It’s just ten rounds into the 2014 AFL season, and we have seen our share of traditional blockbusters, cellar-dweller struggles, and clashes of titans.
Crowd attendance has been an enduring issue, though our game’s rivals have been the typical strong contributors to healthy numbers through the turnstiles.
Within just five days of footy, we, the spectators, had been treated to the best of both rivalry worlds.
On Easter Monday, over 80,000 packed into the MCG to watch the scintillating modern rivalry that is Hawthorn versus Geelong.
Just four days later, more than 91,000 – the sixth-largest home-and-away crowd in history – were in attendance on Anzac Day to watch traditional rivals Collingwood and Essendon do battle on one of the biggest stages on the AFL calendar.
And, if the AFL pundits had not been treated to enough of the game’s thrilling rivalries, old and new, Round 7 at the MCG served up what many would argue to be the most famous rivalry of them all – Carlton versus Collingwood.
But do modern rivalries overtake those of traditional heritage in any given decade?
Hawthorn and Geelong says they do.
When we look at a modern rivalry, we see two sides, at the top of their respective games, playing off in cut-throat finals, and usually the last Saturday in September. It becomes the centre-piece for the AFL season, where even the neutral fan pencils in the much-anticipated clashes.
There is an undeniable history between the Blues and the Magpies. Carlton has defeated Collingwood in five grand finals, including the famous 1970 decider which saw Barrassi’s Blues come from 44 points down at halftime to win by 10 points, off the back of the brilliance of Ted Hopkins.
Further to the Magpies’ then-mocking tag of the ‘Colliwobbles’, the 1979 Wayne Harmes’ tap that denied the ‘Pies the flag has become a staple of pre and post-game pub banter far and wide – was the ball out of bounds, or was it in play?
Carlton followed up its 1979 grand final triumph with another victory on the last Saturday in September over Collingwood in 1981, handing the Magpies their third-straight grand final loss.
While the Magpies have not defeated Carlton in a grand final in more than 100 years, they did exact some revenge in 2002. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and, in Round 18 of 2002, the Magpies served their dish of revenge with a wooden spoon to the Blues, handing the arch-enemy a 108-point belting to ensure Carlton finished on the bottom for the first time in its illustrious history.
It is little wonder why those of an older generation still feel the animosity in the air when supporters of both clubs come together for its annual two meetings a year.
A history of grand final meetings and hostilities at Princes Park or Victoria Park of old are all part of the make-up of the famous Carlton and Collingwood rivalry, otherwise declared a ‘traditional rivalry’.
The Round 7 meeting turned out to be a ‘fizzer’, with the Magpies prevailing by 34 points after the Blues looked out of their depth from the opening bounce.
Further, only 68,251 patrons were in attendance – a healthy crowd, yes. But a crowd fulfilled to its utmost potential? Not even close. A touch under 12,000 of what the Cats and Hawks had exhibited in their gladiatorial battle two weeks earlier, with a crowd of 80,222.
The Cats and Hawks rivalry had been existent before. In 1963 when Geelong defeated Hawthorn for the flag, and in 1989, when the Hawks returned the favour, famously winning what is considered the most brutal grand final of all time.
The rivalry took a hiatus until 2008 when the pair met in that year’s grand final to spark the greatest modern rivalry, which is still going strong six years later.
Very few ‘traditional rivalries’ can lay claim to a recent track record as impressively close. The winning margins of Geelong’s 11-straight wins against the Hawks since their 2008 finals loss stands at: 8, 1, 9, 2, 19, 5, 31, 2, 2, 7 and 10. Interestingly, the 11-game winning streak became the longest by a side over its grand final victor.
The Hawks’ preliminary final win against the Cats in 2013, as well as another classic on Easter Monday, puts the modern rivalry ahead of the traditional blockbuster.
Season 2009 brought about the Geelong and St. Kilda slog-fest, under the roof at Etihad Stadium in Round 14, then again in the grand final, won by the Cats.
The Sydney Swans and the West Coast Eagles enjoyed a similar mantle in the mid-2000s, playing off in the 2005 and 2006 grand finals, decided by four points and one point respectively. In between, it was common-place for a single-figure end margin to result whenever the Swans and Eagles did battle.
Essendon and North Melbourne were two powerhouse sides of the late 1990s and enjoyed a modern rivalry. In 1998, the Kangaroos defeated the Bombers in the finals series in the infamous ‘marshmallow’ game. In 1999, Round 17 produced one of the matches of the season – Wayne Carey booted ten goals, Matthew Lloyd kicked seven, and both men staked a claim for goal of the year.
The heat carried over into the new millennium, although the Bombers edged ahead, smashing North by 125 points in the qualifying final, and producing the greatest comeback in VFL/AFL history in Round 16, 2001.
To reiterate – a modern rivalry encompasses two sides at the peak of their powers, leaving nothing out on the field at the end of a hard day’s work. It has been many years since we’ve seen ‘traditional rivals’ battling it out as contenders on the biggest stage.
However Carlton and Essendon did meet in a cut-throat elimination final at the MCG in 2011, the Blues winning by 62 points and they gallantly went down the next week to West Coast in a semi final.
Carlton and Richmond did battle in front of more than 94,000 fans at the MCG last September in an elimination final, but the story remained eerily similar – Tigers were eliminated, while the Blues lasted an extra week before bowing out against the Swans.
Perhaps we need to trawl through the archives to consider the last time two ‘traditional rivals’ lived up to what ‘modern rivals’ can produce.
In 2000, Essendon defeated Carlton by 45 points in a preliminary final to go on to claim its 16th premiership the next week against Melbourne. A few weeks prior, in Round 20, more than 91,000 attended the much-anticipated home-and-away clash.
In 1999, underdogs Carlton defeated the highly-fancied Essendon in the preliminary final by a solitary point to deny the Bombers the chance to play North Melbourne the next week. Many argue it was Essendon’s flag to lose.
In 1995, Richmond and Essendon met in a semi final at the MCG with the Tigers prevailing in a classic. In 1993, Essendon and Carlton met in the grand final, with the Bombers trouncing the Blues from the first bounce.
And, in 1990, Collingwood and Essendon met on the first Saturday in October in the grand final, with the Magpies snapping a 32-year premiership drought.
It is fair to say, we have not seen two traditional rivals encompass the attributes of a modern rivalry since 2000 or earlier.
As the neutral fan, the next meeting of the modern rivals has been pencilled in. And not until Round 22 do AFL fans get to see the best of the best of modern rivals.
Hawthorn and Geelong will do battle at the business end of the season, where both clubs will undoubtedly be playing to consolidate their respective top-four positions ahead of another finals campaign.
For the moment, three things in life are a certainty – death, taxes, and another Cats versus Hawks classic, the current zenith of rivalries in our game.
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