The spirit and emotion of Anzac Day has helped fuel one of the great sporting traditions of Australia.
The Anzac Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon has become one of our biggest national sporting events.
Over the past sixteen years the Anzac Day clash between the Magpies and the Bombers at the famous MCG has become the biggest club match in Australia’s biggest national sport - second only to the AFL Grand Final.
Over 90,000 people attend the Anzac Day blockbusters and each year millions watch on television.
This year’s blockbuster will be the 17th annual clash between the two clubs since the tradition began with the memorable 1995 drawn match played in front of 94,825.
That first match still represents the second biggest home and away crowd in AFL history, behind the 99,346 fans that saw the 1958 Queen’s Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne at the MCG.
This year the match will be televised live on Channel 10 and it is again a sell out with over 90,000 people making their way to the MCG to celebrate this great tradition.
The rivalry now stands at 8 victories to Collingwood and 7 victories to Essendon with one draw.
The Anzac Day match pays tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia and celebrates the Anzac spirit - courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship.
The traditional Veteran’s Motorcade will take place prior to the observance ceremony and the commencement of the game.
This year’s match will pay special tribute to the veterans of Tobruk. It is the 70th Anniversary of the Siege of Tobruk and members of the Rats of Tobruk Association will participate in the motorcade.
Pre-Match Program
This year’s pre-match will feature
The Royal Australian Navy Band
Entertainment from The Diggers and Diesel
Motorcade of Anzac Veterans.
Observance Ceremony
Catafalque Guard slow march, flags are lowered to half-mast
Major General David McLachlan recites “The Ode”
One minutes Silence
Last Post
Reveille
National Anthem
Public Gates open at 12.30pm. Main entertainment begins from 1.20pm and the match will begin at 2.40pm.
Presentation of Match Footballs
Representatives from Collingwood and Essendon will present the footballs to the umpires on the MCG.
Collingwood is delighted that Private Glen McCabe 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) will represent the club in presenting the match footballs to the umpires. Private McCabe played at the Northern Knights with Collingwood’s Ben Johnson and Heath Shaw. He was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the 1st Mentoring Task Force (MTF1) and has had three tours of duty in Afghanistan and East Timor.
Cheer Squad Banner
The Anzac Day match is unique in that the players from each team join together to run through a single cheer squad banner created by the cheer squads of both clubs - in recognition of the Anzac Spirit and the way Australians came together as one in times of war. The banner lists the names of footballers from each club who lost their lives in war. The Captains and players both teams will meet to shake hands before they run through the banner together.
Anzac Day Logo The Returned & Services League, Australian Football League, Collingwood and Essendon Football Clubs have established an Anzac Day Logo. Each year the logo is proudly displayed on the Guernseys of both clubs and the cheer squad banner.
RSL Collection
A collection for the Returned & Services League will be held at the match. Over seventy volunteers will collect at the gates prior to the beginning of the match.
Anzac Day Trophy
A presentation of the Anzac Day Trophy will be made on the field at the conclusion of the match.
The President of the Victorian RSL, Vietnam Veteran Major General David McLachlan, will present the trophy to the Captain of the winning team.
The trophy comprises a silver bowl, which is supported by four bronze columns and a central glass pillar. The glass pillar has images of servicemen and footballers and is etched with the names of all VFL footballers that gave their lives on active service.The wooden footing of the trophy comes from an ironbark plank, part of an ammunition wagon, which saw service in Villers-Brentonneux in France. The bronze columns incorporate metal salvaged from Gallipoli battlefields.
The trophy and Anzac Medal were kindly donated to the RSL by UNIBIC, makers of Anzac Biscuits.
Anzac Medal
A presentation of the Anzac Day Medal will be made on the field at the conclusion of the The Anzac Medal is awarded to the player in the match who best exemplifies the Anzac Spirit - skill, courage, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play.
The medal is an engraved bronze disk, incorporating battlefield metal, surrounding a glass centre into which is set an image of the RSL badge.
Retrospective ANZAC Medals
In 2011 the AFL, Essendon and Collingwood Football Clubs have come together to award retrospective ANZAC Medals from 1995-99.
The AFL, the two clubs as well as the Herald Sun and Channel 10 collaborated to award medals for the first five ANZAC Day matches the sides contested, and a three-person panel was appointed to vote for each game. The retrospective ANZAC Medals are recognised as official awards by the AFL. Recipients will be presented with their medals on ANZAC Day at the MCG. The Herald Sun will reveal each of the five recipients of the retrospective ANZAC Medals. The winner of the 1995 ANZAC Medal was former Collingwood forward Saverio Rocca. Rocca kicked nine goals in an incredible individual performance, and was a unanimous choice as the 1995 ANZAC Medal winner.
Motorcade of Anzac Veterans
A motorcade of 10 cars prior to the commencement of the game will include returned veterans and returned nurses and servicewomen representing the Siege of Tobruk, Korean War and Vietnam along with representatives currently serving in Afghanistan.
Cyril Martin
EX POW (91 years) Army, 2nd/24th Battalion, WW2, Served in North Africa. Wounded and captured during an attack on a ridgeline at El Alamein in Jul 1942. Taken to a hospital in Naples, Italy, and later taken to a POW Camp in Germany.
Frances ‘Jim’ Cahir
RAAF, 466 Sqn, Jim was shot down over Frankfurt in Dec 1943 and spent the remainder of the war in POW Camp Stalag Luft 4B, until ‘liberated’ by the Russian Army.
Ron Willimason
WW2 - TOBRUK (92 years) Army, Tobruk, 1941, 7th Division, 2nd/6th Australian Transport Company, Army Service Corps. Ron also served at Milne Bay in New Guinea and at Balakpapan in Borneo.
Harry Sutherland
(91 years) Army, Tobruk, 1941, 7th Division Supply Column; Army Service Corps. Harry was a driver supplying the front line with food, ammunition and medical supplies.
Basil Hayley
WW2 - TOBRUK / EX POW (Age 89) Navy, Tobruk, 1941, HMAS Stuart and HMAS Nizam Basil’s destroyers provided protection for the supply ships, coming in to Tobruk harbour at night then leaving under cover of darkness to avoid German bombers.
Colin Hamley
(Age: 88) Army, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion, Captured by Japanese in Java in 1942.. Moved through Singapore to the infamous Thai-Burma railway and remain there for the remainder of the war.
Bill Gully
Army, Korea, 1952-1953, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Arthur Slee
Army, Korea, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Mrs Vera Paley
Army, Australian Women’s Army Service, 1944-1945. Daughter of a Gallipoli Veteran, Vera enlisted at the age of 18 and served in various locations in Victoria before being deployed to the Atherton Tableland in North Queensland.
Peter Blackman, wife Janice
Vietnam - 1st Field Regiment Artillery 1966-67
John Boniface, wife Gloria
Vietnam - 4RAR (ANZAC) Infantry Battalion 1968-69 and 1971
Bob Elworthy, wife Lynette
Vietnam - 547 Signals Troop Electronic Warfare 1971
David Elliot, wife Jennifer
Vietnam 2nd Special Air Service Squadron 1968 3 RAR 1971
Brendan Dover
Lance Bombardier, Army, 8th/12th Medium Regiment. Served in Afghanistan in 2010 as a Forward Observer with the 5th Battalion Battle Group with Mentoring Task Force 2. Wounded in action, repatriated to Australia via a NATO Hospital in Germany. Now undergoing rehabilitation in Melbourne.
Nathan Cole
Warrant Officer Class 2, Army, Afghanistan 2008, Troop Sergeant Major of the Royal Australian Artillery troop attached to the British Army’s 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. Warrant Officer Cole was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service in recognition for his distinguished performance in warlike operations.
