From Showdown I to the Demolition Derby to the Swans-GWS elimination final, the best interstate rivalry games

Australia Broadcast Center

24-07-2025

This weekend, the AFL has scheduled an unofficial Rivalry Round, with no big Melbourne rivalry games but all four of the key interstate clashes on the one weekend.
The Showdown. The Western Derby. The Q-Clash. And the Sydney Derby.
What makes these games so good? For the Showdown and the Western Derby, the advantage is that they occur in two-team towns in AFL-dominant cities. This means that for the week of the game, it is pretty much THE sporting talking point, so by game-time, the city is at fever pitch.
It helps if there is a particular home base of fans — such as Port Adelaide and Fremantle — geographically located in a part of the city. And if there is a socio-economic split, such as the famous Fibros vs Silvertails for Manly vs Wests in rugby league, then all the better.
If there's one rule for a good rivalry game, it's this: it doesn't matter where they are on the ladder, whether they're top four or cellar-dwellers, both teams will lift for the games against their cross-town rivals.
Clearly, with some of these teams, the on-field fierceness and hostility occasionally spills over, and it's not always limited to game day — just mention the name of the Ramsgate Hotel to people in Adelaide, for example.
Big, memorable moments in the games help, too, and if they get the crowd outraged or stunned, then that's just great.
The Q-Clash and the Sydney Derby are recent arrivals, so have not had as much time to establish themselves, but there have still been some cracking instalments.
So here, with no particular order — because depending on which group of fans you asked, you would get a different answer — are the top seven interstate rivalry games in the AFL era.
Two years after the beginning of the Western Derby, South Australia had its own rivalry game after the entry of Port Adelaide into the AFL.
The Crows were the first SA team to enter the league in 1991, but only after Port Adelaide tried to negotiate their way into the AFL to start the same season.
The moves caused division in South Australian football, setting up a real emotional charge when the Power finally came in.
The first Showdown came at Football Park in round four, 1997. The whole city could talk about little else, and more than 47,000 people packed the ground for the inaugural clash.
The Crows, coached by Malcolm Blight, were the favourites, having won one of their three games, while Port Adelaide was yet to get off the mark.
The tension was there right from the off, with Crows defender Rod Jameson — now an ABC commentator — and Port key forward Scott Cummings squaring up to each other before the bounce and exchanging punches.
To say the first quarter was tight was an understatement, as the Power kicked 1.6 to Adelaide's 1.1.
Port Adelaide found their kicking boots after quarter time, kicking nine goals to four in the second and third quarters to get out to a 33-point lead. But it wasn't over.
The Crows stormed home with six goals to two in the final term, as Crows superstar Tony Modra finished the match with seven goals, but it wasn't to be enough.
The final margin was 11 points, and the teal, blue, black and silver half of Adelaide erupted.
The Western Derby has had some fairly ferocious encounters in its 30-year history, including the infamous incident in 2018 where the Eagles' Andrew Gaff broke Andrew Brayshaw's jaw with a punch.
But for pure mayhem, Western Derby 12 in 2000 took some matching.
It had a bit of everything, and in retrospect, it wasn't too big of a surprise. The previous game in the series earlier that year had seen the Eagles belt the Dockers by a close to 20-goal margin.
An interview with Freo forward Clive Waterhouse raised the temperature substantially in the days before the return match, when he said, "it wouldn't surprise me if blood was spilled at Subiaco Oval".
It was on before the bounce, with Michael Gardiner throwing real jabs at Dockers rookie Mathew Pavlich, and that set the scene for a combustible encounter.
Dale Kickett was involved in a couple of fights, taking swings at Eagles players Phillip Read and Andrew Embley, while a benches-clearing brawl at half-time led to seven players being fined by the AFL.
Not even the umpires were safe, as Steven Hanley backed into a charging Phil Matera, prompting a huge collision, with Matera himself taken off on a stretcher.
West Coast had roared out to a 32-point lead at the main break, with the margin maxing out at 42 points before the Dockers mounted a comeback.
With Waterhouse (seven goals) leading the charge, they booted six goals in the final term to hit the front.
The Eagles had a chance to win it, but a rushed behind left the Dockers ahead by a solitary point when the siren sounded.
The fallout saw Kickett banned for nine weeks, Gardiner banned for two, and the Dockers' Brad Dodd suspended for two weeks for hitting West Coast's Phillip Read, who also was out for a fortnight for striking back.
The game was a classic and was quickly branded the "Demolition Derby".
The first edition of the Brisbane-Gold Coast rivalry was a cracker, and potentially reached heights that subsequent games have struggled to match.
Like Port Adelaide in the original Showdown, the Suns went into the first encounter at the Gabba in round seven, 2011, as big underdogs, especially coming off an embarrassing 139-point thumping by the Bombers the previous week.
There was some old-school chat to the media in the lead-up to the game, with Lions champion Simon Black getting stuck into former teammates Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan, calling them "mercenaries" for going to the Suns.
Gold Coast came out with a point to prove and led by 27 at half-time, and still held a three-goal margin at three-quarter-time.
Skipper Gary Ablett junior had a quiet night, but Brennan and Rischitelli responded against their old sides, with 30 disposals and a goal, and 29 touches and 10 tackles respectively.
The Lions charged home and levelled the scores with a great pick-up and snap from Todd Banfield with five minutes left. But a controversial free-kick and advantage to the Suns led to a Brandon Matera goal, and Gold Coast hung on to win by eight.
The energy levels were right up, with Liam Patrick taking a screamer for the AFL newcomers and Nathan Krakoeur booting five for the Suns, while Ash McGrath kicked six for the Lions. It was the perfect start to the rivalry.
Rivalry games mean a lot, and sometimes they come down to small margins.
In 2011, the Dockers and the Eagles came together at Subiaco Oval for a typically fierce encounter. There was nothing in it all day, with the lead switching hands and neither side able to make the decisive break.
Freo led by three points at quarter time, the Eagles led by a point at the half, then West Coast booted 3.7 to 3.1 to lead by seven with a quarter left.
It was still in the balance inside the final minute with the Eagles ahead by two points. Repeat stoppages ran the clock down as the crowd roared and the Dockers got desperate. Finally, Tendai Mzungu was awarded a mark, 80m from goal on the wing.
There were 10 seconds left when Mzungu kicked to a contest, the ball was spoiled, but Hayden Ballantyne was given a controversial free.
The siren went as Ballantyne lined up from the left forward pocket. His drop punt looked pure as it went towards goal. A pack formed on the line, but the ball looked like it was through, and Ballantyne wheeled away, celebrating with his fist in the air.
But the umpires disagreed; the ball had hit the padding on the post, and a distraught Ballantyne lay on the ground as the Eagles celebrated wildly.
For 23 seasons, the Adelaide Crows called Football Park home, while Port Adelaide did the same for 17 years.
In August 2013, the Crows and Power played their last Showdown at the ground, before games switched to the revamped Adelaide Oval the following season.
If anyone had worried whether the two sides could put on a fitting show for the final Showdown at West Lakes, they needn't have been concerned. Showdown 35 was a ripper of a game.
It wasn't just the big names who made an impression that day. Along with Patrick Dangerfield and Robbie Gray (four and three goals respectively), there were the likes of Lewis Johnston, who booted four for the Crows, and Angus Monfries, who kicked two for the Power.
The Crows led early, but Port Adelaide grabbed the momentum in the second quarter, setting up a 21-point lead at the half. Then it was Adelaide's turn to make a charge, kicking seven goals to two in the third term to lead by 12.
The game tightened again in the last, but with 90 seconds left, Port Adelaide still needed two scores to win.
The ball fell to former Essendon player Monfries on the edge of 50, and his left-foot shot was going wide for a point. But suddenly it spun savagely back at an incredible angle to somehow go through for a goal, as the umpire hastily back-pedalled to signal a major.
The final frantic stages saw the Power attacking, and Monfries chipped high across 50 for Chad Wingard to mark in front.
The 19-year-old kicked down the middle for his fifth goal of the day, and Port Adelaide had stolen it at the end. A remarkable finale for the concrete jungle at Football Park.
The Crows had turned around Port Adelaide's lead in Showdowns, and by late 2018, they had won five of the last six editions.
So the Power came out at Adelaide Oval wanting to improve the ledger. And it was a high-scoring first quarter with five goals apiece, with three goals to Port's Kane Farrell and two to Adelaide's Josh Jenkins.
Port Adelaide got on top in the second quarter, with two goals each to Robbie Gray and Chad Wingard to give the Power a nine-point edge at the break.
It was tight all the way, with no one being able to break the game open, and there was just a point between them at three-quarter-time.
The final term was back and forth, with Wingard getting two early goals, but the Crows hanging in there as the quarter went on. They hit the front through Matt Crouch, before the Power answered again to lead for most of the time-on.
Eddie Betts brought Adelaide within four points, then Ollie Wines's checkside missed everything to keep the Crows in it.
It came down to a forward entry for Adelaide with the ball bouncing near the square. It fell to Jenkins, who picked it up, stepped, and snapped inside the left goalpost.
It was close, but the umpire signalled a goal — and the Crows would win by three points.
After the game, Jenkins was asked about the goal, and admitted: 'My grandma raised me to tell no fibs. I think that it hit the post … but I'm pretty happy they [the umpires] didn't think so."
Some people criticise the Sydney Derby, saying it lacks the edge of the Showdown or Western Derby, but some of the best encounters between the two sides have come in finals.
Four years ago, as the league tried to deal with COVID, the Swans-Giants elimination final was held at York Park in Launceston, with no home ground advantage for the sixth-placed Swans.
It started in typical fashion, with an arm-wrestle of a game that saw scores level at quarter-time. But then the Giants blew the game open with a six-goal second term, as Toby Greene had three to half-time with GWS leading by 23.
On a grey old day in northern Tasmania, the Giants extended the lead to 29 before Sydney started to bridge the gap. A major to Tom Papley and two to Isaac Heeney gave the Swans hope, but Jesse Hogan kicked a late one to make it 18 points at the last change.
The final quarter was all the Swans, as Sydney threw everything at their rivals. GWS's only score came from a behind at the five-minute mark. From there, Heeney booted two quick goals to bring the lead back to seven, with plenty of time left.
But as they mounted attack after attack, the Swans kept missing. When Buddy Franklin's set shot from 50 swung left, it was a two-point game with under three minutes left. Justin McInerney's dribble kick from 20 out wobbled goalward, but the Giants rushed it over to make it one point.
Try as they might, the Swans couldn't get their chance, and fittingly, the ball was in Greene's hands as the siren went, triggering huge celebrations for GWS.