The 1985 Australian Football Championships was an Australian rules football series between representative teams of the three major football states. Games involving Victoria were played under State of Origin rules, whilst the match between Western Australia and South Australia involved players based in their respective states at the time. The competition drew controversy when the result of the game between Victoria and South Australia, originally a 57 point win to Victoria, was overturned and awarded to South Australia as a result of Victoria fielding too many players when coach Kevin Sheedy snuck Shane Heard into the squad and into the team as an extra player. The competition was won by South Australia, and it was their first Australian championship since 1911.
Results
Game 1
! Home team ! Home team score ! Away team ! Away team score ! Ground ! Crowd ! Date ! Time ! Broadcast Network |- style="background:#fff;" | South Australia | 11.10 (76) | Victoria | 20.13 (133) | Football Park | 44,287 | 14 May 1985 | 8:00pm | Seven
Match awarded to South Australia at a National Football League appeal hearing on 16 June 1985. Victoria forfeited the match but retained the percentage in relation to points scored for and against. Fos Williams Medal: Peter Motley (South Australia)
Game 2
! Home team ! Home team score ! Away team ! Away team score ! Ground ! Crowd ! Date ! Time ! Broadcast Network |- style="background:#fff;" | South Australia | 30.18 (198) | Western Australia | 16.15 (111) | Subiaco Oval | | 15 June 1985
Fos Williams Medal: Craig Bradley (South Australia) Simpson Medal: Craig Bradley (South Australia)
Game 3
! Home team ! Home team score ! Away team ! Away team score ! Ground ! Crowd ! Date ! Time ! Broadcast Network |- style="background:#fff;" | Victoria | 19.16 (130) | Western Australia | 9.11 (65) | Subiaco Oval | 38,000 | 16 July 1985
Simpson Medal: Dale Weightman (Victoria) E. J. Whitten Medal: Paul Roos (Victoria) Tassie Medal: Dale Weightman (Victoria)
Standings
All-Australian Team Following completion of the series, the best players over the three games were selected in the All-Australian team.
Squads South Australia Victoria Western Australia Coach/es: Neil Balme Captain/s: Malcolm Blight Vice Captain/s: Deputy Vice Captain/s: Both Games Michael Aish (Norwood) Craig Bradley (Carlton) Matthew Campbell (North Adelaide) Stephen Kernahan (Glenelg) Garry McIntosh (Norwood) Peter Motley (Carlton) John Platten (Centrals) Michael Redden (North Adelaide) Keith Thomas (Norwood)
vs Victoria Greg Anderson (Port Adelaide) Tony Antrobus (North Adelaide) Michael Bennett (South Adelaide) Stephen Connelly (Central District) Johnston Martin Leslie (Port Adelaide) Greg Phillips (Port Adelaide) Neville Roberts (Norwood) Dwayne Russell (Port Adelaide) Paul Weston (Essendon) Robin White (Melbourne)
vs Western Australia Malcolm Blight (Woodville) Greg Anderson (Port Adelaide) Peter Bubner (Central District) Richard Cousins (Central District) Rohan Helyar (Norwood) Andrew Jarman (North Adelaide) Bruce Lindsay (West Torrens) Chris McDermott (Glenelg) Mark Naley (South Adelaide) John Schneebichler (South Adelaide) Tom Warhurst (Norwood) Greg Whittlesea (Sturt)Coach: Kevin Sheedy Both Games Dermott Brereton (Hawthorn) Russell Greene (Hawthorn) Roger Merrett (Essendon) Richard Osborne (Fitzroy) Dale Weightman (Richmond)
vs South Australia Gary Ablett (Geelong) Shane Heard (Essendon) Gerard Healy (Sydney) Mark Lee (Richmond) Darren Williams (Essendon) Paul Van Der Haar (Essendon) Mark Yeates (Geelong)
vs Western Australia Tom Alvin (Carlton) Ricky Barham (Collingwood) Andrew Bews (Geelong) Alan Ezard (Essendon) Garry Foulds (Essendon) Mark Harvey (Essendon) Tony Lockett (St Kilda) Simon Madden (Essendon) Merv Neagle (Sydney) Gary Pert (Fitzroy) Geoff Rainesc Paul Roos (Fitzroy) Brian Royal (Footscray) Bernard Toohey (Geelong) Stephen Wallis (Footscray) Kevin Walsh (Essendon) Tim Watson (Essendon) Other Squad Members David Ackerly (Sydney) Mark Bos (Geelong) Rod Carter (Sydney) Terry Daniher (Essendon) Bernie Evans (Carlton) Glenn Hawker (Essendon) Doug Hawkins (Footscray) Gerard Healy (Melbourne) Chris Mew (Hawthorn) Brian Taylor (Collingwood) Brian Wilson (Melbourne)Coach/es: John Todd Captain/s: Don Langsford, Ross Glendinning Vice Captain/s: Deputy Vice Captain/s: Both Games Clinton Browning (East Fremantle) Michael Mitchell (Claremont) Garry Sidebottom (Swan Districts) vs South Australia Don Langsford (Swan Districts) Mark Bairstow (South Fremantle) Phil Bradmore (West Perth) Michael Brennan (East Fremantle) Gavin Carter (South Fremantle) Kevin Caton (Swan Districts) Bryan Cousins(Perth) Jon Fogarty (Swan Districts) Paul Harding (East Fremantle) Dwayne Lamb (Subiaco) Murray Rance (Swan Districts) Stephen Richardson (Swan Districts) Phil Scott (Subiaco) Bill Skwirowski (Swan Districts) Colin Waterson (East Fremantle) Greg Wilkinson (Subiaco) Peter Wilson (East Fremantle) Murray Wrensted (East Fremantle) vs Victoria John Annear (Claremont) Leon Baker (Swan Districts) Simon Beasley (Swan Districts) Wayne Blackwell (Claremont) Gary Buckenara (Subiaco) Allen Daniels (Footscray) Ross Glendinning (East Perth) Brad Hardie (Footscray) Craig Holden (Swan Districts) Ken Hunter (Carlton) Jim Krakouer (North Melbourne) Rod Lester-Smith (Hawthorn) Brian Peake (East Fremantle) Andrew Purser (Footscray) Mike Richardson (Collingwood) Maurice Rioli (Richmond) Jim Sewell (Footscray) Allan Sidebottom (Swan Districts) Robert Wiley (Perth)
References