Footy fans around the world have been in heaven over the last two weeks, with just one day separating Rounds 5 and 6.
With so many significant days on the country’s calendar, the AFL has celebrated each of them with a game… sometimes two.
For example, last Thursday saw Collingwood and Brisbane in the ‘pre-Easter’ fixture, and just six days later we watched Richmond and Melbourne battle it out on ANZAC Day Eve for the fifth time.
The fixture was first introduced in 2015 and both clubs have done a brilliant job honouring those soldiers who have fought for this country over the last 100+ years.
A minute of silence, the cauldron, phone torches lighting up the MCG, the last post, the silence around the ground…
And, typically, a very ordinary game to follow.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
2019’s edition of the fixture was no exception.
A fired up Melbourne came to play from the opening bounce and matched the Tigers’ ferocious attack on the ball in the first quarter.
But it wasn’t sustainable.
Despite an entertaining opening quarter and Melbourne taking a one-goal lead into the first break, they added just two more goals for the game.
The 43-point loss is the second biggest the Dees have copped on the ANZAC Day Eve, last year losing by 46 points.
While both teams have been the only two involved over the last five years, the games have hardly lived up to the ‘thrilling’ standard we expect from marquee games.
The smallest margin, 13 points in 2017, is an outlier as the other four winning margins have exceeded five goals and in the last two years have exceeded seven.
So it hasn’t lived up to the hype on field, but that shouldn’t take away the brilliant job off it.
Both teams and their supporters have honoured our soldiers respectfully and provided a great foundation for the ANZAC Day game and what it stands for.
Why doesn’t that same perspective apply to Good Friday?
North Melbourne campaigned for over two decades to play Good Friday Football and finally got the call up three years ago – like that or not, it’s fact.
In 2017, the first ever Good Friday game was played between North Melbourne and the reigning premiers, the Western Bulldogs.
In the space of four seasons, we have gone from no Good Friday football to two games and a total of six teams rotating through the day.
Let’s start with the first game.
North and the Bulldogs set the on-field benchmark and delivered what will be remembered as a classic.
With three points the final margin, the game certainly reached the heights one would expect from a marquee game.
So why did the Dogs get the boot? Your guess is as good as mine.
Perhaps it had to do with off-field promotion for the Royal Children’s Hospital, as North took the lead and the Dogs didn’t keep up quite as well.
But this is where the AFL got it wrong because instead of presenting some guidelines and giving the two sides an opportunity to build a tradition, the Bulldogs were out and St Kilda was in.
And we saw the opposite result.
Great promotion, awful game and crowd figures dropped almost 10,000.
So that, too, wasn’t good enough.
The narrative is unclear.
All the promotion is focused on Good Friday being bigger than football but the actions taken so far suggest there’s a second motive driving the fixture.
The “smaller” clubs, like North, Bulldogs and St Kilda are just as capable of raising money for the Good Friday Appeal.
These clubs are forced to prove themselves year in, year out while Richmond and Melbourne they’ve been handed a marquee fixture on a silver platter to make their own.
To me, that says there is underlying pressure on the clubs to make it profitable for the AFL.
If Good Friday is really bigger than footy, any supporter of any team will dig deep for a good cause – no matter if they were playing or not.
The AFL is just introducing a lot of expectations as an excuse to, within five years, have another big ticket game on the agenda.
Why not own up to that, instead of playing the swapping game?
This year, we might have found a winning combination: North Melbourne vs Essendon.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos)
Almost a full house watched the two teams play for four points at Marvel and a lot of money was raised.
But the game was a flop.
North Melbourne barely turned up and were showed up a quicker, classier Essendon outfit.
Now the question is – have they done enough to secure the spot for 2020, or will the timeslot pioneers be out after three years?
The fact that there is a hanging threat over the clubs involved is frustrating in the first place.
If the AFL really wants to do the day justice, they should focus on the work North Melbourne has done for the Good Friday Appeal and RCH not just since 2017 but over the last 20 years.
That alone should be enough to suggest they deserve it.
Reports state that North and Essendon have the game locked up for the next 20 years.
I’ll believe it when I see it, or hear it, straight from the AFL’s mouth.
And what’s going to happen to the game in the West?
For the first time we saw two non-Victorian sides in a marquee game and while it wasn’t a much better spectacle than that at Marvel earlier in the afternoon, it was great to see West Coast and Port Adelaide involved.
The two sides, like the other six non-Victorian sides are just as worthy as everyone else, and I’d like to see them again same time next year.
For a national competition there is not enough of a spread.
But that’s hardly news to anyone.
Unfortunately, there’s not much that anyone can do but wait for an announcement to come post season.
It will be a real shame for North Melbourne, West Coast and Port Adelaide if their plans change for Good Friday next year.
Because they’re all clearly capable of honouring the day appropriately.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
I probably did blow it out of all proportion a bit. I took a bit of harmless flippancy the wrong way. Misread it, I guess. It happens sometimes. I’m not normally so serious. Apologies for that.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Hopkins only played 1 more game after the Grand Final before retiring from football to pursue other interests. He has written fiction articles and poems and was co-founder of Champion Data.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Goal umpires were allowed to call boundary line decisions at that time. The Goal umpire Bob Barker has always said that he has never had any doubt in his mind about his decision and would make the same decision 101 times out of 100.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
Do you remember what happened to Ted Hopkins? I think he gave up football to be a ski instructor at Mt Hotham (?). Pity, because his long blonde hair always looked great against the navy blue.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
You are correct about the ball being completely over the line, but I recall this as being out by heaps . However, it was before the goal umpires were allowed to call balls out to assist the boundary umpire and when there was only one boundary umpire for each side of the ground. However, I think it was the incident that brought about the change of goal umpires signalling out and the ultimate introduction of two boundary umpires.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
I always tell Collingwood supporters it was out, but no replays can confirm one way or the other. Even if 99% of the ball was over the line it is still in unless the whole ball is over.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
Actually, I was sitting in line with the boundary when Harmes when out, so yes I do think it was out….. B-) Barrasi did come up with the idea of just handball, handball, and run which changed the game and it may have been the most seminal strategic change in the way the game has been played ever! (I think there may be a recording of his speech at half time I seem to remember him saying them but it may have been a post match interview.) I agree with your comments about Bob Rose, amazing athlete, lovely bloke, but even at the time I think there were doubts at Collingwood about him being too nice. I wish I can remember who it was who said most people do not know how beaten up Collingwood were. But, in the end it makes no difference. What counts is whose name is on the Cup! And, only that.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Or the explanation could be that Carlton realising they had to change the way they were playing, played on at every opportunity - very rare game style back then and also brought on a little bloke named Ted Hopkins. I have watched that game many times and never heard/saw multiple injuries to Collingwood players. Bob Heard was one of your players on the bench and I don’t think he even came on. The stats sheet for him shows all donuts. I recall an article by Jon Anderson in 2010 - the 40th anniversary of the game in which he had interviewed several Collingwood players. They all said the champagne drinking at half time was not true but believed their poor kicking at goal in the first half was a big factor. They also believed that their fitness was another factor saying that coach Bob Rose was not a hard trainer and they weren’t as fit as other sides like Richmond and Carlton. The injury to McKenna was a big factor imo as he was no doubt suffering from concussion. McKenna has stated the club doctor wanted to take him off at half time but Rose wouldn’t have a bar of it. McKenna had 2 touches in the second half. IMO Carlton played a style of football in the second half that Collingwood did not know how to counter. It was a style that could have gone either way but luckily for Carlton it worked. I think you just need to get over the fact that the game was one played in two halves. The first half Collingwood dominated and with better goal kicking could have been further in front at half time. The second half Carlton dominated and completely overran Collingwood. I bet you even think the ball was out of bounds in the 1979 grand final.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
Was it Good Friday in Perth too?
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
I was there too. Despite my father's association with the club, the very first I heard about it was in an interview with one of the Collingwood players (sorry I can not remember the player) talking about the game in 1990 at the 20 year anniversary. Perhaps it is rubbish, but it goes some way to explain how Collingwood just seemed to stop after half time.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I'm not even sure what you're upset about.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Rave on. I don’t have the arrogance of half-educated youth as an excuse anymore, but you obviously still do.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Gee Fat Toad, I was at the 1970 grand final and the only Collingwood injury I recall was to McKenna after team mate Des Tuddenham floored him with a hip and shoulder and he ended up a bit groggy but still played the whole game. Just to make sure I checked the details of the game and no injuries to either side were reported. Please enlighten me though with your 6 injured players.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
In cheerier news ANZAC day falls on Satdee and Sundee for the next 2 yrs . So we can have multiple ANZAC day matches all over the shop and will.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
For mine, the location of the Children's Hospital means it always has to be Kanga's v Blues. It is the only option that makes sense in terms of history and propinquity.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
Against Carlton, I doubt the Collingwood officials were drinking fizz! At the time, I think they were worried about even having a second half team because there were six players injured with no reserves left.
The Pundit
Roar Rookie
The WCE and Port game should be permanent and the ANZAC ceremony was just as good as the MCG one. The ANZAC game if North are to keep it needs one of the big Victorian clubs playing as well to ensure there is a big crowd as North are one of the poorest crowd pulling teams in Melbourne.
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
You are correct, eventually 25 April will fall on a Good Friday, but it will not be soon! This would mean that Easter Sunday was on 27 April which is the absolute latest possible date for Easter Sunday (unless the moon moves out of its current orbit or we stop using the Gregorian calendar). Based on the Astronomical Society of South Australia’s predictions, Good Friday will not occur on 25 April until after the year 2299. Frankly, its even doubtful there will still be an AFL by then. I see no reason why two teams that have built a day, viz-a-viz Essendon and Collingwood should not be entitled to keep it. At the moment only Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond would get a crowd as good, can you imagine an ANZAC day tribute match playing to an empty stadium?
Fat Toad
Roar Rookie
The “smaller” clubs, like North, Bulldogs and St Kilda are just as capable of raising money for the Good Friday Appeal. Is this supported by any evidence?
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
My deepest sympathies to Mrs Pope, Mr Pope. Please let the good lady know I truly share her pain.