This was Port Adelaide's 34th premiership, third premiership in a row, and seventh in nine years. Port would also go on to win in 1998 and 1999.
Port had also beaten Central District in the 1995 Grand Final. Thirteen Port players from the 1995 grand final also played in the 1996 grand final. For Central District, 12 players played in both.
Central District entered the Grand Final as favourite to win as they were minor premiers (first on the ladder prior to the finals) and had beaten Port on all four occasions that the teams had met in 1996 prior to the grand final.
Port Adelaide was captained by Tim Ginever and coached by Stephen Williams. Williams assumed the role mid-season following John Cahill's departure, who left to prepare for the Port Adelaide AFL team's entry. Central District was captained by Roger Girdham and coached by Steve Wright.[1]
1996 marked the end of an era for Port Adelaide being their last year their senior most team played in the SANFL, as the Port Adelaide Football Club started fielding a side the AFL from 1997 onwards.
Fellow Magpies Darryl Poole (who missed the Grand Final via suspension), Peter Burgoyne, Tom Carr, Paul Evans and Jason Dylan (rookie list) would round out the homegrown picks. They would be joined by former Magpies returning from other AFL clubs including inaugural captain Gavin Wanganeen, Brayden Lyle and Shane Bond.
Central District would supply the Power with two players from their defeated Grand Final team, Jarrod Cotton and Mark Conway, and juniors Stuart Dew and Nathan Steinberner.
