1977 NFL Championship Series (Australia)
# 1977 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1977 NFL Championship Series was the 2nd edition of the NFL Night Series, an NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the SANFL, the WANFL, the VFA and State Representative Teams.

Following the success of the 1976 competition, the 1977 edition was originally planned to be a full-scale national competition that would feature all the VFL, SANFL and WANFL teams plus representative teams from Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT. But in late 1976, the VFL announced they were withdrawing from the national competition to form their own rival night series, the VFL Night Series.

Following this decision, the NFL decided to replaces the VFL teams with the top four VFA teams from the previous season, a surprising move considering the VFA was expelled from the ANFC in 1970.

## Qualified Teams

| Team | Nickname | League | Qualification | Participation (bold indicates winners) |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Enter in Round 2 |||||
| Sturt | Double Blues | SANFL | Winners of the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 6th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976) |
| Port Adelaide | Magpies | SANFL | Runners-Up in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 6th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976) |
| Glenelg | Tigers | SANFL | Third Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1973, 1976) |
| Norwood | Redlegs | SANFL | Fourth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 5th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976) |
| Perth | Demons | WANFL | Winners of the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 1st |
| East Perth | Royals | WANFL | Runners-Up in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1972) |
| South Fremantle | Bulldogs | WANFL | Third Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1976) |
| Port Melbourne | Boroughs | VFA | Winners of the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership | 1st |
| Queensland | Maroons | QAFL | State Representative Team | 1st |
| Tasmania | Devils | TANFL | State Representative Team | 2nd (Previous: 1974) |
| Enter in Round 1 |||||
| West Adelaide | Bloods | SANFL | Fifth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 4th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911) |
| Central District | Bulldogs | SANFL | Sixth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 1st |
| South Adelaide | Panthers | SANFL | Seventh Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1893, 1896) |
| North Adelaide | Roosters | SANFL | Eighth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1971, 1972) |
| West Perth | Falcons | WANFL | Fourth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1975, 1976) |
| East Fremantle | Sharks | WANFL | Fifth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1974) |
| Claremont | Tigers | WANFL | Sixth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League | 1st |
| Dandenong | Redlegs | VFA | Runners-Up in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership | 1st |
| Preston | Bullants | VFA | Third Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership | 1st |
| Caulfield | Bears | VFA | Fourth Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership | 1st |
| Australian Capital Territory | Rams | ACTAFL | State Representative Team | 1st |
| New South Wales | Blues | NSWAFL | State Representative Team | 1st |

    $^1$ Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

## Venues

| Adelaide | Perth | Perth | Perth | Melbourne |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Norwood Oval | Leederville Oval | Lathlain Park | Claremont Oval | Lake Oval |
| Capacity: 22,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 20,000 |
