“The Coward’s Cup”

[manicmagpie]

Alright, anyone here got a clue what Caroline Wilson is talking about here?

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-football-may-never-be-the-same-20200320-p54cb7.html

But the significance of the premiership remains to be seen given the reality that some clubs could be struck worse than others by the coronavirus pandemic. There are still people at Collingwood who refer to Carlton's 1944 premiership as "The Cowards' Cup".

The 1944 flag was won by Fitzroy, not Carlton. She could be referring to 1945, which Carlton did win. But I’ve never heard any reference to “The Coward‘s Cup” from Collingwood or anywhere else. Granted, I’m only in my early forties, but I’ve long been an avid reader of anything related to Collingwood history (and the VFL/AFL in general) and I’ve never come across this.

Every club bar Geelong competed during WWII, so was there anything special about 1944 or 1945 that meant clubs struggled to field teams? Or should the 1943 win by Caro’s beloved Richmond also be slandered like this?

The 1945 GF between Carlton and South Melb is infamous as the Bloodbath grand final. If there’s any truth to the Coward jibe could it be a reference to some of the violence of that day instead?

Or has Caro just plucked all of this out of thin air? It seemed like a very gratuitous dig at both Carlton and Collingwood, frankly.

 

[manicmagpie]

The Vic Minister for Sport (and Carlton fan) is just as confused as I am:

 

[T2B_]

Tipping she's either plucked it out of thin air or has taken something she heard and misinterpreted it. I like your theory on the Bloodbath violence myself.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Is she suggesting players who played in that grand final were shirkers?

 

[projectv]

Is she suggesting players who played in that grand final were shirkers?

No, she's saying that people at Collingwood think that.

What a cynical attempt to stay relevant.

 

[manicmagpie]

Is she suggesting players who played in that grand final were shirkers?

She‘s suggesting that and/or Collingwood still bother to say that themselves 75 years later. Pretty insulting either way.

 

[Gavin Excell]

She‘s suggesting that and/or Collingwood still bother to say that themselves 75 years later. Pretty insulting either way.

I find this hard to believe

 

[3rd Grade Maggy]

I fir one welcome our elevation back to the top of the Premierships won table. I was worried about where #17 would come from but it looks like I'd been miscounting the whole time.

 

[The Warlord]

LOL Caro making up s**t as she goes shocker.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Unless Caro has any evidence to back this up, she's talking absolute crap. Amateur hour at its finest.

Never heard anyone from Collingwood ever refer to a premiership in the 1940s (whether it's 1944 or 1945) as the "The Coward's Cup".

 

[Supercoach Bargain]

If someone around 90-ish's biggest problem is a GF in 1944, there's been some water under the bridge since then.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Meh, was probably some of brainless jibe used at some point.

Caro just making up “there are still people at Collingwood”. Those people would be around 100yo now Caro, I think you’ve got this one wrong on many levels.

 

[HTT]

Pretty impressive for Carlton to win a GF after finishing outside the finals

I should probably stop there though tbh

 

[Leeda]

Dubious at best... your worst is that I just don't care..

And then I say to you all plebs... carry on with your voice es as long as it is equal. or nice,, or sumptuous...

I added that as something where we alll digress....
love you Caro,,,

 

[Leeda]

Is she suggesting players who played in that grand final were shirkers?

chock full of jealousy... graphic scenes///

 

[Oliver09]

If anyone at Collingwood ever thought that way they must have forgotten their 1917 flag in a 6 team comp. Personally I think Caro has just got it wrong. The 44 flag is a famous flag with it being Fitzroys last. Someone who has worked in the industry as long as she has should know that.

 

[BIRDBRAIN]

Why are her brainless sniping articles even printed?

 

[Engimal v3]

If you google "Collingwood" and "cowards cup" the only results are references to Caro's article.

 

[Stax on the mill]

What a dumb comment from Wilson. Came out of nowhere, and didn’t even seem relevant to what she had been talking about. Never heard that term “Cowards cup” before in reference to either 1944 or 1945 premiership. Insulting to Carlton, Collingwood and perhaps even Fitzroy. About time this malicious hack gave it away for good.

 

[Back One Out]

Not a bad article from Caro, just your standard negativity and basically listing a few of the challenges ahead

Not sure why there's angst/criticism over a small overlooked "1944" typo. I assume the Age are short-staffed and articles aren't fact-checked like they normally would be. Most of the AFL journos and commentators are worse than everyone on here when it comes to remembering who won what and in what year, plus basic things like who was All Australian. They get it wrong all the time, but nobody cares...

Obviously Caro is harking back to WW2 when the VFL rolled on despite the upheaval of our war effort & rationing and the MCG being used as a bivouac for troops. Anyone who knows their VFL history, knows that the 1945 "Bloodbath" Grand Final was played at Carlton's home ground, Princes Park. The war was a huge impediment to any normal footy season as it dragged out for a few years, with many players and many young hopefuls deciding to enlist in the army.

I've never heard of it referred to as the "Coward's Cup". She might've heard that once or twice from her dad or from some old Magpie. But I grew up following the footy and being dimly aware of the jibes about the cowards who didn't enlist and won VFL Grand Finals instead. It fades over time as people who weren't there don't really give a f**k.

Wouldn't have a clue how fair those accusations were, but there has always been a whiff of (*) about those WW2 flags... I mean, who cares about silly footy games when the whole world is at war and 85 million people (3% of the world's population) have died, or were in the process of being killed??? And that was without any fighting here in Australia... just a few skirmishes in New Guinea

This season presents an even greater upheaval than WW2 as our whole society grinds to a halt.

At what point will the AFL pull the pin? The first player or official to be quarantined? Or the 2nd or 3rd? Or maybe when we all go into a general lockdown.

I know one thing. It's going to be f**king weird watching AFL matches when the number of infected people here in Australia starts to climb up into the tens of thousands and our hospitals are overwhelmed with droves of sick & dying people. Not sure how the season could possibly continue under those circumstances. How the hell can the players and fans be expected to focus on the f**kin footy with that as a backdrop in every city here and around the world?

I actually think the AFL is setting a bad example by trying to forge on. It's an economic decision. What about the public health? People's lives are at stake and we're playing silly footy games in front of zero people in order to fulfill a TV contract. We should be shutting everything down right now and try to limit the death toll.

Maybe we need a few conscientious objectors in the AFL to stand up and say "WTF are we still paying for?"
Not just players, but coaches and even whole clubs. But self-interest always rules

 

[Stabby McGee]

She is great at gossip. Not so much on anything else. Click bait

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Not a bad article from Caro, just your standard negativity and basically listing a few of the challenges ahead

Not sure why there's angst/criticism over a small overlooked "1944" typo. I assume the Age are short-staffed and articles aren't fact-checked like they normally would be. Most of the AFL journos and commentators are worse than everyone on here when it comes to remembering who won what and in what year, plus basic things like who was All Australian. They get it wrong all the time, but nobody cares...

Obviously Caro is harking back to WW2 when the VFL rolled on despite the upheaval of our war effort & rationing and the MCG being used as a bivouac for troops. Anyone who knows their VFL history, knows that the 1945 "Bloodbath" Grand Final was played at Carlton's home ground, Princes Park. The war was a huge impediment to any normal footy season as it dragged out for a few years, with many players and many young hopefuls deciding to enlist in the army.

I've never heard of it referred to as the "Coward's Cup". She might've heard that once or twice from her dad or from some old Magpie. But I grew up following the footy and being dimly aware of the jibes about the cowards who didn't enlist and won VFL Grand Finals instead. It fades over time as people who weren't there don't really give a f**k.

Wouldn't have a clue how fair those accusations were, but there has always been a whiff of (*) about those WW2 flags... I mean, who cares about silly footy games when the whole world is at war and 85 million people (3% of the world's population) have died, or were in the process of being killed??? And that was without any fighting here in Australia... just a few skirmishes in New Guinea

This season presents an even greater upheaval than WW2 as our whole society grinds to a halt.

At what point will the AFL pull the pin? The first player or official to be quarantined? Or the 2nd or 3rd? Or maybe when we all go into a general lockdown.

I know one thing. It's going to be f**king weird watching AFL matches when the number of infected people here in Australia starts to climb up into the tens of thousands and our hospitals are overwhelmed with droves of sick & dying people. Not sure how the season could possibly continue under those circumstances. How the hell can the players and fans be expected to focus on the f**kin footy with that as a backdrop in every city here and around the world?

I actually think the AFL is setting a bad example by trying to forge on. It's an economic decision. What about the public health? People's lives are at stake and we're playing silly footy games in front of zero people in order to fulfill a TV contract. We should be shutting everything down right now and try to limit the death toll.

Maybe we need a few conscientious objectors in the AFL to stand up and say "WTF are we still paying for?"
Not just players, but coaches and even whole clubs. But self-interest always rules

Personally don’t really give a * about the footy until this horrible *in govt shuts down schools, pubs, restaurants and public transport, and shuts the ******* borders now, properly. They’re just coasting along like the useless campaigners they are, and are going to get a lot of people killed.

 

[Back One Out]

Personally don’t really give a fu** about the footy until this horrible fu**in govt shuts down schools, pubs, restaurants and public transport, and shuts the ******* borders now, properly. They’re just coasting along like the useless campaigners they are, and are going to get a lot of people killed.

I haven't been reading any of the footy press AFL media lately

Is there anyone who has stood up to Gill and the clubs and asked "Why are we still playing?"

They are the true cowards... the facile, gormless parasites in the AFL media who toe the party line and don't rock the boat

Someone please hand them the Cowards Cup

 

[Professor Knowall]

Unless Caro has any evidence to back this up, she's talking absolute crap. Amateur hour at its finest.

Never heard anyone from Collingwood ever refer to a premiership in the 1940s (whether it's 1944 or 1945) as the "The Coward's Cup".

Likewise, I love my footy history, including the whole century long Coll v Carlton rivralry, but have never heard of this - it also makes no sense as all the Melbourne based teams continued to complete throughout WW2. Caro's claim here I call as BS.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I haven't been reading any of the footy press AFL media lately

Is there anyone who has stood up to Gill and the clubs and asked "Why are we still playing?"

They are the true cowards... the facile, gormless parasites in the AFL media who toe the party line and don't rock the boat

Someone please hand them the Cowards Cup

Who knows. Doubt it. But it’s hardly surprising, as a country it’s not something we’re taking seriously. Cases are going up at an alarming rate, they’re doubling every couple of days. The govt doesn’t give a *. Nobody is testing and isolating people coming in from overseas. Gyms are open. So are pubs and restaurants. And schools. We need to get on top of this quickly or it’s going to drag on for a very long time.

There’s no decisive action because there’s simply no leadership.