New ground will be broken when North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs face off at Etihad Stadium in what is hoped to be the first of many Good Friday fixtures to come.
The inaugural Good Friday match will be played in the unusual timeslot of 4:20pm, so as to not clash with any religious services.
Aussie rules has previously never been played on the religious holiday, with the opening match of the Easter round taking place on the preceding Thursday instead.
In recent years, the AFL’s opening round fell in the same weekend as Easter, with Richmond and Carlton contesting the first match for the season at the MCG on the opening Thursday night (in 2013, it was played in the second weekend of Round 1) before a lull on the Good Friday.
The Brisbane Lions also regularly played an Easter Thursday night match at the Gabba, but have lost their place in this timeslot owing to poor performances in recent years.
Instead, the West Coast Eagles and Sydney Swans will play in this timeslot when they lock horns at Domain Stadium.
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After over three decades of lobbying, the Roos were successful in their bid to contest the inaugural Good Friday clash, giving the club their first marquee fixture in the same manner that Essendon and Collingwood contests the annual Anzac Day fixture.
“We’re absolutely thrilled by the announcement,” the club’s chief executive Carl Dilena said when this fixture was announced last October.
“It’s a tribute to this club’s track record of innovation and a credit to all the great North people like Bob Ansett, Ron Casey and Greg Miller, who initially proposed this game in the late ’80s and early ’90s.”
The Roos want to use this landmark occasion, another initiative for the club after they pioneered Friday night football in the 1980s, to kick-start its year after three straight losses to open the 2017 season.
Last August, coach Brad Scott made the controversial call to delist club veterans Brent Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Michael Firrito and Drew Petrie, making clear his intentions to regenerate the club’s playing list.
As a result, the club that started last season with nine straight wins and barely scraped into September have been tipped to struggle.
Despite this, they have been competitive in most of their matches so far and were unlucky not to have beaten the Geelong Cats in Round 2. They led for nearly the entire match, only to concede the match-winner by the Cats’ George Horlin-Smith with over a minute to go.
Last week they kept the Greater Western Sydney Giants honest for three quarters, but faded in the last to go down by seven goals in Hobart.
Things will not get any easier when they face a Bulldogs side smarting from their upset 16-point loss to Fremantle in Perth the previous week.
As they did in 2015 and 2016, the Bulldogs have started the season 2-1, and will start hot favourites to move ahead 3-1 as they continue to revel in the defence of a premiership flag which was 62 years in the making.
Prior to the shock defeat to the Dockers, they had registered impressive wins over Collingwood and the Sydney Swans, coming from behind in the final quarter of the latter match to win by 23 points.
They will be sweating on the availability of Liam Picken and Stewart Crameri, with the former being knocked out in the second quarter of the loss to the Dockers last week and the latter battling a hip complaint.
The match will be captain Robert Murphy’s 299th, which means he remains on track to play his 300th next week in a home game against the Brisbane Lions.
The last four meetings between the two clubs is split at two wins apiece, with both winning a meeting last year.
In Round 6, in front of a crowd of over 46,000, the Roos overcame an injury-ravaged Bulldogs outfit by 16 points before Luke Beveridge’s men returned serve with a 14-point win in Round 20. On both occasions, the winner kicked 9.7 (61) in low-scoring contests.
Macca
Guest
That never ends well for the saints though!
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Saints vs Lions?
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
The crowds should be fine - it is a Marquee Game on a Public Holiday.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Best thing about Good Friday is that it's one of only two days of the year where the Courier Fail doesn't go to print
Macca
Guest
Alchemist - if you are on an award triple time is the standard - as I said "unless specifically negotiated differently" that is the rate. This is an area I am experienced in. This is why very few businesses open on Good Friday compared to other public holidays.
Alchemist
Guest
Triple time on good friday and Christmas day is not an across the board penalty rate. Different industries have different rules. Perhaps you are the one who should have looked it up before going off like a 2 bob watch.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Freo has had the ANZAC Len Hall Game as a permanent request to the AFL since 1996 (virtually since their inception and the Ess/Coll game). Freo have had plenty of ceremony around that and make it a special event of it for all that time. They occasionally get it on ANZAC Day if it falls between Fri-Sun, but the closest weekend otherwise. Very recently Nisbett has been agitating to get a piece of that as he felt that was something they might want to claim too. But Freo probably have as much claim on the ANZAC celebration game as Collingwood or Essendon.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
The WA Derby on Anzac Day would be huge, aye? Hmm, the Adelaide sides would be a pretty good idea, I reckon. Would be some cracking contests.
Macca
Guest
AD - Exactly, if Melbourne people are so fragile they can't put up with a train ride home at 7pm on a Sunday night without becoming to mentally fatigued to work the country is in a lot of trouble.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I think you'd either have to play the WA Derby on ANZAC Day or rotate it between the two of you Year on, year off. Maybe strike a deal with the Adelaide based sides to have one come over each year for the game Weagles v Crows, Dockers v Port.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Pfffft, when I was in Melbourne last year for Freo's first round game I travelled to Tullamarine from the CBD, hopped on a plane back to Adelaide at 6am, landed, went home, ate some brekkie and made it to uni for a 9am lecture. Try harder you guys ;)
Steve
Guest
Well the game is on the regular fixture. I think as long as equity prevails and allows every club equal opportunity to play in it there would be improvement. There are a vast array of opportunities which would open up to utilise that particular marquee game equitably to benefit all clubs and the entire league. You could argue this til the cows come home (metaphor) but a dynamic fixture makes for more interest, that's for sure.
Macca
Guest
Cat - anyone who finds it too 'mentally draining" to travel to a watch a football match would be having a nervous breakdown by Thursday having to travel to go to work each day. Seriously I have often driven 3 hours each way on a Sunday and got home after 8.30 and been fine for work the next day.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Freo tends to have the 'Len Hall tribute' game around the ANZAC period every year (against Carlton last season, North Melbourne this year I think). If we badger the AFL enough I guess that could potentially turn into a permanent or semi-permanent game like you suggest, Paul. Dunno how the Eagles would feel about that, though?
mattyb
Guest
Much of the usual talk seems centred around people concerned their club might be missing out or not getting enough. The AFL probably have it right about now,in Victoria at least. If we share Good Friday amongst dogs,Roos,saints it means all the VFL clubs have a piece of marquee pie. Some clubs get two pieces while others get 3/4 of a piece but something is better than nothing. Tough job for the AFL to make everyone happy,they do try and their performance excellent in this regard.
Cat
Roar Guru
because its draining either dealing with traffic or public transport. Not saying it can't be done, obviously it can but a lot of people will opt to stay home and relax before beginning the weekday grind again.
Macca
Guest
Cat - Why do you believe that a game finishing at 7pm is affected drastically by people having to work the next day - even if you took an hour and a half to get home you are still there by 8.30.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Ok, I get that. What's your proposed method for sharing the game out and determining who gets to play?
Steve
Guest
All my comments were quite the opposite, advocating 'no' ownership of ANZAC day MCG games. The AFL is the sum of many parts and each club is as valuable as the next. Having every side resourced and capable of winning each week makes for a better competition. These Marquee games give clubs exposure and the ability to grow revenue and their brand. It should be fairly shared. Equalisation works.
Cat
Roar Guru
The time slot is fine - as long as the following day is not a work day for the masses.