal booted after the final bell changed the course of a finals series. West Torrens won the first post-War premiership but it could easily have fallen at the first hurdle, winning a controversial first semi-final against North Adelaide.

The Advertiser’s Rover wrote West Torrens won only because of “a goal scored off the ground after the bell”. Scores were level when the final bell rang – West Torrens 13.22 to North’s 15.10 – with wiry Torrens ruckman Don Prior’s long punt “still in the air and descending into the goalsquare”. The roar of the “big, excited crowd” prevented (South Australian football Hall of Fame) umpire Ken Aplin from hearing the electric bell that was switched on from the timekeepers’ box in the stands. It was “not until the ball was kicked through from a scrimmage in the goalmouth and he had given the 'all clear' and turned to run back to the centre for the bounce that he heard the bell, which was still ringing”.

Jimmy Thoms, who made his name as a speedy 173cm rover with Footscray and had played for the Big V in 1941, booted the winning goal as the crowd of 21,167 roared deafeningly. Thoms had been balloted to Torrens while on air force duty in the War and played most of this season with the VFL Bulldogs before flying in for the finals games.  The former All-Australian table tennis champion was best-afield in the first semi-final, booting 4.6. There was immediate confusion and uproar with spectators on the members’ wing near the bell thinking the goal had been posted wrongly and the game had ended in a draw. But Rover wrote, “it is definitely laid down that the game does not end until the umpire, by blowing his whistle and holding up his hands, signals that he has heard the bell. This field umpire Aplin did not do until be had started on his way to the centre”.

Most of the players had not heard the bell, including Torrens’ dual Magarey Medal-winning champion centreman Bob Hank, who six decades later recalled: “There was a tremendous noise because the scores were level. There was uproar everywhere. Ken Aplin didn't hear it, I didn't hear it and most of them didn't. And Jimmy Thoms kicked the goal. I suppose somebody must have heard the bell because there was a little bit of carry-on from some North players.”

And the carry-on carried on after that.

This iconic final was contested less than a week after World War II had ended but the controversial finish was on the front page of The News. Next to the story “Planes reach Singapore … Hospital ship due today” was a piece “Oval bell wrecked in night raid”, with an accompanying picture of SANFL secretary Thomas Seymour Hill, looking suitably unimpressed with the bell that had been vandalised by angry North Adelaide supporters. 

Roy Colmer wrote: “The electric bell at Adelaide Oval used in league football matches was wrecked on Saturday night. Since the end of the league football semi-final on Saturday, the bell has been widely discussed in Adelaide. It was through umpire Aplin failing to hear its signal to end the game that Torrens won from North. The bell was still standing when the oval staff left on Saturday night. It is thought that irate spectators took their revenge on the bell either through remaining behind after all others had left the ground, or by returning during the night. The two-inch iron pipe standard on which the bell is fixed was found bent over the arena fence yesterday morning with the electric wires broken off at ground level.” Colmer noted officials believed more than one man would have been needed to bend the pipe to push the bell over the arena fence.

The League decided to repair the bell and also obtain the electric bell from Glenelg Oval to have two bells to use for the remainder of the finals. And it was probably just as well because Torrens led the preliminary final by just four points, Norwood charging deep into attack as the bells rang.

Thoms flew back to Melbourne to front for a service game the day after his last-gasp sealer, kicked nine goals in Torrens’ successful finals series and represented Victoria the following year when he played the last of his 120 games for Footscray. He played just five games for Torrens but, also one of the best-afield in the surprise 13-point grand final win against Port Adelaide, they could hardly have made a greater impact. And he kicked 13 goals for the club – one which rightfully has gone down in folklore.

North took its fate more philosophically than its supporters, making an official protest but not asking the result to be overturned, rather urging steps be made to improve the effectiveness of the warning system at the Oval. And Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley refused to blame Jenkins’ controversial goal for the Magpies’ defeat, saying: “It wasn't the difference … we would have been saved six points but it didn't affect the flow of the game.”
Buckley, describing Adelaide Oval as a “loud stadium” said he had thought umpires had buzzers in their pockets. “This is how things evolve. Circumstances occur and you go 'geez, we could do better than that' and then we do something about it,” he said.

That’s what happened back in 1945. After the Torrens-North clash suggestions were made to Hill the sound of the bell could be amplified. But he raised the point noise from the spectators would also be broadcast over such an amplifier.

Referring to a suggestion an ARP siren should be installed, Hill said he thought there was no chance of getting it set up in time for Saturday’s next final. Years earlier the SANFL committee had inspected fire brigade sirens and had stuck with the bell. But that all changed after Jim Thoms kicked his way into legend.

South Adelaide timekeeper Brian Moriarty was wounded in theline of duty when the siren failed at Adelaide Oval at a South-PortAdelaide SANFL clash in 1982. "From whom the oval bell tolls" was the headlinein the Sunday Mail as Moriarty required treatment for a head gash when a heavyold cow bell he used to signal the end of a quarter struck him. The siren hadmysteriously failed when he had pressed it, forcing him to grab the bell thatwas nearby as a back-up and dash down from the back of the members' grandstandto the boundary line.

The incident brought back memories of the previous time abell had to be used at Adelaide Oval - in a Port-Sturt clash in 1971. The sirenhad blown a fuse that day. Unwittingly the siren switch was left on and whenthe fuse was replaced 10 minutes into the last quarter, the siren blasted,bewildering the players and umpire Max O'Connell.

While sirens and football venues change, history continues to repeat. The Fremantle-St Kilda nailbiter at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium in 2006 will always be remembered for its siren. It could not be heard over the crowd and this dispute stunningly ended with the game’s result being overturned. The Dockers were clinging to a one-point lead, with umpire Matthew Nicholls about to bounce the ball 40 metres from the St Kilda goal, when the siren blew. Nicholls did not hear the blast but there were some celebrations from Dockers players and when Nicholls called for the ball the timekeeper believed the game was over and began doing his paperwork. But the game continued long enough for the Saints' Steven Baker to gather the ball and snap a behind. The timekeeper, having been alerted the game was on in earnest, blasted the siren again while the ball was heading goalwards and this time it was heard by the men in white. But Baker was awarded a second kick for a late tackle. His kick missed again and a draw was the hotly-debated result until four days later. After a long meeting the AFL commission determined the match should have ended when the first siren sounded and a one-point win was awarded to Fremantle.

The stunning overturning of this result saw Collingwood people suggesting the Magpies could now be awarded the 1980 Escort Cup night premiership.

The Cup grand final at Waverley was played before a then record night final crowd of 50,478. With rain lashing down, the Magpies were leading by three points at the 29-minute-mark of the last quarter as Brownlow Medallist and later dual Crows premiership coach Malcolm Blight charged through the midfield, his laser-like pass hitting Kangaroos team-mate Kerry Good on the chest 35 metres from goal. Good had marked the ball after the siren had sounded but because the men in white had not heard it, he lined up for goal as the crowd started streaming on to the ground.

Some fans were within five metres and Collingwood supporters were waving their arms to distract him as he booted the ball, the goalsquare full of fans as well as Magpie defenders. But the ball did not deviate as it sailed through the middle for the Cup-winning goal.

Thirty-four years after that controversy, Jenkins eachoed the thoughts of Good, who had not heard the siren. No way was Jenkins giving his goal back to the Magpies.

“You don't give away premierships, even night premierships, especially against Collingwood,” Good said of his fateful kick.