Why is such a big deal made of the ANZAC game?

[JackFlash]

I think the Anzac Day game is great, my team isn't in it, but we get our chances at other times. Just do away with the after game stuff as it isn't neccesary, it's not the Grand Final. Get the players off the ground asap.

 

[makrus]

The funny thing about it was people complained that they hired birds of tokyo, when theyre happy to charge people to come see some football in the name of the anzacs.

 

[R Chee Manning]

Would be good to see the Good Friday-eve game between the Lions and Pies (at the Gabba) become a regular feature as well.

 

[NorthernLights]

It’s a home and away game of footy, anyone making it out to be anything more is overrating it.

 

[demondavey]

It all depends on the countries. Italy v Greece for instance would be a very laid back, possibly a scrappy affair.

Excellent food rations provided

 

[demondavey]

This op is a refreshing change from the annual "when does my minnow team get to play on Anzac day" thread. Well done.

Well now you mention it.... GC v WB at the G?

 

[demondavey]

Agree.

There’s a big crowd and the atmosphere at the start is okay by the game itself has been boring for years. Collingwood basically wins every year.

Put any two big sides on a public holiday and you’d get a big crowd.

This. It’s not about the game or what it means, it’s the fact it’s a public holiday and people are available. Same with Easter Monday.

 

[demondavey]

Strongly dislike it when they try to draw parallels between the players and the ANZACs at times in the pregame fluff. Playing footy and getting shot in the face in Gallipolli really don't have anything to do with each other.

Almost as cringeworthy as when Nick Maxwell said after the drawn GF that two sides had ‘gone to war’.

It’s absolutely ridiculous. Every year the lines get drawn closer re the ANZAC event and a game of football. We seem to somehow associate these players with being heroes for a day. It’s absolute bullshit. Maybe both clubs should donate a percentage of proceeds to veterans suffering PTSD or to families who have lost loved ones in recent war events?

I mean Essendon & Collingwood are drawing 90,000 crowds, surely they can contribute to what the day might mean as opposed to it being just a big cash cow?

 

[demondavey]

It is like war though. going to battle with 21 other blokes all fighting for the win together, it's what it's all about.

Are you taking the piss?

 

[demondavey]

It is like war though. going to battle with 21 other blokes all fighting for the win together, it's what it's all about.

War is not anything like a game of footy mate. That’s just an insult to people going to war and getting killed over there. It’s not what ‘it’s all about’ kicking some leather around is nothing like getting your head blown apart in a war zone, or suffering ******* PTSD because you’ve seen a 5 year old kid in 25 pieces after walking over a bomb.

Fool.

 

[Dixie Normous]

Getting booed by a hostile 90,000+ crowd is as intimidating as being exposed to enemy fire or an ambush in a war zone.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Almost as cringeworthy as when Nick Maxwell said after the drawn GF that two sides had ‘gone to war’.

It’s absolutely ridiculous. Every year the lines get drawn closer re the ANZAC event and a game of football. We seem to somehow associate these players with being heroes for a day. It’s absolute ********. Maybe both clubs should donate a percentage of proceeds to veterans suffering PTSD or to families who have lost loved ones in recent war events?

I mean Essendon & Collingwood are drawing 90,000 crowds, surely they can contribute to what the day might mean as opposed to it being just a big cash cow?

I think it is law that you have to give a % of the takings to the RSL.
Collingwood and Essendon also do fundraising for them.

 

[JimDocker]

Id say the 1960s/70s drop off may have had a little bit to do with a rather unpopular war which saw massive protests at anything militarily related. And which had ill feeling even well in to the 1980s.

Outside of the AFL, PM Howard was a massive part of the increased observance of ANZAC Day.

Sorry to interject some common sense.

There is no doubt that Vietnam affected some people's opinions.

Paul Keating was the first PM to really discuss at length Australia's military history. John Howard continued it, with an emphasis on Gallipoli.

THE AFL came on board at the right moment to both take advantage of the renewed interest and also to foster the interest.

 

[Milanista28]

War is not anything like a game of footy mate. That’s just an insult to people going to war and getting killed over there. It’s not what ‘it’s all about’ kicking some leather around is nothing like getting your head blown apart in a war zone, or suffering ******* PTSD because you’ve seen a 5 year old kid in 25 pieces after walking over a bomb.

Fool.

Wow

 

[gopies1981]

It’s a great fixture and I look forward to it. It’s only behind the Dreamtime Game for the biggest H&A game for the season.

Haha haha ! The biggest ever crowds for dream time is 85,000! Anzac Day have drawn over 90,000 on 7 occasions including the last 3!

The reason why Anzac Day is the biggest game during the home and away season because they are the two most popular Victorian clubs in Australia.

 

[Zoom]

Haha haha ! The biggest ever crowds for dream time is 85,000! Anzac Day have drawn over 90,000 on 7 occasions including the last 3!

The reason why Anzac Day is the biggest game during the home and away season because they are the two most popular Victorian clubs in Australia.

ANZAC Day has been around for years. We’ll overtake it, just like how Richmond overtook Collingwood as the biggest Vic club.

How many members do you have at the moment?

 

[gopies1981]

ANZAC Day has been around for years. We’ll overtake it, just like how Richmond overtook Collingwood as the biggest Vic club.

How many members do you have at the moment?

Anzac Day is and will alway be played between Collingwood and Essendon and will always be the biggest game because Collingwood and Essendon are the two most popular Victorian clubs in Australia.

You talk about memberships but Richmond ain’t even the biggest drawing club in the history of the afl/vfl. Collingwood is the biggest 9.2 million in front of Richmond. Collingwood guarantees and huge crowd like Essendon. Richmond need to be winning to draw a huge crowd. When they are out of finals contention they are a minnow 4 club. Look at crowds over 70,000 people during the home and away season table as per below;



Shows that Collingwood and Essendon are clearly 1 and 2 biggest clubs in Australia

 

[Zoom]

Anzac Day is and will alway be played between Collingwood and Essendon and will always be the biggest game because Collingwood and Essendon are the two most popular Victorian clubs in Australia.

You talk about memberships but Richmond ain’t even the biggest drawing club in the history of the afl/vfl. Collingwood is the biggest 9.2 million in front of Richmond. Collingwood guarantees and huge crowd like Essendon. Richmond need to be winning to draw a huge crowd. When they are out of finals contention they are a minnow 4 club. Look at crowds over 70,000 people during the home and away season table as per below;

View attachment 666634View attachment 666635

I love how triggered and defensive you get when I ask a simple question.

 

[gopies1981]

I love how triggered and defensive you get when I ask a simple question.

Who is the biggest club in 2019?

 

[Zoom]

Who is the biggest club in 2019?

View attachment 666637

How many members do you have?

 

[gopies1981]

How many members do you have?

79,156 real members. How many of your members actually turn up to your games?

 

[Zoom]

79,156 real members. How many of your members actually turn up to your games?

Cute

 

[RoarLike44In24]

Showdown would get the biggest H&A crowd without question if their stadium was 100k capacity too.

Crowd figures when talking nationally is a s**t measuring stick.

 

[stax on the mull]

There is no doubt that Vietnam affected some people's opinions.

Paul Keating was the first PM to really discuss at length Australia's military history. John Howard continued it, with an emphasis on Gallipoli.

THE AFL came on board at the right moment to both take advantage of the renewed interest and also to foster the interest.

It was Hawke who revived ANZAC day at a period in Australian history when attendances were at their lowest point. Whether it was genuine, or political opportunism to rev up his flagging popularity; Hawke was PM when the 75th Anniversary of Gallipoli was approaching and he put himself in the media spotlight chatting with WW1 veterans and reviving the concept of mateship as something uniquely Australian (which it aint). I suppose a film like Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981) would have also played a role in this mateship theme.

Keating regards the participation at Gallipoli as a period in Australia history when were still tethered to our colonial master, ready and willing to fight in their wars voluntarily (the referendum on conscription in Australia which ended up splitting the Labor party came after Gallipoli), and as illustration that he regards as nonsense the popular belief that Australian identify was forged on the beaches of Gallipoli, Keating laid a wreath at Kokoda on ANZAC Day to honor soldiers who fought to defend the threat to Australian soil.

I lived near Kings Park, Perth, in the early 1980s and recall each year the ANZAC ceremonies were usually marred by protesters and reports on the TV news of anti-war grafitti met with little public outcry. The remnants of a white-painted peace sign at the top of my street that lead to the memorial was visible on the road for several years and the attendances were tiny, similar to the rest of Australia, and especially in comparison to the annual Palm Sunday Peace Marches that would begin from the same location.

The hangover from the unpopular Vietnam War (Vietnam veterans were still ostracised by the RSL until the late 80's when official Vietnam War veteran homecomings were organised) and the heightening of the Cold War nuclear diplomacy in the early 80's (Brezhnev and Reagan) - both superpowers partaking in military interventions in smaller countries (eg Afghanistan/Grenada) likely contributed to this anti-war sentiment.

Bruce Ruxton the leader of the RSL was a figure of public ridicule (see the character Bruce Rump in the 80's comedy series "Australia You're Standing In It" later, "Fast Forward") for his anachronistic views.