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Opinion
Is there a more famous rivalry in Australia’s various football codes than Carlton versus Collingwood?
Incredibly, after 125 years of clashes since 1897, both teams were tied at 128 wins each (and four draws) prior to last Sunday’s clash.
While a number of major rivalries exist among the Victorian clubs, the Carlton-Collingwood rivalry is so long and profound that supporters of both clubs look forward to their annual clashes no matter where the teams sit on the ladder.
Although meeting in the grand final just five times (1910, 1915, 1938, 1970, 1979 and 1981), with Collingwood only winning one of these clashes (1910), the initial rivalry mirrored the immense social and religious divisions that emerged in Melbourne by the early 20th century.
Collingwood then was an area with many tanneries, breweries and shoe factories and they often recruited Catholics. Carlton was more of a secular club in a middle-class suburb largely administered by tradesmen and businessmen.
Such differences helped to shape generalisations (whether accurate or not) within the club and fan rivalry.
The first grand final between Carlton and Collingwood (1910) included a huge brawl that led to four players being suspended for 12 to 18 months at a time when players did not wear individual numbers and tribunal hearings relied on witness testimony.
With hard, physical clashes being a feature of Carlton-Collingwood matches from that time, both sides gave their all during these tough years, including during the Great Depression when massive unemployment and widespread deprivation often meant that the winning Victorian Football League (VFL) matches was vital for players to deliver revenue for their families.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Even during Collingwood’s greatest ever period from 1926 to 1931, which included four successive premierships 1927-30 and increased its premiership tally to nine compared to Carlton’s five, Carlton managed to win five of the ten clashes between them.
Again in the 1938 grand final, when Carlton overcame a 39-point deficit to beat Collingwood, another major brawl occurred after the siren involving players, trainers and supporters with police reinforcements called to restore order.
Collingwood’s hatred of Carlton was also fuelled by Collingwood’s longstanding coach Jock McHale (1912 to 1949), who often ordered that the hot water was turned off in the visitors’ rooms when Carlton played at Collingwood’s home ground of Victoria Park.
Carlton’s Jim Baird, who played from 1941, also recalled the reality of hot water being turned off when also noting that Collingwood never invited you into the rooms after the game for a drink despite every other club doing that.
With Collingwood’s major rival during the 1950s in terms of performance being Melbourne at a time when Carlton’s performance waned somewhat, the great rivalry was again made evident by Carlton’s appointment of Melbourne champion Ron Barassi as captain-coach in 1965.
Barassi was someone who had a hatred of Collingwood due to the Demons’ shock loss to the Magpies in the 1958 grand final, which stopped Melbourne equalling Collingwood’s record feat of four successive flags.
Carlton’s 1970 grand final victory over Collingwood again overcame a 44-point half-time deficit. It was a match that also featured the great mark by Alex Jesaulenko over Collingwood’s Graeme Jenkin, an enduring image for Carlton fans.
While class divisions prior to the Second World War had given way somewhat by the 1970s as many moved to expanding outer suburbs, the Carlton-Collingwood rivalry lived on.
Carlton’s champion ruckman John Nicholls recalled his visits to Victoria Park during the 1960s and 1970s as “a nightmare of a place to go to”, that “you had to be wary where you parked in case your car got vandalised”, and that Collingwood fans would abuse you on the way to the ground.
(Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)
The Collingwood captain Des Tuddenham also experienced the immense dislike of Collingwood when one lady chased him across Carlton’s home ground of Princes Park screaming out “you’re a mongrel, Tuddenham”, while another lady at a different match hit over the head with an umbrella while calling him a “filthy bastard”.
Other events fuelled the rivalry into the 1980s and beyond.
During Round 10 of the 1979 season, a ferocious shirtfront by Collingwood’s Stan Magro knocked out Carlton’s captain-coach Alex Jesaulenko, which sent him to hospital.
Yet Carlton overcame a five-goal lead at half time to again win despite Magro also decking Carlton’s Alex Marcou, which resulted in another scrap between many players.
A great moment for Carlton fans yet despair for Collingwood occurred in the 1979 grand final when Carlton’s Wayne Harmes made a desperate chase, dive and swipe at the ball in the forward pocket during the last few minutes to set up Ken Sheldon to goal from the square, which sealed the flag despite Collingwood fans believing the ball was out of bounds.
After the match, the Carlton president George Harris stepped up to the microphone at Princes Park during the celebrations to ask the fans “what’s better than beating Collingwood by ten goals? Beating them by five points in a grand final!”
Carlton’s 1981 grand final victory over Collingwood, their last grand final clash, also overcame a 21-point deficit during the third quarter to bring further despair to Collingwood fans, who had now experienced 11 losses in their 12 grand final appearances since 1952.
However, during the 1970s and early 1980s, besides the few clashes that were played at the all-seater 78,000 Waverley Park, Carlton-Collingwood clashes would often see capacity crowds at the relatively poor suburban grounds where most fans stood through the matches.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
From 1970 to 1980, Carlton’s home ground of Princes Park hosted Collingwood with crowds over 40,000 on five occasions with many other clashes attracting more than 35,000, while Collingwood’s ground of Victoria Park also drew near 40,000 in 1970 with three other clashes above 35,000.
From 1983, of the many Collingwood-Carlton clashes played mostly at Waverley, they attracted six of the 20 biggest home-and-away crowds at that ground before it was closed.
With Carlton-Collingwood clashes have been played at the MCG since 1993. Over 70,000 fans have attended on 27 occasions with many of these matches drawing more than 80,000.
Even when these teams are going poorly they still draw a pretty good crowd, as evident in the second clash of the 2005 season when 48,000 attended despite both sitting last and second last on the Australian Football League (AFL) ladder.
The great rivalry between these two clubs was also evident after Carlton were found guilty of deliberate, elaborate and sophisticated breaches of the salary cap during 2000 and 2001.
That led to a huge fine and the club being stripped of several early draft picks in the 2002 and 2003 AFL drafts, events that ultimately weakened the club for the next six years before the Blues returned to the finals in 2009.
During this dark 2002-08 period for Carlton, the Blues still managed to beat Collingwood in six of the 14 matches, despite Collingwood clearly being the more successful team by making the finals five times.
The battle between these two famous clubs goes on.
With last Sunday’s four-point victory giving the Magpies a slender 129-128 lead over Carton after 125 years, this famous sporting rivalry continues as one of the greatest rivalries within Australian sports.
What do you think?
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