Jimmy Barnes, Tina Turner, Paul Kelly: Are these the best footy anthems of all time?

In the countdown to the 2021 NRL and AFL grand finals, we pick the country’s best footy anthems. Take our poll.

Up There Cazaly has lost its shine with young AFL fans yet (Simply) The Best continues to strike a chord with the rugby league community and enjoys a bump in streams during finals season every year.

The broadcast and backyard BBQ soundtracks for both grand finals in 2021 will be dominated by a playlist of anthems traditionally associated with the footy codes.

Fox Footy host and music diehard Jason Dunstall said it would be a “great challenge” for contemporary musicians to create a unifying anthem for these times.

“Up There Cazaly was massive for so long, it would get the goosebumps up on arms and hairs standing on the neck – ‘ Here we go!’. But it’s dated with the modern generation of fans; I think it’s almost phased out now,” Dunstall said.

“I think there is a great challenge there to come up with a modern day anthem for a younger generation.”

Yet both Dunstall and Fox League’s Matty Johns hail the enduring You’ll Never Walk Alone, made a hit by Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963 and sung loudly and passionately at Liverpool F.C. matches, as the world’s greatest football anthem.

Mike Brady performs during the 2019 Toyota AFL Grand Final match between the Richmond Tigers and the GWS Giants at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 28, 2019. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

An Australian contender could be Holy Grail, the 1991 single from revered rockers Hunters and Collectors.

It usurped Up There Cazaly’s popularity with fans as the song most synonymous with the AFL finals series in the late 1990s and became the official anthem for the code between 2002 and 2006.

Its presence on footy related playlists has kept it relevant in the streaming era with 30 million plays on Spotify alone.

Another finals favourite is Paul Kelly’s Leaps and Bounds for its opening lyric “I’m high on the hill, Looking over the bridge, To the M.C.G.” while Port Adelaide fans’ hopes of singing their INXS anthem Never Tear Us Apart in Perth on September 25 were dashed last week.

Even when the NRL hasn’t used Simply (The Best) by Tina Turner or Jimmy Barnes, the song has enjoyed a boost of tens of thousands of streams each year as the final seasons kicks into gear.

Tina Turner and Jimmy Barnes at the Winfield Cup in 1993. Picture: Action Photographics

The Hoodoo Gurus’ That’s My Team, adapted from their 1986 hit What’s My Scene, has also embedded itself into the NRL finals soundtrack and has boosted the original track to more than 20 million streams, by far it’s most popular song on streaming services.

Johns has always soundtracked his rugby league memories with the 1991 Screaming Jets hit Better.

“It was an anthem for the Knights sides I played in. We were on stage with the Jets after the ’97 Grand Final concert in the city centre, although I don’t remember any of it,” he said.

The television broadcasts of both codes in 2021 have boosted their use of local music for preview and highlights packages this season, after indie pop artist Jack River made a social media call-out in July for more homegrown songs to soundtrack great Australian sporting moments at the Tokyo Olympics.

Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion is a sure bet during the finals party. Picture: Paul Natkin/Getty Images

You can bet on hearing a blast of Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion or King of the Mountain, Jimmy Barnes’ No Second Prize and at least one AC/DC song on a football broadcast during the finals, along with snippets tracks from Hilltop Hoods, Grinspoon, Skeggs, Violent Soho and Tones and I should also get a spin.

If the broadcasters wanted to freshen up their show playlists, two new songs dropped this week – Paul Kelly’s emotional tribute to Eddie Betts’ fight against racism called Every Step of the Way.

And indie Queensland troubadour Pete Cullen has tipped his lyrical hat to his favourite NRL players with new single Rugba League.

Originally published as Jimmy Barnes, Tina Turner, Paul Kelly: Are these the best footy anthems of all time?