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Baum’s pre-match observations
By Greg Baum
This is the 29th staging of Essendon v Collingwood on Anzac Day. Age, far from wearying the occasion, seems to be adding strength and gravitas to it.
One of the hallmarks of AFL footy is the communion of fans, who come together, divide for the duration of the match, then mingle again on the way home. This is especially evident on Anzac Day, which commemorates what holds us together as much as what sets us apart.
If the presentation was a bit too militaristic in the early days, it is now just about right. The motorcade of veterans set the respectful tone, the joint run-through augments it.
There are trappings, but they are not ostentatious: the feint outline of WW1 batttefield maps on Collingwood’s guernseys, the poppy them for Essendon, whose guernsey so lends itself to it.
As for the game: the questions are, are Essendon really coming, and are Collingwood still there? About that, 90,000 will disagree agreeably.
What happened last night
If you want to catch up on last night, I’ve had a look at what Melbourne must improve if they are to add to their flag in 2021.
Simon Goodwin described Melbourne’s turnovers as “extraordinary”, and their forward play as a work in progress.Credit: Getty Images
The ‘boggy’ issue Dees need to address to smoke them in September
The same old problems are standing in the way of a grand new flag for Melbourne.
Simon Goodwin and his coaches could chuckle at how his Demons butchered the ball against Richmond, but it will be no laughing matter should there be a repeat in the next fortnight against Geelong and Carlton.
Except for a glorious final fortnight in Perth in 2021, the Dees’ woes in attack have been an issue throughout Goodwin’s reign in the red and the blue, and remain so in 2024.
Their defence, led by Steven May and Jake Lever, remains the cornerstone of their game, as they showed by keeping a keen but undermanned Richmond to just five goals on a perfect night for football, and their midfield is the envy of 17 other clubs.
But it’s in the final third where their problems lie.
I once mocked a star for shirking a contest. I won’t do it again
Here’s another reading suggestion as we wait until the Anzac Day observance ceremony at 3.07 pm – former Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes’ take on Josh Rachele and the idea of courage in the era of concussion.
Crows Darcy Fogarty and Josh Rachele (right) after the loss to Essendon.Credit: AFL Photos
As huge as a football field is, there is nowhere to hide. Television cameras zoom in; key moments are replayed and scrutinised on split-second timings, and social media adds to the commentary from experts and fans alike.
It can be brutal too.
Just ask third-year Crows forward Josh Rachele. The novice AFL star in the making was in everyone’s sights under the bright lights of Friday night football at Adelaide Oval last week – and not for reasons the very confident youngster would want to become the norm.
WINS: Collingwood 17, Essendon 10
Final teams and subs
There are no late changes for either club.
The sub for Essendon is Nick Hind, and for the Pies it’s Harvey Harrison.
I wonder whether Brad Scott’s plan will be to sub out one of his rucks, Sam Draper or Todd Goldstein, in the second half.
The Pies also have two rucks, Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox. Cox, though, has a better record forward than either Draper or Goldstein.
Coding and Rubik’s Cubes: Inside the mind of Essendon’s boom forward
While you wait for the first bounce, have a read of Michael Gleeson’s interview with young Essendon forward Harrison Jones, who has made a promising start to 2024 after a rough season last year.
Harry Jones has made an impressive start to the season.Credit: The Age
Harry Jones has seen this game before. He’s played one Anzac Day game in his career, but that isn’t the one he’s thinking about. It’s Thursday’s match, the one he hasn’t yet played. He’s already seen what happens.
The Bomber can see in his head how it plays out against Collingwood. He’s played it over and over beforehand. He saw last week’s game, too, before he played it. Many players dream of kicking five goals, or doing a David Zaharakis and kicking the winning goal on Anzac Day, but that’s not what Jones has seen.
That’s a dream. What Jones is doing is picturing himself in the game. He runs a reel in his head imagining how it looks when he plays well. He imagines where he goes to get the ball, what he looks like when he jumps to mark, how it feels when he kicks the goal or lays a tackle.
It’s about visualising before performing. In fact, it is about visualising how you perform in order to perform. What do I look like when I play well? Where do I go? How do I mark it?
Footy tips
If you haven’t done your tips yet for this game, check out The Age experts tips.
Loyal listeners to our tipping podcast will know that I have picked the Pies in a close one.
I was impressed by their performance against Port, though I must admit I thought they were almost gone in the first quarter.
It was the closest the Pies have come this year to what they produced in their 2023 premiership. As for whether they are “back”, I want to hold judgment on that. My initial feeling is last week said as much about Port’s flakiness as it did about the Pies rediscovering their best.
The Bombers have again started the season well under Brad Scott, who has brought the term “Essendon edge” into the 2024 footy vernacular.
As Ross Lyon said a few weeks back, all teams aim to play with an edge so Essendon aren’t doing anything out of the box, but what Scott has done by putting it on the public agenda is make his players accountable.
So far, they have had just one game where they fell well short, but they have been honest in every other game.
Your memories of Anzac Day 1995
This is the 29th Anzac Day clash between the Pies and the Dons. In case you were born after the mid-1990s and are not a close follower of football history, the V/AFL has played games on this day long before these two clubs made the fixture theirs in 1995.
What are your memories of that game?
I was on a school camp in Victoria’s high country and didn’t know the result until our teachers told us via radio (remember, this was well before the days of the smartphone and the widespread use of the internet) at the end of the day, firstly that it was a draw, and there was crowd of nearly 95,000.
Collingwood filmed a piece a few years back reminiscing that game, which featured Nathan Buckley as a player and former Hawthorn champion turned media pundit Dermott Brereton in the black and white.
Hello and welcome
Hello to you from wherever you might be joining me.
Welcome to our coverage of the traditional Anzac Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon.
It’s another cool and cloudy autumn day in Melbourne. The forecast is for a shower or two but I don’t expect the elements to have much bearing on how the game is played.
A few of the Collingwood players are out on the field having a casual kick, while the umpires jog laps around the boundary.
The Australian Army Band have just started their set in front of a few thousand early arrivers.
