THERE are big days on the football calendar, and then there are really big days. There is no bigger occasion during the home and away season than the ANZAC Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood.

For a ‘tradition’ started just 13 years ago, the list of highlights is seemingly endless; almost every match has thrown up a moment that will be remembered by everyone at the famous MCG on that particular day.

The first such memory is, of course, from the first ANZAC Day clash between the two sides. Played out on a Tuesday afternoon – and these were days when football was still a primarily Saturday afternoon affair – the game was unique enough as is, even before allowing for the remarkable result.

Of course, the match ended in a draw, and outside of the two drawn grand finals, it would arguably become the most famous tied match in history, with images to last a lifetime.

Saverio Rocca’s name will be forever linked to some monster goals and marks, at ground level, Che Cockatoo-Collins played one of the games of his life as the Bombers clawed their way back from a 14-point deficit at the last change.

On that occasion, Collingwood was still winless to that point in 1995 and the Bombers unbeaten; but such is the nature of these games, ladder positions scarcely seem to matter.

Unlikely heroes can also emerge. Much is made of the 17-year old Mark McGough winning the ANZAC Day Medal in 2002, but what of Damian Cupido, who in his one and only ANZAC Day match kicked five goals in a brilliant win a year later?

Not quite the unlikely hero, red-and-black superstar James Hird helped fan his legend with some memorable performances on the big day – he’s the only multiple winner of the ANZAC Medal, having claimed it three times.

Since the 1995 draw, both teams have won six ANZAC Day matches each – and when Essendon win, they tend to do it in clusters, winning three in a row from 1999-2001, and repeating the dose from 2003-2005.

In 2008, with both teams coming off disappointing losses and holding 2-3 records, a win means as much and if not more than ever before. Not to mention a year’s worth of bragging rights for the winner – or at least until they meet again in Round 17.