Pies play Last Post for Bombers

It’s ANZAC Day. The day we proudly remember our fallen heroes, above any other days, and feel grateful for the sacrifices they made for Australia, also the day that Collingwood and Essendon play on, its tradition. But with recent debate over who should play on the MCG on ANZAC Day, I believe that the Pies and Bombers should continue battling it out on April 25, it’s just normal to come home from the ANZAC Service to watch an entertaining game between these two sides. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken Andrew Demetriou!

The game began, and Travis Cloke dropped a mark on the goal line, but managed to gather it again and dribble through the first. He then took a great pack mark and booted his second. Alan Toovey gathered and clumsily snapped a goal, and I gave a quick thought to Danni Eid, knowing she would either be celebrating loudly or cursing at him loudly. It was the former I found out. Dale Thomas was awarded a 50m penalty and goaled, taking the margin out to 27 points. I was amazed at how well the Pies were playing, and how hesitant the Dons were without Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas. Sharrod Wellingham snapped a high goal, before a terrific checkside goal from Cloke, his third, saw them out to a 39 point break. Josh Fraser ran into an open goal, taking the margin out to 44 points at the first change, 7.5 to 0.3.

The second quarter started, and Scott Gumbleton kicked Essendon’s first, before Ben Johnson snapped from a pack. Michael Hurley ran into an open goal, but Cloke replied with his fourth. It’s good to see him in form. Kyle Reimers, another one of the tools at Essendon, along with David Zaharakis and Hurley, goaled, but Paul Medhurst and Fraser both goaled to take the margin out to 52 points. Gumbleton took a good mark and kicked his second to make the margin 46 at half time, 11.8 to 4.4.

As the second half started, I wanted Collingwood to really blow Essendon out of the water. I get my wish, Wellingham kicking his second. Courtenay Dempsey booted a long goal from 55m out, before Fraser kicked his third from the boundary line, with a unique celebration to the crowd behind him. Dempsey kicked his second, but goals from Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams and two to Chris Dawes. The margin was a whopping 70 points at the last change, 17.9 to 6.5, and Essendon were in danger of succumbing to the biggest ANZAC Day loss to Collingwood in the 16 year history.

The final quarter began, and Zaharakis snapped a goal to the same side he booted the match-winner last year. Cale Hooker took a good grab and goaled, cutting the margin to 60 points, but a goal on the run on the opposite boot to Alan Didak saw the Pies back out by 65 points as the final siren sounded, 18.12.120 to 8.7.55.

Collingwood played in the ANZAC spirit, Essendon did not. Simple as that, and the 65 point margin was flattering to the Bombers. Pendlebury was rewarded the ANZAC Medal, but I feel he wasn’t a worthy recipient. Many other players showed courage on this day, but hardly any of those were wearing red and black.

Lest We Forget.

Collingwood 7.5—11.8—17.9—18.12.120

Essendon 0.3—4.4—6.5—8.7.55

Goalkickers:

Collingwood-Cloke 4, Fraser 3, Dawes 2, Wellingham 2, Thomas, Toovey, Johnson, Medhurst, Pendlebury, Beams, Didak

Essendon-Dempsey 2, Gumbleton 2, Reimers, Hurley, Hooker, Zaharakis

Best:

Collingwood-Fraser, Beams, Wellingham, Didak, Cloke, Pendlebury, Thomas, Johnson, Swan

Essendon-Stanton, Fletcher, Dempsey, Pears

Crowd:

90,070 at the MCG

Votes:

3: Josh Fraser (C) (Didn’t ‘dog’ it this year)

2: Dayne Beams (C)

1: Sharrod Wellingham (C)

About Josh Barnstable

21 year old North Melbourne supporter from country Victoria. Currently living in Melbourne studying a Bachelor of Sports Media. Dreams of becoming a sports journalist and broadcaster.

Comments

  1. Steve Healy says

    I don’t think it was a matter of who showed anzac spirit or not.

    Collingwood were just the better side, Essendon were horrible.

    good report

  2. Great report John!
    Thanks for the mention :)
    When Toovey kicked the goal, by total accident, my father who has now warmed to him said smugly to me; “See, what’s wrong with Toovey now?”
    At this i broke into giggles, there was no other way to react!

    Danni

  3. Steve Healy says

    Josh, Danni, not John.

  4. John Butler says

    Sorry folks!

    A little accident with the the post author button.

    This is definitely Josh’s report.

  5. no, its not a mistake , you see i call Josh John now! lol
    nahh no matter who wrote it its a great piece.

  6. John Butler says

    BTW

    Steve, I tend agree with you.

    The Bombers problem wasn’t Anzac spirit (or lack thereof), they just got flogged. Started badly and couldn’t recover.

    Danni, I will accept all plaudits, earned or otherwise. :)

  7. Sorry fellas i have to disagree with you, the ex-debater inside is streaming to come out.
    i think the ANZAC match is all about spirit and playing in the spirit of the ANZACs by getting into packs, going hard at the footy ect.
    I can only back my point up by saying that it is know that players who play on the day are impacted emotionally,so is their performance, they say this themselves therefore i think that Anzac spirit plays a huge role in the outcome of the match.

  8. John Butler says

    Danni

    Couldn’t disagree about the big build-up.

    But if this debate is to have any real meaning, I’d be interested to know what you believe the “Anzac Spirit” really means (especially in a footy context).

  9. 8- Like i said i think the Anzac spirit is showing more passion out on the field, going in harder for the footy, going for a big grab ect. Now i know that they should be doing these things all the time but they don’t (unless you’re Geelong)
    But beacuse of the meaning and emotion behind Anzac day i was expecting a match like last year where both teams put in effort, no offence but i can’t say Essendon even showed fighting spirit. You could have bench the whole team and it wouldnt have made much of a difference.

  10. Good report Josh, but I think too much is made of the so-called ANZAC spirit. I saw nothing in the match on Sunday that you wouldn’t expect to see in any other match, and seeing a player diving into a pack does not suggest he was in any way affected by the significance of the match. He’s simply doing what his coach expects him to do for the team, going when it’s his turn.

    I agree with John Butler, Essendon simply were the worser of the two teams. They’re in a dire situation.

  11. John Butler says

    So I gather you essentially think the competing teams should rouse themselves because of the occasion. I’m still not sure how that specifically relates to the Anzac tradition (as opposed to any big match).

    But say we agree on that point to further discussion.

    I wouldn’t think Essendon approached yesterday not planning to do their best. But they were facing a side that’s probably superior to them on most days. They got off to a bad start, got rattled, and before they knew it, the game was basically over at 1/4 time.

    I’m not that big a fan of the Bombers, but I think it’s a little rough to proclaim they lacked the appropriate spirit. Intent can’t always compensate for ability and experience. Geelong happen to have both of those in abundance, yet they lost the 2008 GF.

    Team sports aren’t such straight-forward propositions. That’s why they are so interesting. :)

  12. Steve Healy says

    9- danni, then why isn’t the term “ANZAC spirit” used in every game of footy?

  13. 11- sorry i’m far too stubborn to agree with either of you! lol
    Lets all walk away with our own opinion of it all.
    :)
    in conlusion,
    debating is a healthy thing.

  14. On ANZAC day, all the qualities that are highly important to winning an AFL game, things that we see on a weekly basis – hard running, hard tackling, going hard into packs and aerial contests – are suddenly associated with the ANZAC spirit. Definitely an overused term. Sorry, Danni.

  15. 12- The answer to that is because most teams are too lazy to play out four good quarters like Geelong (minus today’s game)
    Plus the emotion behind it all give more drive in the game for some reason.

  16. 14- Please don’t apologize Adam, in the end this stubborn Taurus is not going to take your view anyway :P
    we are all free to think what we do and discussion of people views is always a learning experience.

  17. 15 – Maybe it’s simply that the significance of the ANZAC match affects the way we SEE the game. The size and aura of the crowd, the anticipation building up to it…

    And you can’t say a team, as a collective, is lazy. Sure, there are players who put in more effort than others, but they’re all determined to win the match.

  18. 17- well i think can say that about my team sometimes. i know when they are lazy eg- when Reid and Toovey are our best players you know somethings wrong.

  19. Steve Healy says

    There are no similiarities between a game of football and a war. The Pies won the game, they did not show anything other than the ordinary, essendon were plain terrible

  20. 19- NO COMMENT!

  21. I think we can agree to disagree.

  22. 21- *Waves black and white flag*
    and walks off happily and peacefully in disagreement.

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