Almost 45,000 fans packed into Football Park on this day in 1991 to witness what was a historic occasion for South Australian football.
After months of media hype, planning and training the Adelaide Crows ran out for their first official AFL match on a Friday night at Football Park.
The ‘new kid on the block’ was thrown into the deep end of the pool for Round One of the 1991 season. The Crows had just three players with VFL/AFL experience and were pitted against Victorian heavyweights Hawthorn, which had made six grand finals and won four flags in the past seven seasons.
Crows coach Graham Cornes knew he had a huge challenge on his hands to upset the battle-hardened Hawks.
But despite the stiff opposition, Adelaide’s AFL journey began in fairytale fashion.
Romano Negri - wearing guernsey No.1 - won the first ruck tap, John Klug fired off the first handball and Simon Tregenza recorded Adelaide’s first and second kicks in what would set the tone of the night.
After dominating play for the opening minutes, 1982 Magarey Medallist Tony McGuinness earned a free kick deep in Adelaide’s forward line and slotted the Club’s maiden goal to a rapturous ovation.
The Crows kicked the next four majors and stormed to a 51-point lead by half-time, cruising to victory by 86 points over the eventual 1991 premiers.
The landslide win over the Hawks sent shockwaves across the competition and announced the arrival of South Australian football on the country’s biggest stage.
There were many memorable stories to be told from the first Crows squad.
Inaugural captain Chris McDermott had not followed close mates Stephen Kernahan and McGuinness into the VFL but, after 265 games with Glenelg, finally played at the highest level. Unfortunately, his memories of the match are hazy after he was knocked out in a collision with Dermott Brereton and Paul Dear – the father of current Crows youngster Harry - early in the last quarter.
There were other experienced SANFL campaigners including Bruce Lindsay, Darel Hart and Tom Warhurst who also thought their AFL opportunities had come and gone.
Two-time Magarey Medallist Andrew Jarman lined up next to younger brother and new Hawk Darren in the centre square for the opening bounce. Andrew took first bragging rights in the brotherly battle, with 29 possessions, a goal and three Brownlow votes. The pair would later play alongside one another in the tri-colours for a single season in 1996.
Lanky 21-year-old Nigel Smart made his debut at full-back against one of the era’s greatest forwards in Jason Dunstall. Smart held Dunstall, already a two-time Coleman Medal winner, to just eight disposals and two goals for the match.
Norwood’s reliable farmer Rodney Maynard kicked three goals from half back in a stirring performance from the then 24-year-old.
The smallest inaugural Crow, Eddie Hocking, provided another highlight for the home crowd. Hocking soared over Hawthorn talls Gary Ayres and Chris Langford and claimed a spectacular mark that defied his 168cm stature.
But arguably the greatest story was that of David Marshall. He collected 22 kicks, seven handballs and booted two goals off the wing in a complete performance.
Amazingly, Marshall was the oldest of the Crows to make his AFL debut that night (30 years and 265 days old). He had already played 322 SANFL games for Glenelg, won two premierships (1985-86) and a best-and-fairest in 1990, but never attracted any strong interest from VFL clubs.
March 22, 1991 – Round One
ADELAIDE 6.2 11.6 17.10 24.11 (155)
HAWTHORN 2.0 3.3 6.8 9.15 (69)
Goals: Lindner, Klug, McIntyre 4, McGuinness, Maynard 3, Smith 2, Marshall, Hart, Jarman
Best: Jarman, Marshall, Smart, Klug, Tregenza, Maynard, Lee
Attendance: 44,902 at Football Park
The first team:
F: Bruce Lindner, Peter McIntyre, Darel Hart
HF: Darren Smith, John Klug, Grantley Fielke
C: Simon Tregenza, Andrew Jarman, David Marshall
HB: Bruce Lindsay, Tom Warhurst, Robbie Thompson
B: Scott Lee, Nigel Smart, Rodney Maynard
R: Romano Negri, Chris McDermott ,Tony McGuinness
Int: Rod Jameson, Eddie Hocking
