The 1978 NFL Championship Series was the third 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.

The 1978 NFL edition continued on a similar basis to the previous season with the VFL again running their own Night Series at VFL Park. However, the first signs of a breakaway appeared with the Tasmanian Representative Side choosing to participate in both the NFL and VFL competitions – making them the first non-VFL team to play in the VFL Night Series.

Qualified teams

TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)1
Port AdelaideMagpiesSANFLWinners of the 1977 South Australian National Football League7th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976, 1977)
GlenelgTigersSANFLRunners-Up in the 1977 South Australian National Football League4th (Previous: 1973, 1976, 1977)
West AdelaideBloodsSANFLThird Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League5th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1977)
South AdelaidePanthersSANFLFourth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League4th (Previous: 1893, 1896, 1977)
NorwoodRedlegsSANFLFifth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League6th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976, 1977)
PerthDemonsWANFLWinners of the 1977 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1977)
East FremantleSharksWANFLRunners-Up in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)
West PerthFalconsWANFLThird Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League4th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1977)
East PerthRoyalsWANFLFourth Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1972, 1977)
Port MelbourneBoroughsVFAWinners of the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership2nd (Previous: 1977)
SandringhamZebrasVFARunners-Up in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership1st
CoburgLionsVFAThird Place in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership1st
Australian Capital TerritoryRamsACTAFLState Representative Team2nd (Previous: 1977)
New South WalesBluesNSWAFLState Representative Team2nd (Previous: 1977)
QueenslandMaroonsQAFLState Representative Team2nd (Previous: 1977)
TasmaniaDevilsTANFLState Representative Team3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)

1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

Venues

AdelaideMelbournePerthBrisbane
Norwood OvalLake OvalSubiaco OvalBrisbane Cricket Ground
Capacity: 22,000Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 53,000Capacity: 35,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

25 April 1978Perth94-76West AdelaideSubiaco Oval, Perth
14.10 (94)11.10 (76)Attendance: 4,678
2 May 1978Norwood138-87East FremantleNorwood Oval, Adelaide
21.12 (138)13.9 (87)Attendance: 4,500 (estimate)
7 May 1978Queensland105-83TasmaniaBrisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
16.9 (105)12.11 (83)Attendance: 10,000
9 May 1978Port Melbourne92-46New South WalesLake Oval, Melbourne
12.20 (92)7.4 (46)Attendance: 3,682
16 May 1978South Adelaide87-56Port AdelaideNorwood Oval, Adelaide
12.15 (87)7.14 (56)Attendance: 2,000 (estimate)
23 May 1978Sandringham82-78Australian Capital TerritoryLake Oval, Melbourne
12.10 (82)12.6 (78)Attendance: 2,680
30 May 1978Glenelg71-69West PerthNorwood Oval, Adelaide
10.11 (71)10.9 (69)Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)
6 June 1978Coburg71-49East PerthLake Oval, Melbourne
10.11 (71)7.7 (49)Attendance: 1,280

Quarter-finals

QF #1 13 June 1978Perth106-93NorwoodSubiaco Oval, Perth
16.10 (106)14.9 (93)Attendance: 2,209
QF #2 20 June 1978Port Melbourne96-60QueenslandLake Oval, Melbourne
13.18 (96)9.6 (60)Attendance: 3,000
QF #3 27 June 1978Glenelg101-84CoburgNorwood Oval, Adelaide
15.11 (101)13.6 (84)Attendance: 2,500 (estimate)
QF #4 4 July 1978Sandringham35-94South AdelaideLake Oval, Melbourne
5.5 (35)14.10 (94)Attendance: 1,000

Semi-finals

SF #1 11 July 1978Glenelg92-70PerthNorwood Oval, Adelaide
13.14 (92)10.10 (70)Attendance: 2,500 (estimate)
SF #2 18 July 1978Port Melbourne63-68South AdelaideLake Oval, Melbourne
9.9 (63)9.14 (68)Attendance: 2,000

NFL Championship Series final

Final 25 July 1978South Adelaide63-26GlenelgNorwood Oval, Adelaide
3.0 (18) 4.2 (26) 5.3 (33) 9.9 (63)1.3 (9) 2.6 (18) 2.7 (19) 3.8 (26)Attendance: 9,000 Umpires: Peter Mead
Goals
Ruscuklic, Hateley, Lyons 2 Harradine, Keam, Schneebichler 1Rady, McFarlane, Cornes 1