When my son Bill was one year and 10 days old, he came to his first game of AFL football at the MCG.
I was at the game with some of my siblings when his mother brought him to the ground at three-quarter time. He sat on my knee as Collingwood and Essendon played out that extraordinary draw.
The game, of course, was the first of the ANZAC Day Collingwood-Essendon games back in 1995. Bill was disappointed recently to realise that he hadn’t actually attended every one of the ANZAC Day games since, but he - and we - have been to many.
This ANZAC Day game, Bill is with Helen and me, his brother Herb and his Canadian girlfriend Kayla. It is to be his last home-and-away game for the year as he and Kayla are heading overseas for a four month holiday in North America and Europe.
Like any self-respecting Collingwood supporter, the timing of his return to Australia has much to do with being back in time for finals. We are not getting ahead of ourselves of course.
Our day at the game begins in the Robbie Flower Terrace before making our way to our seats in Q47. As I sit, Birds of Tokyo are playing out their set of inoffensive pop. The band is not one of mine, but I think a reasonable choice of entertainment for the crowd which is quickly growing.
The seats in the top corner of the Members’ Reserve are already occupied, seeming to vindicate the decision by the MCC to not release further tickets to provisional members.
The teams enter the arena early and conduct their warm-ups before coming together to break the now-traditional combined banner. Over the years since 1995, the formalities have struck the right tone. Gone are the Channel 7 helicopters hovering overhead.
The MCG even had the foresight to ensure there was no interruption to the silence from the sound of artificial seagull scarers on top of the southern stand. The silence is complete, and respectful.
The performance of the bilingual New Zealand national anthem is a reasonably recent and welcome addition to the ceremony; and it’s also a superior national anthem.
Earlier in the day Foxtel had played the 2002 equivalent match – the Mark McGough one. The fact that eighty something thousand people attended in appalling weather is probably why no teams can claim this game away from the Pies and Bombers.
Some of the recent matches haven’t lived up to the billing. But not this 2019 one.
The match is a ripper.
While Collingwood broke out to a good first quarter lead, Essendon were always in it. Collingwood missed too many gettable set shots while Essendon took their opportunities, including an after-the-half-time-siren monster from Joe Daniher.
Despite kicking just one goal in the last quarter, Collingwood held on for a four-point victory.
One to savour.
Scott Pendlebury was our unanimous choice for the ANZAC medal. He was the unanimous choice of the people who actually cast the votes.
Apparently not the unanimous choice of the Essendon supporters.
Andrew Fithall grew up in Ballarat and now lives in Williamstown with Helen and his tribe. Andrew works in HR in the retail automotive industry.
ESSENDON 1.0 5.3 8.6 10.9 (69)
COLLINGWOOD 4.5 7.6 9.9 10.13 (73)
GOALS
Essendon: Daniher 4, Baguley 3, Stringer 2, Guelfi
Collingwood: Cox 2, De Goey 2, Mihocek, Thomas, Stephenson, Hoskin-Elliott, Adams, Sidebottom
BEST
Essendon: Shiel, Merrett, Hurley, Saad, Stringer, Daniher
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Grundy, Crisp, Howe, De Goey, Beams
Crowd: 92,241