Port Adelaide's team came, saw and conquered all year under the leadership of captain/coach John William Londrigan.
But they didn't just finish atop the ladder after the minor round and prevail over North Adelaide in the then-South Australian Football League (SAFL) Grand Final.
The Magpies defeated the Carlton Football Club to be declared the Champions of the Australia for the second consecutive year.
Buy your 1914 heritage guernsey
The club then was pitched against a combined state team - a 'best of the rest' side - and still won.
With the nation on the brink of war, the Magpies’ own warriors won a total of 16 games for the year with its highest score a 19.17 (131) performance leading to an 81-point victory over traditional rival Norwood at Alberton.
Its worst performance? A 21-point win over North Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval.
Port Adelaide’s grand victories over North Adelaide and Carlton took place at the Adelaide Oval, while the match against the combined state team was held on the Jubilee Oval - land now occupied by the University of Adelaide.
Its success, as with most of Port Adelaide’s dominance throughout various periods in the 20th century, was down to stability.
In the League competition, the Magpies were only changed on four occasions, with the best 18 hitting the field for 10 games throughout the year.
The Magpies consigned North to the lowest score in a grand final since the start of official league records - 1.8 (14) - a losing score replicated 75 years later when Port Adelaide stormed to victory over the red-and-whites in the 1989 SANFL Grand Final.
But the plaudits didn’t end with the premiership and significant state wins.
It was the first time in South Australian history that a team scored 1,000 winning points for the minor round.
Join us in celebrating this historic centenary at Alberton on Saturday. Buy your special offer Magpies home game membership for $30 and get access to the Magpies hosting the Crows and Redlegs, and a 2014 Membership pack!
John Ashley was award the Magarey Medal for his exploits on the field during the minor round while centre half back John William Robertson was awarded the Referee Medal for the best player in the national carnival.
Ashley was also named best and fairest ahead of Roy Drummond.
John Dunn was the club and League leading goal kicker with 33 to his name.
Ashley, Robertson, Angelo Congear, Frances James Magor, Alexander McFarlane, Harold Oliver and Joseph Charles Watson represented the club in the state team, while fourteen players of the club were considered for selection overall.
The state team finished second in the Australian Football Carnival behind Victoria and ahead of Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland.
Patrick Crowley won the ‘Reserves’ Magarey Medal as the best and fairest player from the seconds competition, although the ‘B’ team was unable to clinch a premiership of its own.
Watson would enlist in the Australian Army in Cheltenham that year and, as part of the 10th Infantry Battalion, would die from wounds sustained in France in 1917.
Port Adelaide will don a replica 1914 guernsey against the Crows on Saturday at Alberton Oval to commemorate its all-conquering team.
Notable victories in 1914
SAFL Grand Final
Port Adelaide 13.15 (93) def
North Adelaide 1.8 (14)
Adelaide Oval
SAFL Semi Final
Port Adelaide 12.17 (89) def
Sturt 5.5 (35)
Adelaide Oval
Combined State Game
Port Adelaide 14.14 (98) def
Combined S.A. 5.10 (40)
Jubilee Oval
Championship of Australia
Port Adelaide 9.16 (70) def
Carlton 5.6 (36)
Adelaide Oval
