The Anzac Day match is an annual

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

match between Collingwood and

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

, two clubs in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

, held on

Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

(25 April) at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

(MCG).

History of Australian rules football on Anzac Day

During many wars,

matches have been played overseas in places like northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

as a celebration of Australian culture and as a bonding exercise between soldiers. Despite this, League football was not played on Anzac Day for many years; in 1959, for example, when all VFL games were played on Saturday afternoons, Anzac Day also fell on a Saturday, and the entire round was postponed to the following Saturday. The first VFL matches played on Anzac Day occurred in 1960 after an Act of Parliament which lifted the previous restrictions on this activity. The Anzac Day Act required a donation of a portion of ticket sales to the RSL, so the RSL was active in encouraging the VFL to play on the day. The VFL was initially unenthusiastic, and on Anzac Day Tuesday in 1961 it scheduled smaller games at Windy Hill and

Punt Road Oval Punt Road Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as the Swinburne Centre, is an Australian rules football ground and former cricket oval located within the Yarra Park precinct of East Melbourne, Victoria, situated a few hundred metres to ...

for the day. The

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

attempted to capitalise on this, and with the RSL's support it moved a marquee match between rivals

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

and

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of the ea ...

to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and put on a pre-match spectacle on a similar scale to that of the AFL's modern Anzac Day clash. The crowd of just under 14,000 was similar in size to the VFA's largest Sunday crowds at the time, but still fell well short of the VFA's pre-match expectations; nevertheless, the match was a pioneer in the treatment of football on Anzac Day as a special occasion. In 1962 and 1967, instead of playing premiership matches on Anzac Day, the VFL arranged a representative match for Anzac Day between the Victorian team from the previous year's Interstate Carnival and a team representing the rest of the league. Both matches drew small crowds between 15,000 and 20,000. Eventually, the VFL did begin to play matches on Anzac Day. These games sometimes drew huge crowds. The 1975 -Essendon game attracted 77,770 fans to

VFL Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football Lea ...

, a then Anzac Day record; two years later, in 1977, and Collingwood drew 92,436 to the MCG. In 1986, the league used Anzac Day to attempt its first ever doubleheader. Held at the MCG, and played in the afternoon, followed after a 30-minute break by and in the evening under lights. Due to a total crowd of only 40,117 and various logistical problems, the League would not stage another doubleheader at any venue again until 2020. Through the years until the mid-1990s, it was common for at least two matches to be played on the Anzac Day public holiday.

History of Anzac Day match

The modern version of the Anzac Day match was conceived by then Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy while pottering in his garden in the mid-1990s. Sheedy, who had served two years in the army after being drafted to Richmond in 1969, thought back to the success of the Collingwood–Richmond game in 1977, and considered how football on Anzac Day could pay suitable tribute to those who had served their country. Sheedy organised a meeting with officials from Essendon and Collingwood, and the then Victorian RSL President

Bruce Ruxton Bruce Carlyle Ruxton, AM, OBE (6 February 192623 December 2011) was an Australian ex-serviceman and President of the Victorian Returned and Services League from 1979 to 2002. Early life Ruxton grew up in Kew, Victoria. He attended Melbourne H ...

, who was also a keen Collingwood supporter, and proposed his concept for a game which would honour the

Anzac spirit The Anzac spirit or Anzac legend is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers allegedly exemplified on the battlefields of World War I. These p ...

. Despite their previous opposition to football on Anzac Day, Ruxton and the RSL agreed with Sheedy's proposal, as did the AFL. The first modern Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon was played on Tuesday, 25 April 1995 at the MCG. The round-four match received limited publicity, as there had previously been AFL matches played on 25 April. Essendon had won its first three games of the season; however, Collingwood were without a victory at that point in the season. Soon after the Anzac Day march in the city, patrons flocked to the ground. Crowds outside the ground were so substantial at 12.30pm that Collingwood coach

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

thought the gates to the ground must have still been locked. When the gates were closed at 1.30 pm – still 40 minutes before the start of the match – 20,000 additional people had to be dispersed by mounted police, while they attempted to gain admission into the stadium. Thousands of these people descended on nearby Fitzroy Gardens, where they listened to the match on radio. Played on a sunny autumn day, both teams kicked six goals in the first quarter. A three-goal-to-one second quarter helped Essendon lead by 16 points at half time. However, the momentum swayed in the third quarter, when Collingwood kicked seven goals to two, giving them a 14-point lead at the break. Essendon started strongly in the final term, and when

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but h ...

snapped a goal late in the quarter, he gave his team a six-point advantage. Saverio "Sav" Rocca leapt and took "one of the marks of the year" in the forward-line soon after. At the 28-minute mark he capitalised by kicking the goal and levelling the scores. With just seconds left,

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising St ...

had an opportunity to score; however, he elected to kick to Rocca, who was cut off. Seconds later, the siren sounded; both teams' score on 111. Roars from the 94,825 crowd during the match could easily be heard from a kilometre away, and the crowd remains the second-highest home and away crowd in VFL/AFL history, surpassed only by the 99,346 who attended the Collingwood–Melbourne Queen's Birthday clash in 1958. Anzac Day Match 2010, Collingwood-Essendon

Anzac Day Match 2010, Collingwood-Essendon

Today, this game is often considered the biggest match of the AFL season outside of the finals, sometimes drawing bigger crowds than all but the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, and often selling out in advance. As a point of comparison, in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

and

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

have played on Anzac Day since 2002, but generally without the increase in crowd numbers compared to other games as seen in the AFL. However, Anzac Day matches have been a regular part of the rugby league season for over 80 years. The

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

held broadcasting rights to the Collingwood–Essendon match from its inception in 1995 until 2001. Following this, the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

(2002–06) and

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

(2007–09, and 2011) had the broadcasting rights, with the Seven Network broadcasting it in 2010. From the 2012 season onwards, the Seven Network regained the broadcasting rights to the match. In recent years, other clubs and some sections of the media have lobbied for the game to be shared amongst all clubs, not just Collingwood and Essendon. Since 1996, one year after the team's inception,

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

has held the

Len Hall Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Ka ...

Tribute Game, named in honour of Western Australia's last

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

veteran. This game is regularly held on Anzac Day as a Western Australian featured game. With Anzac Day falling on a Saturday in 2009, four games were scheduled for the day, yet the largest fixture (the MCG) continued to host Collingwood and Essendon at the exclusion of other clubs. Critics have argued that this fixture should be shared.

Meaning and significance

For many people, the clash may be their closest involvement with Anzac Day remembrance services. Before the match, a special Anzac Day service is held at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

. This ceremony includes the recognition of Australian War Veterans as well as a Flag Ceremony, including the playing of the

Last Post The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantry and Australian infantry regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and R ...

and

Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, sung in Australia as a patriotic song. It first replaced "God Save the Queen" as the ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

-based journalist and former Australian

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

national representative player

Peter FitzSimons Peter John Allen FitzSimons (born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former national representative rugby union player and has been the chair of the Australian Republic Movement sinc ...

commented in the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' of the 2008 game that he had:

...rarely seen something so impressive in the world of sport. As they played the ''Last Post'' and the national anthem, the 100,000-strong crowd uttered not a peep, whispered not a murmur. The atmosphere was electric and the general mood in the air one of reverence for the diggers and anticipation of the game to come...Somewhere, someone has done a superb job organising that landmark day in Australian sport.

The Collingwood Football Club asserts:

The Anzac Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon has become one of our biggest national sporting events ... The Anzac Day match pays tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia and celebrates the
Anzac spirit The Anzac spirit or Anzac legend is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers allegedly exemplified on the battlefields of World War I. These p ...
– courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship.

Collingwood's former President

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionaire ...

has stated that "veterans will see the reason why they fought so hard for the Australian culture with two great tribes going at each other". Conversely, some commentators such as Francis Leach, Liz Porter, Chris Fotinopoulos and Ruby Murray have criticised the Australian Football League for the way it promotes the event, arguing that it has exploited the sacredness and solemnity of the Anzac story for the purpose of financial profit.Francis Leach
Anzac Day: when commemoration becomes commerce
''Crikey'' 22 April 2010.Liz Porter

''The Age'' 19 April 2009.Ruby Murray
The false nationalism of Anzac Day and football
, Eureka Street, 24 April 2009.Chris Fotinopoulos

''The Age'', 24 April 2005Chris Fotinopoulos

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 April 2009. According to Porter:

The commodification of "the Anzac spirit" as an AFL marketing device appears to have begun with the 1995 Essendon-Collingwood clash, after which a commemorative poster of the game was produced, bearing the words "Lest we forget". A solemn pledge was reborn as an advertising slogan.

Also the subject of criticism have been the comments often made in relation to the game by the AFL, sports journalists, media personalities, club officials, coaches and some sections of the media which conflate the Anzac spirit at Gallipoli with the fighting spirit on the football ground. In the opinion of Fotinopoulos, "the real meaning of Anzac Day has become distorted by slick marketing campaigns designed to pass footballers off as war heroes." These criticisms were highlighted in 2009 when Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse stated that his team had "let the Anzacs down" in losing the game, and that "Essendon showed true Anzac spirit, the reason why we play here."
''The Herald Sun'', 25 April 2005 Journalist Patrick Smith responded in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' that this comparison between the game of football and the sadness and bravery of war "belittles and trivialises the suffering of the men and women which Anzac Day is set aside to remember and thank."Patrick Smith
For sale: one used coach – maintenance needed but great for kids
''The Australian'' 27 April 2009. In a subsequent article, Smith argued:

The AFL itself is in danger of manipulating Anzac Day. The commission is looking to play more games than the traditional Essendon-Collingwood match which had previously been set aside as the code's mark of respect. To play more matches around the country is to move uneasily close to a ratings and money-making tool. Given that bravery and commitment in war is acknowledged with medals, the AFL seeks to capitalise on that with awarding the Anzac Medal to the best player on Anzac Day. On reflection, that is bordering on tacky.Patrick Smith

''The Australian'' 27 October 2009.

The trophy awarded to the winning team each year has etched on it the names of football players who died during war, images of soldiers from the Australian Infantry Forces and the words "Lest We Forget". Furthermore, the cup is made from

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

on a base of

ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accu ...

that comes from an ammunition wagon used in service at

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, whilst the bronze columns supporting the silver bowl incorporate metal salvaged from the

battlefields.

Anzac Medal

A best-on-ground player has been named for each of the Anzac Day clashes. Since 2000, the player in the match considered to best exemplify the

—skill, courage, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play—has been awarded the AFL Anzac Medal. This medal has been won three times by Collingwood champion and current captain

Scott Pendlebury Scott Pendlebury (born 7 January 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as the Collingwood captain since the 2014 season. In round ...

and retired Essendon star (and former Essendon coach)

. In 2001, Collingwood's

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV (TV network), ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wa ...

became the first—and so far ''only''—player to have won the medal despite playing in the losing team. Before the start of the 2011 Anzac Day match, the AFL presented retrospective Anzac Medals to their intended recipients for all of the matches prior to the introduction of the medal in 2000.

Match results

''* Retrospective medals awarded in 2011, for games from 1995 to 1999, as the first official Anzac Medal was awarded in 2000.'' ''^ Capacity of ground reduced due to redevelopment for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.'' ''^^ Capacity of ground reduced due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

.'' ''* One draw has been played, in 1995''

Other ANZAC Day fixtures

ANZAC Day eve

Melbourne vs. Richmond (2015–''present'')
On 30 October 2014, the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

confirmed that

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

would host an Anzac Day eve night clash at the

starting from the 2015 season. As part of the pre-match ceremonies, a torch lit from the Eternal Flame at the

Shrine of Remembrance The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...

is carried to the ground, where it lights a cauldron on an MCG stage to burn for the duration of the match. Players from both sides, including coaches and officials, alongside returned servicemen and women, line up near the flame for the playing of the Last Post and National Anthem. The pre-match ceremony was developed by and has the full support of the RSL, the Shrine of Remembrance and the Australian Defence Force.

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

, whose father died at Tobruk during World War II in 1941, was the first person to light the cauldron. In 2017, the Anzac eve match drew a crowd of 85,657, the highest ever between the two clubs, ensuring the fixture was continued the following year. Until 2021, there was no official trophy for the winning team or player's medal for best on ground. From 2021 the

Frank 'Checker' Hughes Francis Vane Hughes (26 February 1894 – 23 January 1978), nicknamed Checker, was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League). He coached the Melbourne Football Club to pr ...

medal will be awarded for the player judged best afield. , - style=";background:#ccf" , , Year , Date , , Home Team , , Away Team , , Ground , Crowd , Winner , , , , Best on ground¹ , Report , - style="background:#fff;" , ''1'' , style="text-align: center;",

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Max Gawn Max Gawn (born 30 December 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A ruckman, 208 cm tall and weighing 108 kg, Gawn is capable of contributing in both ...

()

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, 85,657 , bgcolor="Black" div style="text-align: center;", !13 !W , bgcolor="#061A33" div style="text-align: center;", ,

Jack Riewoldt Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallist, a ...

()

, - style="background:#fff;" , ''4'' , style="text-align: center;", 2018 AFL season, 2018 , 24/4 , 5 , Melbourne , 8.8 (56) , style="background:#ccffcc;", Richmond , style="background:#ccffcc;", 15.12 (102) ,

, 77,071 , bgcolor="Black" div style="text-align: center;", !46 !W , div style="text-align: center;", 0 ,

Kane Lambert Kane Lambert (born 26 November 1991) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He went undrafted after a junior career with the Northern Knights ...

()

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, 72,704 , bgcolor="Black" div style="text-align: center;", !43 !W , bgcolor="Black" div style="text-align: center;", ,

Nick Vlastuin Nicholas Alexander Leendert Vlastuin (; born 19 April 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player with the club, winni ...

()

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Christian Petracca Christian Petracca ( ; born 4 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Petracca has the ability to play dual- ...

()²

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Clayton Oliver Clayton Oliver (born 22 July 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Oliver is known for his capabilities on the ins ...

()

¹ 2015–2019: three Brownlow Medal, Brownlow votes, 2021–present:

Medal
² Player also received three Brownlow votes

New Zealand match

St Kilda vs. various clubs (2013–15)
westpacstadium

The New Zealand ANZAC Day matches were held to commemorate the centenary of the forming of the ANZACs in 1913 through to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. In 2013, and Sydney played an Anzac Day match in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in remembrance of the centenary of the forming of the ANZACs in 1913. This was the first AFL game ever played for premiership points outside Australia. The game was played between St Kilda and as a night game at

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

in New Zealand's capital,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, in front of a crowd of 22,546. Sydney won the game by 16 points, scoring 11.13 (79) to St Kilda 9.9 (63), while the first New Zealand–awarded Anzac Medal went to Sydney's

Dan Hannebery Daniel Hannebery (born 24 February 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Sydney Swans from 2009 to 2018 and for the St Kilda Football Club fro ...

. Before the game St Kilda captain

Nick Riewoldt Nicholas Fredrick Riewoldt ( ; born 17 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first draft selection in the 2000 AFL draft. He was the ...

said "To play on Anzac Day in another country for the first time in the history of the sport is a momentous occasion and as a playing group we feel really privileged to be doing that...". The game was attended by the

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to ...

; Australian

Minister for Sport A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. The Ministry of Youth and Spo ...

Kate Lundy Kate Alexandra Lundy (born 15 December 1967) is a former Labor Party member of the Australian Senate, representing the Australian Capital Territory. Lundy served as the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and the Minister Assisting for the Digi ...

; and AFL chief executive,

Andrew Demetriou Andrew Demetriou (born 14 April 1961) is an Australian businessman, sports administrator, and former Australian rules football player who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Australian Football League (AFL) up to June 2014. Demetriou pl ...

. Key reflected on the significance of the Anzac relationship, commenting shortly before the game began on Australia's immediate assistance following the

Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, and saying "The Anzac spirit is as alive today as it was in 1915". Key also used the occasion to raise the prospect of a New Zealand-based AFL team, saying at the official pre-match function "Let's get real. We've got to get a New Zealand side in the AFL.". While Demetriou would not comment further on Key's statements, he said he planned to chat to Key about it at a later date, and stated New Zealand was "unquestionably our fastest growth market outside Australia". The winning club received the "Simpson–Henderson Trophy", named in honour of Australian

John Simpson Kirkpatrick John Kirkpatrick (enlisted as John Simpson; 6 July 1892 – 19 May 1915) was a stretcher bearer with the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance brigade during the Gallipoli campaign – the Allied attempt to capture Constantinople, ca ...

and New Zealander

Richard Alexander Henderson Private Richard Alexander Henderson MM (26 August 1895 – 14 November 1958) was a school-teacher who served with the New Zealand Medical Corps at the Battle of Gallipoli. Like John Simpson Kirkpatrick, he used a donkey to carry wounded so ...

, both known for carrying wounded soldiers from World War I battlefields on donkeys. The New Zealand fixture was retained for the

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and

seasons, with the Saints' opponents in those years being the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

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Leigh Montagna Leigh “Joey” Montagna (; born 2 November 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A two time All-Australian, Montagna finished his career 7 ...

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Len Hall Tribute game

Fremantle vs. various clubs (1996–) The Len Hall game is named in tribute to the last Gallipoli veteran from Western Australia, Len Hall (1887–1999). Matches are either played on ANZAC Day itself or over that weekend during the same round. ''* There was no match played in 2001 and 2002 because Fremantle played away in the Anzac Round in both of those years. ''^ Match played without crowd attendance, due to COVID-19 restrictions.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anzac Day clash Australian Football League games Australian Football League awards Australian Football League rivalries Collingwood Football Club Essendon Football Club Sports competitions in Melbourne 1995 establishments in Australia ANZAC (Australia) Melbourne Cricket Ground