Anzac Day is not a time to delve into dusty records for their own sake.

Nor is it a day to recall long gone faces staring out of faded photographs. Rather, it is a time to treasure life and the memories of those who lived. When you look at the photographs, you should be thinking of them as people, not just names and shadowy images. They laughed, played the game and revelled in it.

Touch the glass and think how close they really are.

War has shaped the past of the country, our lives and our game. So many careers were split by wartime service, but those players returned to suburban Saturdays and became part of our everyday, match day routine again. There is sadness in their statistics, but not tragedy.

So many careers were cut, cruelly extinguished by war.

Our game, and our Club, will never be the same, despite the passing of time, because of their very being. Theirs are the images to remember, the careers to recall and the names to cherish. They stop and look back at us as we quickly, blithely pay tribute to them – even if only for one day a year.

And so we say to them – you are ours, and we will remember you:

WORLD WAR ONE
Clifford Burge, Jack Doubleday, Frank Lugton, James Mackie, Fen McDonald, Arthur ‘Joe’ Pearce, Percy Rodriguez and Alf Williamson, along with former player Tom ‘Alick’ Ogilvie.

WORLD WAR TWO
Syd Anderson, Jack Atkins, Harold Ball, Ron Barassi Senior, Noel Ellis, Clyde Helmer and Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott, along with former players Derek Mollison, Ted Regan, Archie Roberts, Beres Reilly and Percy Wood.