Latest news with #Rocca
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Filming Italy Sardegna Plans To Serve As A Bridge Between Italy & The U.S.
Now entering its eighth edition, Filming Italy Sardegna is gearing up for what looks set to be its buzziest event to date. Founded by Tiziana Rocca, the film and television event kicks off June 19, 2025, at Forte Village in Cagliari, Sardinia. The festival will present more than 70 films, many of which are Italian or world premieres. Notable titles in the line-up this year include Steven Soderbergh's Presence, starring Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan; Reflection in a Dead Diamond, the critically acclaimed spy thriller from Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani; and Karate Kid: Legends, directed by Jonathan Entwistle. The festival will open with the film Poveri Noi by Fabrizio Maria Cortese, starring Paolo Ruffini on Thursday. More from Deadline Roastmaster Jeff Ross Lands Venue For Broadway Summer Stand, Sets Opening Date 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Harry Shum Jr Is A Nurse On The Edge In First Trailer For Movie 'Do No Harm' X Games Competition Series In The Works At Bunim/Murray 'The lineup is incredibly rich and diverse, spanning multiple genres, regions and perspectives,' says Rocca, who also returned this year as artistic director of the Taormina Film Festival, which wrapped June 14. She says that Sardegna is different to Taormina in that it is 'more grounded in mentorships and education'. For her, she sees the four-day event serving as 'a powerful platform for introducing cinema to younger generations.' 'Filming in Italy Sardegna was created to give real visibility and opportunities to the next generation,' says Rocca. 'Reaching our eighth edition is a proud milestone and it proves that our efforts are making a difference. Our purpose is to support young talent, foster industry connections, highlight female voices and promote both Italian and international cinema.' She points to the festival's short film competition, which is organized in partnership with the University of Cagliari, as one of the star events of the festival. The short film jury will be presided over by actress and director Macaela Ramazzotti, and she will be joined by Heather Graham, Alec Baldwin, Rocío Muñoz Morales, Riccardo Milani, Aurora Giovinazzo and Giacomo Giorgio. There's also a strong emphasis for the festival to spotlight women in the industry and this year, Sardegna is honoring The Last Showgirl director Gia Coppola with the Women Power Excellence Award. 'Her presence is a source of great pride for our festival and a tangible sign of the increasingly strong link between American cinema and our country,' says Rocca. Other notable guests this year include Simon Baker, who will receive the Filming Italy Excellence Award, and Cuba Gooding Jr., who will be honored with the Filming Italy Creativity Award. French actress Anouchka Delon will also attend, receiving an award in memory of her father Alain. Italian actress Martina Stella will act as the fest's godmother. Television will also play a central role at the event this year. 'Today's audience consumes stories across both film and TV, and we fully embrace that evolution,' Rocca says. In addition to Baker, other major TV stars such as Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn), Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest), Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Karen Pittman (The Morning Show) and many others are set to touch down on the Italian island. 'Their presence highlights how storytelling has expanded into serialized formats with equal artistic value,' says Rocca, adding that many will be participating in masterclasses, public talks and conversations with students. 'Their insight and experience will inspire dialogue around the future of cinema, storytelling and artistic collaboration.' Promoting the region, in particular Sardinia as a prime filming destination, has also been a core objective for Rocca as she has been steadily building the event across the last eight years. 'I chose Cagliari and southern Sardinia specifically because these locations are breathtaking yet underrepresented in global cinema. Through the festival we are shining a spotlight on the island's landscapes, culture and infrastructure, encouraging international filmmakers to consider Sardinia for their next project.' She adds: 'We're also proud to note that Sardegna is a plastic-free, eco-conscious festival. We highlight films that raise awareness around sustainability and environmental issues, especially for younger audiences.' Filming In Sardegna takes place June 19-22, 2025. Best of Deadline Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winners Through The Years Deadline Studio At Sundance Film Festival Photo Gallery: Dylan O'Brien, Ayo Edebiri, Jennifer Lopez, Lily Gladstone, Benedict Cumberbatch & More TIFF People's Choice Award Winners Through The Years: Photo Gallery
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Anzac Day clash was born amid division but is now a reminder of how sport can bind us
Footy is full of soldiers who never found a war and on the 80th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, one of them was asleep in the birthing ward. Dermott Brereton was barrel-chested, chicken-legged, born for the big occasion and, on this day, a new father. He fused Frankston street smarts with Glenferrie conservatism; morning television affability with an Irish thirst for vengeance. At 30, his body was at war with itself. But as police escorted the team bus to the MCG for the inaugural Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon, he heard the bugle call. His apprentice that day was a mild-mannered discus thrower from Reservoir. A fortnight earlier, Saverio Rocca was playing in the reserves. 'He was just a nice, well groomed, well cared for Italian boy whose mum probably cooked his dinner every night of his life,' Brereton later said. He was constantly in Big Sav's ear that day – blocking, encouraging, gesticulating, cajoling. Rocca had the game of his life, and Brereton hasn't stopped talking since. Advertisement James Hird was a civil engineering student. When he first arrived at Essendon, they thought he was anaemic. He was a phenomenal player, but he was a worrier. Before big games, he'd manage a few hours sleep at best. On this day, he was well held by Gavin Crosisca. But with scores level and two minutes remaining, he slunk through a hole – 'weaving through bodies in a forward pocket like a motorcycle between trucks,' the author Andrew Mueller wrote years later – and threaded what remains one of the great Anzac Day goals. Moments later, something happened that would change the sport for ever. Damian Monkhorst, the grandson of a Dutch missionary, was an edentulate plumber from Woori Yallock. On his way to the 1990 grand final, he was doing burnouts on the Maroondah Highway. On Anzac Day five years later, with his team trailing by a goal, he hatched a dead ball, wrapped up by two Indigenous players in Michael Long and Che Cockatoo-Collins, and shouted a racial slur. Long was a man to be reckoned with. He sought an apology along with major and meaningful change. But the AFL shilly shallied for a fortnight and the initial mediation left him fuming. 'You took it the wrong way, mate,' Monkhorst told him. The Collingwood ruck later apologised, and the AFL eventually implemented a racial and religious vilification code. 'Without so much as raising his voice,' Martin Flanagan wrote, 'Michael Long bent the AFL to his will.' Nathan Buckley was the son of a man who'd fought in some of the fiercest battles in the Vietnam war. At that point in his career, he put so much pressure on himself, he would often burst into tears in the middle of a training drill. He played a magnificent game that April afternoon, and with seconds remaining, he rampaged through the middle of the MCG. Brereton was on his own, 30 metres out, directly in front. But the gravitational draw of Rocca was too great, and Buckley deviated off his line. The young forward was triple teamed, the ball was cleared, and the game was drawn. Advertisement So many of the players in that game had a significant impact on the sport. Five would become senior AFL coaches, even with Mark Thompson out injured on the day. Three would win Brownlow medals, just as many would be awarded Norm Smith medals. Others would become club CEOs, board members, commentators, match reviews officers, umpires, even gridiron players. One, Chris Curran, died in a car accident in 2018, aged just 44. In his book, the Magpies coach Leigh Matthews remembered it as one of the best games he had ever seen. A squeaky-voiced introvert off the field, a stone-cold killer on it, and a detached pragmatist in the coaches box, Matthews was a far harsher and frustrated figure in 1995 than in his later years at Brisbane. Incredibly, he made the Collingwood players sing the club song in the rooms afterwards. Footy had long been played on Anzac Day – 92,000 people saw Collingwood beat Richmond in 1977. But it was Matthews' opposite number who helped secure the game's legacy. Autodidactic and gnomic; a cloud dweller and a street fighter, the Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy nurtured the annual fixture, promoted it, and always pushed back on the martial overreach. To his credit, he backed Long every step of the way. In the decades following the 1995 Anzac Day game, a lot of silly things were said, and a lot of tired analogies were drawn. But in recent years, a better balance has been struck. Despite the overkill and the commercialisation, to remove your hat and stand with nearly 100,000 humans is an experience like few others. A couple of years ago, the MCG was as silent as a cemetery. There were two sounds only – the Australian, New Zealand and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flapping at half-mast, and a single baby crying. It was a reminder of how sport, when it knows its place, can still move and bind us. Crunching the numbers The attendance at the inaugural Anzac Day clash is now the third-biggest home and away crowd in VFL/AFL history after 95,179 watched Collingwood defeat Essendon on 25 April 2023. From the archives David Zaharakis had only graduated from high school six months earlier before he was playing his fourth game for Essendon on Anzac Day 2009. As time-on ticked over in the final term, Collingwood were 14 points the better. Young Bombers ruck Paddy Ryder had played the game of his life, completely dominating Josh Fraser, racking up 13 tackles and winning several key clearances as his side launched their comeback. A clever goal to Leroy Jetta was followed by a long-range gem from last-minute replacement Ricky Dyson. Advertisement With five seconds left on the clock in teeming rain, Zaharakis etched his name in footy folklore with a nerveless match-winning goal. Afterwards, the Pies coach Mick Malthouse was apoplectic, calling it the most disappointing home and away loss of his long career. 'We let the Anzacs down,' he said. They said what? Coach Ken Hinkley said the veteran midfielder has reported no further heart troubles since being substituted during Port Adelaide's win over Sydney. View from the stands (or the couch) 'Kingy, who is one of my favourites, he talked about them being 'red-hot on dropping the ball'. That isn't a rule and it hasn't been for 80 years. So that is a perfect implementation of the laws of the game as the umpires are being instructed. Advertisement 'So you've got areas where [umpires] are making blues that they can clean up themselves. And then I think we've got some noise where others potentially need to educate themselves.' The retired umpire Ray Chamberlain hits back at David King's commentary during the Geelong and Hawthorn match, and broader criticism of the way the game is being officiated, while speaking on Fox Footy's AFL 360. Footy quiz Which player has booted the most goals across their career in the 29 Anzac Day clashes between Collingwood and Essendon? Bonus point if you know how many. Answers in next week's newsletter, but if you think you know it, hit reply and let me know! Advertisement Last week's answer: Which player has polled the most votes across their career without winning a Brownlow medal? Scott Pendlebury with 223. Congratulations to Matt Costigan, who was first to reply with the right answer. Want more? Bailey Smith embraces the big stage as Geelong hold their nerve against Hawthorn in the latest Easter Monday classic. Noah Balta avoids jail for car park assault but is handed a curfew and alcohol ban. Got a story tip? Reply to this email and drop me a line, or email fromthepocket@ Enjoying this newsletter? Have a friend who might? Forward this to them, or tell them how to get it.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Anzac Day clash was born amid division but is now a reminder of how sport can bind us
Footy is full of soldiers who never found a war and on the 80th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, one of them was asleep in the birthing ward. Dermott Brereton was barrel-chested, chicken-legged, born for the big occasion and, on this day, a new father. He fused Frankston street smarts with Glenferrie conservatism; morning television affability with an Irish thirst for vengeance. At 30, his body was at war with itself. But as police escorted the team bus to the MCG for the inaugural Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon, he heard the bugle call. His apprentice that day was a mild-mannered discus thrower from Reservoir. A fortnight earlier, Saverio Rocca was playing in the reserves. 'He was just a nice, well groomed, well cared for Italian boy whose mum probably cooked his dinner every night of his life,' Brereton later said. He was constantly in Big Sav's ear that day – blocking, encouraging, gesticulating, cajoling. Rocca had the game of his life, and Brereton hasn't stopped talking since. James Hird was a civil engineering student. When he first arrived at Essendon, they thought he was anaemic. He was a phenomenal player, but he was a worrier. Before big games, he'd manage a few hours sleep at best. On this day, he was well held by Gavin Crosisca. But with scores level and two minutes remaining, he slunk through a hole – 'weaving through bodies in a forward pocket like a motorcycle between trucks,' the author Andrew Mueller wrote years later – and threaded what remains one of the great Anzac Day goals. Moments later, something happened that would change the sport for ever. Damian Monkhorst, the grandson of a Dutch missionary, was an edentulate plumber from Woori Yallock. On his way to the 1990 grand final, he was doing burnouts on the Maroondah Highway. On Anzac Day five years later, with his team trailing by a goal, he hatched a dead ball, wrapped up by two Indigenous players in Michael Long and Che Cockatoo-Collins, and shouted a racial slur. Long was a man to be reckoned with. He sought an apology along with major and meaningful change. But the AFL shilly shallied for a fortnight and the initial mediation left him fuming. 'You took it the wrong way, mate,' Monkhorst told him. The Collingwood ruck later apologised, and the AFL eventually implemented a racial and religious vilification code. 'Without so much as raising his voice,' Martin Flanagan wrote, 'Michael Long bent the AFL to his will.' Nathan Buckley was the son of a man who'd fought in some of the fiercest battles in the Vietnam war. At that point in his career, he put so much pressure on himself, he would often burst into tears in the middle of a training drill. He played a magnificent game that April afternoon, and with seconds remaining, he rampaged through the middle of the MCG. Brereton was on his own, 30 metres out, directly in front. But the gravitational draw of Rocca was too great, and Buckley deviated off his line. The young forward was triple teamed, the ball was cleared, and the game was drawn. So many of the players in that game had a significant impact on the sport. Five would become senior AFL coaches, even with Mark Thompson out injured on the day. Three would win Brownlow medals, just as many would be awarded Norm Smith medals. Others would become club CEOs, board members, commentators, match reviews officers, umpires, even gridiron players. One, Chris Curran, died in a car accident in 2018, aged just 44. In his book, the Magpies coach Leigh Matthews remembered it as one of the best games he had ever seen. A squeaky-voiced introvert off the field, a stone-cold killer on it, and a detached pragmatist in the coaches box, Matthews was a far harsher and frustrated figure in 1995 than in his later years at Brisbane. Incredibly, he made the Collingwood players sing the club song in the rooms afterwards. Footy had long been played on Anzac Day – 92,000 people saw Collingwood beat Richmond in 1977. But it was Matthews' opposite number who helped secure the game's legacy. Autodidactic and gnomic; a cloud dweller and a street fighter, the Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy nurtured the annual fixture, promoted it, and always pushed back on the martial overreach. To his credit, he backed Long every step of the way. In the decades following the 1995 Anzac Day game, a lot of silly things were said, and a lot of tired analogies were drawn. But in recent years, a better balance has been struck. Despite the overkill and the commercialisation, to remove your hat and stand with nearly 100,000 humans is an experience like few others. A couple of years ago, the MCG was as silent as a cemetery. There were two sounds only – the Australian, New Zealand and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flapping at half-mast, and a single baby crying. It was a reminder of how sport, when it knows its place, can still move and bind us. The attendance at the inaugural Anzac Day clash is now the third-biggest home and away crowd in VFL/AFL history after 95,179 watched Collingwood defeat Essendon on 25 April 2023. David Zaharakis had only graduated from high school six months earlier before he was playing his fourth game for Essendon on Anzac Day 2009. As time-on ticked over in the final term, Collingwood were 14 points the better. Young Bombers ruck Paddy Ryder had played the game of his life, completely dominating Josh Fraser, racking up 13 tackles and winning several key clearances as his side launched their comeback. A clever goal to Leroy Jetta was followed by a long-range gem from last-minute replacement Ricky Dyson. With five seconds left on the clock in teeming rain, Zaharakis etched his name in footy folklore with a nerveless match-winning goal. Afterwards, the Pies coach Mick Malthouse was apoplectic, calling it the most disappointing home and away loss of his long career. 'We let the Anzacs down,' he said. Coach Ken Hinkley said the veteran midfielder has reported no further heart troubles since being substituted during Port Adelaide's win over Sydney. 'Kingy, who is one of my favourites, he talked about them being 'red-hot on dropping the ball'. That isn't a rule and it hasn't been for 80 years. So that is a perfect implementation of the laws of the game as the umpires are being instructed. Sign up to From the Pocket: AFL Weekly Jonathan Horn brings expert analysis on the week's biggest AFL stories after newsletter promotion 'So you've got areas where [umpires] are making blues that they can clean up themselves. And then I think we've got some noise where others potentially need to educate themselves.' The retired umpire Ray Chamberlain hits back at David King's commentary during the Geelong and Hawthorn match, and broader criticism of the way the game is being officiated, while speaking on Fox Footy's AFL 360. Which player has booted the most goals across their career in the 29 Anzac Day clashes between Collingwood and Essendon? Bonus point if you know how many. Answers in next week's newsletter, but if you think you know it, hit reply and let me know! Last week's answer: Which player has polled the most votes across their career without winning a Brownlow medal? Scott Pendlebury with 223. Congratulations to Matt Costigan, who was first to reply with the right answer. Bailey Smith embraces the big stage as Geelong hold their nerve against Hawthorn in the latest Easter Monday classic. Noah Balta avoids jail for car park assault but is handed a curfew and alcohol ban. Reply to this email and drop me a line, or email fromthepocket@ Have a friend who might? Forward this to them, or tell them how to get it.
The Age
22-04-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘They've kicked the gates down!': How an Anzac Day tradition was born
Thirty years ago, Essendon, Collingwood and the Returned Services League built the Anzac Day clash at the MCG in the spirit of commemoration and remembrance. Tens of thousands of footy fans descended for the first instalment of a match that has been played every year since – except the pandemic-affected 2020 season. If you weren't there on April 25, 1995, you might have tried to get in or know someone who was unsuccessful, perhaps one of the fans who took in the experience in the parkland surrounding the 'G instead. And the official crowd of 94,825 – the third largest VFL/AFL home-and-away crowd ever recorded – might have even been off the mark. 'I remember going to the game and being at the AFL lunch [with] Ross Oakley, and we were getting messages through that the crowds are unbelievable,' remembers Eddie McGuire, who became Collingwood president three years later. 'Then we're hearing word that they've just opened the gates. They've kicked the gates down in the Northern Stand! They always said it was 90-something [thousand fans in the ground]. It was well over 100 [thousand] that day. 'The game just built and built and built. There was something like 20 or 30,000 people who didn't get in and [were in] the parks. And then they surrounded all the pubs.' The fans came, and the players delivered. Less than five years after their famous 1990 grand final, the two teams played out an iconic draw. Mention Saverio Rocca, a man mountain who excelled at Collingwood and North Melbourne before forging a career in the NFL, and try escaping any reference to his nine goals that day. Dermott Brereton took to the field in his only season at the Magpies, and a young Nathan Buckley, dashing through the middle with the scores tied late, infamously opted to try and find Rocca with a pass instead of going for goal himself. Collingwood's 1990 premiership captain Tony Shaw was the club's runner that day. 'I still remember yelling out to Bucks when he was coming out the centre and kicked the ball to Sav Rocca,' Shaw recalled. 'I was saying, 'Kick for goal'.' Just as Rocca's haul is a part of footy folklore, Anzac Day footy offers a collection of great moments and masterful memories. Think the likes of Dane Swan, James Hird and Scott Pendlebury, with cameos from Mark McGough and Andrew Lovett. In '95, Rocca climbed onto Ryan O'Connor's shoulders to pull down a great grab. In wonderful symmetry, the 29th instalment last year also finished in a draw and Jamie Elliott had his own Rocca moment as he pulled down a ripping mark. But as much as the first Essendon-Collingwood clash of any season is closely intertwined with April 25 at the MCG, it's a fixture that doesn't exist without the sombre marking of a day of remembrance. How did it all start? Collingwood played a blockbuster Anzac Day match in 1977, but it was Richmond, not Essendon lining up against them in front of more than 92,000 at the MCG. Tommy Hafey was in his first year as Magpies coach after crossing from the Tigers, where he had led the club to four premierships and Kevin Sheedy was one of his pupils. Quirkily, Sheedy booted the ball about 40 metres the wrong way at the start of the third quarter. 'As for Hafey's former players in Richmond jumpers, it looked at times as though they were trying to help him win it,' The Age's chief football writer Ron Carter wrote. 'Kevin Sheedy, of all people, grabbed the ball in the centre at the first bounce after half-time and kicked it the wrong way, straight to Phil Carman.' Sheedy later recalled: 'I've got a very sore tail – where I was kicked by about 5000 members for kicking that ball the wrong way. I just looked at Carman [who marked it] and said to myself: 'What a bloody silly thing to do'.' The occasion stayed in the mind of Sheedy, a champion player and coach and member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame who was drafted into the army. Just two days after he won the 1969 premiership, he had had to front up to the Swan Street barracks in Richmond. Decades later, he was pottering in his garden and focusing on ways to promote the game. 'I remembered the seed that had been planted on that day,' Sheedy wrote in a newspaper column referencing the 1977 game. 'It was one of the biggest home-and-away crowds of my era, and it had me thinking about the concept of bringing people to the football, and what entices them to come. 'We needed something to bring us together, not tear us apart. We proposed the idea of a game on Anzac Day that would celebrate the spirit of the diggers.' Loading Sheedy was soon on the phone to Collingwood's director of football Graeme 'Gubby' Allan. 'He knew RSL boss Bruce Ruxton, and Ruxton had black-and-white through his veins,' Sheedy wrote. McGuire had no doubt that the origins of 1995 'came from desperation'. In previous years and decades, Anzac Day did not go close to attracting the recognition it does now. 'I actually used to be in the school band,' recalled McGuire. 'A couple of times we had to march two or three times on Anzac Day because, you know, people were protesting, flower bombing, and the whole thing was starting to die off in a lot of ways. Anzac Day was really on the wane. 'Those guys [in the 1990s] realised that the parade and the whole remembrance was starting to fade. 'Sheeds, in his inimitable fashion, remembering the day that he kicked the ball the wrong way … but geez, I tell you what, he picked it up, ran with it the right way after that.' Growing the presence While footy on Anzac Day has had different incarnations (the VFL in 1986 experimented with an MCG double-header, coupled with a game at Waverley Park), neither the competing clubs nor the AFL have attracted any stringent criticism for the occasion. Melbourne and Richmond have found a home with a regular Anzac Day eve clash, too, and Fremantle have regularly hosted the Len Hall Tribute Game, in recognition of the Gallipoli veteran. Much of the consternation has instead been whether the main event at the MCG should be shared with other clubs. 'What I always argued with people who used to say, 'Oh, they should share it around' … [I argued] there's no two teams who can guarantee 100,000 over the years, up and down [with fluctuating form]. But Collingwood and Essendon did it, and they did the day proud,' McGuire said. 'Sheeds, in his inimitable fashion, remembering the day that he kicked the ball the wrong way … but geez, I tell you what, he picked it up, ran with it the right way after that.' Eddie McGuire on Kevin Sheedy McGuire also believed the right level of solemnity in respecting the sacrifices of Australia's armed forces was achieved. 'In the first couple of years [of the fixture], there was always some idiot yelling 'Go Dons', or 'go Bombers', or 'go Magpies' or something. And then it stopped,' he said. 'Now people go there, and the pride you can feel in the crowd [with the mood] being absolutely stony silent, being able to hear the flags fluttering above the stands.' Shaw coached Collingwood in four Anzac Day matches between 1996 and 1999. 'When you're a coach, and you're coaching Anzac Day, I never mentioned war because we're not going out to die,' Shaw said. 'You can still utilise the self-sacrifice, the discipline and all that, that the Anzacs showed for our country.' The legend of 1995 lives on Rocca and Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher got together a few years back to watch a replay of the 1995 match. Their recollections make fascinating viewing. Champion full-back Fletcher spent time manning Rocca but was moved off him, the Bomber kicking a few goals of his own. 'On the way in there I couldn't believe the traffic,' Fletcher said in the video. 'I knew it was going to be big, but to have a lockout, to play on a Tuesday and Anzac Day … it was a day when the shops weren't open; for footy to be played was massive.' Loading Rocca remarked: 'It's pretty eerie being out there and having that silence with 95,000 people. It was pretty special … You get goosebumps.' The two were absorbed by the contest. 'It feels like a final, even looking back on it,' Fletcher said. 'It doesn't feel like a normal home-and-away game.' Rocca took in the replay of one of his three goals for the opening quarter: 'I thought it was loud at this stage. It got even louder. Like it was deafening later in the game. It's always good getting a few early.' The players agreed that despite the frustration of sharing the premiership points, the result matched the mood. 'Looking back now I think it's fitting that it ended in a draw, and it really set the tone for however long it's been going … the expectation is that you fight hard, not only for yourself and for your team and your situation, but what the Anzacs stood for,' Rocca said. Bragging rights have waxed and waned ever since. Said Shaw with a chuckle: 'In a bad sort of coaching era, I think I won three out of four Anzac Days against Sheeds, so I tell Sheeds every time I see him.'
Sydney Morning Herald
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘They've kicked the gates down!' How an Anzac Day tradition was born
Thirty years ago, Essendon, Collingwood and the Returned Services League built the Anzac Day clash at the MCG in the spirit of commemoration and remembrance. Tens of thousands of footy fans descended for the first instalment of a match that has been played every year since – except the pandemic-affected 2020 season. If you weren't there on April 25, 1995, you might have tried to get in or know someone who was unsuccessful, perhaps one of the fans who took in the experience in the parkland surrounding the 'G instead. And the official crowd of 94,825 – the third largest VFL/AFL home-and-away crowd ever recorded – might have even been off the mark. 'I remember going to the game and being at the AFL lunch [with] Ross Oakley, and we were getting messages through that the crowds are unbelievable,' remembers Eddie McGuire, who became Collingwood president three years later. 'Then we're hearing word that they've just opened the gates. They've kicked the gates down in the Northern Stand! They always said it was 90-something [thousand fans in the ground]. It was well over 100 [thousand] that day. 'The game just built and built and built. There was something like 20 or 30,000 people who didn't get in and [were in] the parks. And then they surrounded all the pubs.' The fans came, and the players delivered. Less than five years after their famous 1990 grand final, the two teams played out an iconic draw. Mention Saverio Rocca, a man mountain who excelled at Collingwood and North Melbourne before forging a career in the NFL, and try escaping any reference to his nine goals that day. Dermott Brereton took to the field in his only season at the Magpies, and a young Nathan Buckley, dashing through the middle with the scores tied late, infamously opted to try and find Rocca with a pass instead of going for goal himself. Collingwood's 1990 premiership captain Tony Shaw was the club's runner that day. 'I still remember yelling out to Bucks when he was coming out the centre and kicked the ball to Sav Rocca,' Shaw recalled. 'I was saying, 'Kick for goal'.' Just as Rocca's haul is a part of footy folklore, Anzac Day footy offers a collection of great moments and masterful memories. Think the likes of Dane Swan, James Hird and Scott Pendlebury, with cameos from Mark McGough and Andrew Lovett. In '95, Rocca climbed onto Ryan O'Connor's shoulders to pull down a great grab. In wonderful symmetry, the 29th instalment last year also finished in a draw and Jamie Elliott had his own Rocca moment as he pulled down a ripping mark. But as much as the first Essendon-Collingwood clash of any season is closely intertwined with April 25 at the MCG, it's a fixture that doesn't exist without the sombre marking of a day of remembrance. How did it all start? Collingwood played a blockbuster Anzac Day match in 1977, but it was Richmond, not Essendon lining up against them in front of more than 92,000 at the MCG. Tommy Hafey was in his first year as Magpies coach after crossing from the Tigers, where he had led the club to four premierships and Kevin Sheedy was one of his pupils. Quirkily, Sheedy booted the ball about 40 metres the wrong way at the start of the third quarter. 'As for Hafey's former players in Richmond jumpers, it looked at times as though they were trying to help him win it,' The Age's chief football writer Ron Carter wrote. 'Kevin Sheedy, of all people, grabbed the ball in the centre at the first bounce after half-time and kicked it the wrong way, straight to Phil Carman.' Sheedy later recalled: 'I've got a very sore tail – where I was kicked by about 5000 members for kicking that ball the wrong way. I just looked at Carman [who marked it] and said to myself: 'What a bloody silly thing to do'.' The occasion stayed in the mind of Sheedy, a champion player and coach and member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame who was drafted into the army. Just two days after he won the 1969 premiership, he had had to front up to the Swan Street barracks in Richmond. Decades later, he was pottering in his garden and focusing on ways to promote the game. 'I remembered the seed that had been planted on that day,' Sheedy wrote in a newspaper column referencing the 1977 game. 'It was one of the biggest home-and-away crowds of my era, and it had me thinking about the concept of bringing people to the football, and what entices them to come. 'We needed something to bring us together, not tear us apart. We proposed the idea of a game on Anzac Day that would celebrate the spirit of the diggers.' Loading Sheedy was soon on the phone to Collingwood's director of football Graeme 'Gubby' Allen. 'He knew RSL boss Bruce Ruxton, and Ruxton had black-and-white through his veins,' Sheedy wrote. McGuire had no doubt that the origins of 1995 'came from desperation'. In previous years and decades, Anzac Day did not go close to attracting the recognition it does now. 'I actually used to be in the school band,' recalled McGuire. 'A couple of times we had to march two or three times on Anzac Day because, you know, people were protesting, flower bombing, and the whole thing was starting to die off in a lot of ways. Anzac Day was really on the wane. 'Those guys [in the 1990s] realised that the parade and the whole remembrance was starting to fade. 'Sheeds, in his inimitable fashion, remembering the day that he kicked the ball the wrong way … but geez, I tell you what, he picked it up, ran with it the right way after that.' Growing the presence While footy on Anzac Day has had different incarnations (the VFL in 1986 experimented with an MCG double-header, coupled with a game at Waverley Park), neither the competing clubs nor the AFL have attracted any stringent criticism for the occasion. Melbourne and Richmond have found a home with a regular Anzac Day eve clash, too, and Fremantle have regularly hosted the Len Hall Tribute Game, in recognition of the Gallipoli veteran. Much of the consternation has instead been whether the main event at the MCG should be shared with other clubs. 'What I always argued with people who used to say, 'Oh, they should share it around' … [I argued] there's no two teams who can guarantee 100,000 over the years, up and down [with fluctuating form]. But Collingwood and Essendon did it, and they did the day proud,' McGuire said. 'Sheeds, in his inimitable fashion, remembering the day that he kicked the ball the wrong way … but geez, I tell you what, he picked it up, ran with it the right way after that.' Eddie McGuire on Kevin Sheedy McGuire also believed the right level of solemnity in respecting the sacrifices of Australia's armed forces was achieved. 'In the first couple of years [of the fixture], there was always some idiot yelling 'Go Dons', or 'go Bombers', or 'go Magpies' or something. And then it stopped,' he said. 'Now people go there, and the pride you can feel in the crowd [with the mood] being absolutely stony silent, being able to hear the flags fluttering above the stands.' Shaw coached Collingwood in four Anzac Day matches between 1996 and 1999. 'When you're a coach, and you're coaching Anzac Day, I never mentioned war because we're not going out to die,' Shaw said. 'You can still utilise the self-sacrifice, the discipline and all that, that the Anzacs showed for our country.' The legend of 1995 lives on Rocca and Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher got together a few years back to watch a replay of the 1995 match. Their recollections make fascinating viewing. Champion full-back Fletcher spent time manning Rocca but was moved off him, the Bomber kicking a few goals of his own. 'On the way in there I couldn't believe the traffic,' Fletcher said in the video. 'I knew it was going to be big, but to have a lockout, to play on a Tuesday and Anzac Day … it was a day when the shops weren't open; for footy to be played was massive.' Loading Rocca remarked: 'It's pretty eerie being out there and having that silence with 95,000 people. It was pretty special … You get goosebumps.' The two were absorbed by the contest. 'It feels like a final, even looking back on it,' Fletcher said. 'It doesn't feel like a normal home-and-away game.' Rocca took in the replay of one of his three goals for the opening quarter: 'I thought it was loud at this stage. It got even louder. Like it was deafening later in the game. It's always good getting a few early.' The players agreed that despite the frustration of sharing the premiership points, the result matched the mood. 'Looking back now I think it's fitting that it ended in a draw, and it really set the tone for however long it's been going … the expectation is that you fight hard, not only for yourself and for your team and your situation, but what the Anzacs stood for,' Rocca said. Bragging rights have waxed and waned ever since. Said Shaw with a chuckle: 'In a bad sort of coaching era, I think I won three out of four Anzac Days against Sheeds, so I tell Sheeds every time I see him.'
