Print this pageYou need only listen to a press conference with Keith Thomas and Tim Ginever to recognise the deep passion consuming 
the Port Adelaide Magpies and Norwood rivalry.
Simply mention the six words - South Australian National Football League rivalry - and immediately it is the Magpies and Redlegs which spring to mind.
"I don't care if we play Norwood in marbles - I want to win," said Ginever, current coach of the Magpies who clash with Norwood at The Parade in the Rivalry Round on Friday night. "When the Magpies play Norwood everything is put on the line and no one wants to lose."
Thomas, a hero in the 1984 grand final when Norwood created history by coming from fifth spot to beat the Magpies, was just as enthusiastic when the word rivalry was spoken.
As a kid he cheered for the Magpies but it took him "about four seconds" of his first clash for the Redlegs against their No. 1 enemy to "set the tone for my career".
"It does not matter where the two clubs sit (on the ladder) on any given day," Thomas said. "History makes it important and there is an emotional connection."
Thomas may have been raised as a Magpie barracker but he is a Norwood legend. His resume includes 304 league games, the 1985 club champion award and the 1984 Jack Oatey Medallist as best on ground in the grand final.
Ginever is a Magpies legend with seven premiership medallions as well as being a four-times premiership captain.
He was in the infancy of his career when he started on the ground in the 1984 premiership decider.
Thomas vividly remembers that game, especially the stoush between Norwood defender Craig Balme and his opponent Tim Evans as the national anthem was played before the first bounce.
There was also his spectacular mark in the third quarter.
"The pace was electrifying in that game," Ginever recalls. "There was no kicking backwards or slowing the game down."
Jesse Aish, a key component of the current Redlegs outfit and son of 1984 grand final star Michael, also has wonderful memories of that game.
He watches replays of the match to "get revved up" before his own games.
Such is the reputation of the battles between the two clubs, current Magpie Matthew Lokan considers matches against Norwood the biggest games of the year outside the finals.
Courtesy of The Advertiser
Story by Warren Partland