Monday Milestone: Anzac Bombers
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun,and in the morning, we will remember them.
Lest we forget”
– The Ode
This Week in History:
1995, April 25,
Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy institutes an Anzac Day tradition when he arranges for Essendon and Collingwood to square off in their first Anzac Day clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
War ravages everything, everywhere and everyone.
The grief it inflicts on the world permeates all facets of society, and all walks of life. Australian Rules football is not exempt.
Through a century of conflicts, generations of footballers have left the VFL during the wars, to never return. Six never left the beaches of Gallipoli and another hundred or so never left Europe during the Great War. Many more were lost during World War II.
Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy knew all of this too well in the early 1990s. Sheedy had spent two years in the army in the late 1960s right when Australia was embroiled in the conflict in Vietnam. With the passion for the badge of the Rising Sun, already engrained in his blood, Sheedy recognised the tradition upon which Anzac Day was built, understood the value of remembrance and wished to somehow add to it. His idea was a football match between Essendon and Collingwood.
Of course there were plenty of synergies. The young active, athletic men that filled football teams were the same men that would have filled trenches. They were just born in another era. Sheedy’s men were just Bombers of an entirely different variety.
But this idea of a traditional Anzac match received huge support. The importance of such remembrance resonated in many supporters, each having their own pieces of the Anzac legend, in fathers, and grandfathers that had seen active service, and wished to honour all those that served in some way.
So they came in their thousands after the traditional Anzac march in the city. The MCG was at capacity, all in tribute to the brave Anzac heroes of yesteryear. And when the bugle sounded and 94,825 in the stadium fell eerily silent in quiet reflection it was difficult for Australians not to feel the emotion.
Collingwood and Essendon stood shoulder to shoulder in Anzac brotherhood, as images of war heroes, honouring those who never returned home the same, and those that never returned home at all, flashed before Australian consciousness. It was clear this was special.
The match turned out to be a hard-fought affair. With Collingwood ahead, at the final change, buoyed by the Anzac spirit the Bombers came roaring back and when James Hird snapped a goal to put his side up by six points, Essendon looked home. But the Anzac ghosts had their final say when Sav Rocca took one of the marks of the season before kicking truly to tie the match up with moments remaining.
Fittingly in many ways for these men, the match ended in a draw. As the siren sounded, roars of the crowd were heard a kilometre away. Another Anzac Day tradition had begun.
Today that game still remains one of the biggest home and away matches on record, and is now as vital to the ritual of Anzac Day as the dawn service, the smell of rosemary, the march, losing at two up, or raising a glass for the diggers.
War may ravage everything, including Australian Rules, but now as every year as Essendon play Collingwood on Anzac Day, it’s at least a small solace.
Five most memorable Anzac Day Clashes
5. 2001 – After trailing by a point at three quarter time, Collingwood run out of legs, despite Chris Tarrant’s five goal and best on ground haul. Essendon 15.13.103 defeat Collingwood 14.11.95.
4. 1999 – Mark Mercuri puts on a best on ground performance with 29 touches and two goals in Darren Bewick’s 200th match to secure the win for the Bombers. Essendon 15.18.108 defeat Collingwood 15.10.100.
3. 2009 – Essendon come from behind with a never say die, almost Anzac attitude and David Zaharakis kicks the winning goal with seconds remaining. Essendon 13.15.93 defeat Collingwood 12.16.88
2. 2012 – After going goal for goal, Jarryd Blair seals the one point victory for the Magpies in the 28th minute of the last quarter. Collingwood 11.14.80 defeat Essendon 11.13.79
1. 1995 – Saverio Rocca ties the match up in the inaugural Anzac Day match in front of a capacity crowd as the first episode of this saga ends in a draw. Essendon 16.15.111 drew Collingwood 17.9.111.
With thanks to Quinn Rooney/Getty Images AsiaPac for the picture.
