Hate – verb (used with object) to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.
Hate is a word that most passionate AFL supporters reel off on a weekly basis when confronted with questions about teams other than their own.
Comments such as “I hate Collingwood” and “I hate Chris Judd” are thrown about regularly in the heat of the moment during crucial games.
However, these are normally masking a true respect for the opposition team at which the comment was directed, or a regret that the player at the foundation of the barb is not running around in their own teams colours.
This is not the case for Essendon supporters talking about Hawthorn, or Hawthorn supporters talking about Essendon.
It is Hate.
As a 20-something Essendon supporter I have no recollection of the fierce battles which were waged throughout the 80’s.
I have videos (yep they still exist), I have watched the ’83, ’84 and ’85 grand finals and seen the hurt and jubilation on every player’s face post match, yet with no real attachment to the players due to a “before my time” type feeling.
I can only associate the colours: Red and Black vs. Brown and Gold.
The Australian Football League currently has a fascination with creating rivalries as a way to inspire more supporters to get to the games each week and ensure each game is more marketable than the rest.
The “Q” clash and soon to be “NSW” clash will be fine examples of the AFL using its most powerful marketing asset – rivalries – as a way of garnering new interest in foreign lands.
However, it is an unnecessary course of action, as rivalries are spawned on-field as the “Q clash” has already proven.
The rivalry would already have been instilled after such a tight fought match without the ridiculous amount of marketing airtime and dollars it was afforded.
Supporters and fans alike will see true rivalries as the ones which were forged over time with numerous tight matches (see mid 2000’s Sydney vs West Coast), matches between two teams which both have a long successful history (Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton and Richmond) or clashes between two teams with bragging rights on the line (Adelaide vs Port, West Coast vs Fremantle and Brisbane vs Gold Coast).
Yet there are some rivalries which have are formed in the fan’s eyes in one dramatic instant.
June 5th 2004. This date will be etched in my and every other Essendon supporter’s memory for as long as the AFL is around.
As I previously stated, I have no real affiliation with the great 80’s grand finals between Essendon and Hawthorn, however the moment Chance Bateman unashamedly shirtfronted (sic) Jason Winderlich on the wing early in the 3rd quarter of the Round 11 encounter, a severe dislike for the Hawthorn Football Club was spawned.
It could have stayed as just that, a dislike, had Adam McPhee not been pinned down by two men and cowardly punched repeatedly by Richard Vandenberg.
It could have stayed as a dislike had Campbell Brown not gutlessly struck an already shaken Winderlich as he was being carried off in the arms of trainers.
Essendon won the match by 74 points. Some Essendon fans remember the score, some don’t, but I guarantee you that each and every one of us remembers the name Richie Vandenberg.
He gave us a reason to hate Hawthorn.
August 29th 2009. Round 22, Essendon vs Hawthorn. A spot in the finals up for grabs. The ball is bounced in the centre square, early in the 3rd quarter.
Matthew Lloyd started on the edge of the centre square and charged inwards. Brad Sewell grabbed the ball from a contested situation and turned to move forwards. His jaw is met by Lloyd’s shoulder and is subsequently knocked out cold.
Again a scuffle ensues, however, it is diffused without any major incidents and a determined Essendon team was able to prevail against a visibly unfocused Hawthorn outfit.
Matthew James Lloyd gave Hawthorn supporters a reason to hate Essendon.
Many people will argue that Essendon vs Carlton or Carlton vs Collingwood or the ANZAC day Collingwood vs Essendon are bigger rivalries, and I will not try to dissuade people of these opinions, I just offer my own.
I dislike Carlton. I feel hostility toward Collingwood. I HATE Hawthorn.
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