Coaching greats Kevin Sheedy and Mick Malthouse select their best Anzac Day teams
Two of the coaches who have shaped Anzac Day football have selected the best Essendon and Collingwood teams of the past 25 years on one of the biggest days on the football calendar. How many current players made the cut?
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AFL coaching legends Kevin Sheedy and Mick Malthouse have selected countless teams in their coaching careers, but this was one of the most difficult.
Both men have a keen sense of history and a deep appreciation of what Anzac Day means for Australians.
In a sporting sense, each has a direct link to so many of the Collingwood and Essendon Anzac Day matches played out before a packed MCG house each April 25.
Sheedy was the architect of the Anzac Day blockbuster concept, working with then Magpie football manager Graeme Allan and RSL president Bruce Ruxton to bring about the first clash in 1995, which resulted in a dramatic drawn match.
It was one of 13 games he coached the Bombers on Anzac Day games, and even now he is one of the most passionate advocates of both the contest and the occasion.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE KEVIN SHEEDY AND MICK MALTHOUSE’S BEST ANZAC TEAMS + MACCA’S BEST BOMBER AND MAGPIE.
Mick Malthouse coached Collingwood in 12 Anzac Day games, imbuing a decade of Magpies young and old with the importance of the day — not just in a sporting but a social sense.
So when the Herald Sun approached them to select their best Collingwood and Essendon sides from those Anzac Day games dating back to 1995 —they were honoured.
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They tapped into their memories from the games they were a part of, and looking at the stats and rankings points of all the Collingwood and Essendon encounters on footy’s most sacred date.
Both agreed that selection had to come down to what these players did in Anzac Day matches — not on their careers — and that came with a three-game criteria.
That meant players such as Collingwood premiership players Gavin Brown and Dale Thomas were selected as emergencies, while Mark McGough won a slot on the bench, given he won an Anzac Medal and was named in the best in all three of his Anzac games.
“I’d love to have seen these two sides go head-to-head,” Sheedy said.
Malthouse agreed, saying: “This would be a great game between very good sides.
“To me, Anzac Day is the most important day of the year (in terms of Australia’s heritage). In a footy sense, it is only marginally behind a preliminary final, which I actually put in front of a Grand Final in terms of having the pure football barrackers there.”
SHEEDY, MALTHOUSE’S GREATEST SIDES
SHEEDY SAYS …
GARY O’DONNELL
4 Anzac Day games
“Kicked Essendon’s first goal on Anzac Day in 1995. Was a wonderful leader of the club and one of the most professional players I’ve coached.”
DUSTIN FLETCHER
18 games
“Played the most Anzac Day games (18). In his first Anzac game Sav Rocca had kicked three on him and I moved him forward, where he kicked two goals. Then I put into the backline to help save the game.”
CALE HOOKER
9 games
“I would have loved to have coached him. He reminds me a bit of Billy Duckworth, or Roger Merrett, or Kevin Walsh.”
DYSON HEPPELL
8 games
“He’s been a good captain. He is still finding his right position because the group is still forming as a team, but he’s played extremely well on Anzac Day.”
SEAN WELLMAN
7 games
“One of the best trade deals we ever did was to get Paul Barnard and Sean Wellman into Windy Hill. Sean was such a good team player for the club.”
NATHAN LOVETT-MURRAY
6 games
“He was an under-the-radar type player for us, like Andrew Lovett, who is his cousin. Nathan’s family served in the Army, and he always lifted for Anzac Day.”
DAVID ZAHARAKIS
11 games; 2013 Anzac Medal
“He won one game off his own boot in his fourth game (in 2009), and he won the Anzac Medal in another (in 2013). His highlights reel on Anzac Day would be special.”
JOE MISITI
8 games
“Some people would have thought he had a calculator in his back pocket — he was such an accumulator of the ball. He wasn’t a beautiful kick of the ball like his best mate, Mark Mercuri, but he was a very good player.”
ANDREW LOVETT
5 games; 2005 Anzac Medal
“He’s the only Anzac Medallist to have been recruited from an RSL club — Preston RSL. I threw that out at the press conference after he won it (in 2005), but no one picked up on it”.
MARK MERCURI
7 games; 1999 Anzac Medal (retrospective)
“Was runner-up in a Brownlow Medal and always played well on Anzac Day. A class act.”
SCOTT LUCAS
12 games
“He was a very smooth player who was probably a little overshadowed by Matthew Lloyd. But not many centre-half-forwards kick as many goals as he did.
JAMES HIRD
10 games; 2000, ’03, ’04 Anzac Medals
“He lived in a house almost across the road from the Australian War Memorial (in Canberra). Kick to kick for him would have been in the shadows of that magnificent building. He was an absolute star.”
JASON JOHNSON
7 games
“You need tough players to keep the ball in and ‘JJ’ would do that. Some of his greatest games came on the MCG in big matches.”
MATTHEW LLOYD
13 games
“No one has kicked as many goals as Matthew Lloyd on Anzac Day. He worked so well with Scotty Lucas.”
BLAKE CARACELLA
7 games
“I call him ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’. I still can’t find him, even though we know he is at Richmond. He is like smoke, drifting around the place.”
PADDY RYDER
8 games; 2009 Anzac Medal
“We’ve seen the rise of the dominant tall Aboriginal players in the last decade. We used to marvel at the Krakouer brothers and Barry Cable, and the smaller players. Now we’re seeing guys like Buddy Franklin and Paddy Ryder make their mark.”
JOBE WATSON
11 games
“He picks himself. He has won best and fairests, and always played well on Anzac Day, in particular in the middle of his career. Outstanding.”
SEAN DENHAM
3 games
“Couldn’t help myself picking Sean Denham. I needed a hard-nosed, shutdown player. He had a nose fashioned by Greg Williams, because the two of them punched each other up so much. I love the competitiveness of this bloke.”
JOE DANIHER
5 games; 2017 Anzac Medal
“He gives me a spare ruckman when Ryder needs a rest, and can play forward when we need him to. I’m hoping to test the Pies with our height.”
PAUL BARNARD
5 games
“Tough player who could play a number of different roles. Kicked four goals in a Grand Final (2000) when coming off the bench.”
BRENT STANTON
12 games
“Has a very good Anzac record. Will give us plenty of run off the bench.”
MARK MCVEIGH
8 games
“Another handy bloke to have coming off the interchange. Good competitive player.”
MARK JOHNSON
7 games
ADAM MCPHEE
7 games
CHE COCKATOO-COLLINS
4 games
“I’ve got two blokes who won best-and-fairests on the bench and another who I threw in because his early Anzac performances, including three goals in the first game.”
MALTHOUSE SAYS …
CHRIS TARRANT
7 Anzac Day games; 2001 Anzac Medal
“A multi-talented player who was devastatingly quick, agile, and could play at either end of the ground. A ripping bloke.”
SIMON PRESTIGIACOMO
9 games
“Mr Reliable. There was nothing you couldn’t ask Presti to do that he wouldn’t try.”
BEN JOHNSON
10 games; 2006 Anzac Medal
“Daring, loveable and tenacious. He grew up as a Collingwood supporter, so he bled black and white.”
HEATH SHAW
6 games; 2007 Anzac Medal
“He has a great family history at Collingwood. Wore his heart on his sleeve, had fantastic speed and was rarely beaten. Would argue with anyone, and that was part of it all.”
JAMES CLEMENT
7 games
“Super professional. A delight to coach.”
SCOTT BURNS
10 games
“Tough, unrelenting, witty and summed up the game better than most.”
STEELE SIDEBOTTOM
9 games; 2016 Anzac Medal
“Just a natural everyday footballer who is team-orientated and has wonderful skills. He’s a quiet lad, but who could be the life of the party.”
DANE SWAN
11 games; 2012, ’14 Anzac Medals
“A very hard and a very proud player. He wanted to be the best.”
SCOTT PENDLEBURY
13 games; 2010-11, 2019 Anzac Medals
“Very similar traits to Jimmy Clement — highly professional, and understands the game as well as anyone I know. Just slows the game down.”
ALAN DIDAK
9 games
“No matter what target you would put in front of him, he would attempt it. Brilliant and daring.”
ANTHONY ROCCA
10 games
“The heart and soul of any Collingwood side I have coached. Not only a magnificent person, but the most highly-regarded player in our football club.”
ADAM TRELOAR
4 games; 2018 Anzac Medal
“A ball accumulator and a great finisher. Has already compiled a very Anzac Day record.”
PAUL WILLIAMS
5 games
“I coached him and coached against him. He had speed, finishing power, and was physically very strong for his size.”
SAVERIO ROCCA
6 games; 1995, ’98 Anzac Medals (retrospective)
“An outstanding goalkicker. Just one of the most accurate kicks I have seen. You wanted the ball in his hands.”
LEON DAVIS
9 games
“An All-Australian at both ends. ‘Neon Leon’ was highly skilful and had great pride in his performance.”
DARREN JOLLY
3 games
“It was a toss up between Jolly and Monkhorst, but I didn’t coach ‘Monky’, so I went for Darren. It’s good to gave to two powerful ruckmen in the team. Jolly fancied himself to be able to finish offensively.”
NATHAN BUCKLEY
9 games
“Brilliant. He had outstanding kicking power, was a ball accumulator and was very tough. Took a lot of tags and never complained about them. Got on with the job.”
PAUL LICURIA
7 games
“One of the most likeable blokes you would ever meet. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde, ‘Lica’ was the nicest bloke off the field but he would try to rip an opponent in half if he had the opportunity.”
SHANE O’BREE
9 games
“Totally underrated accumulator. He was a tough player and was very reliable.”
MARK McGOUGH
3 games; 2002 Anzac Medal
“Tailor-made for a wet Anzac Day … he didn’t have leg speed but used his hands very well. As good as he was that year he won the medal (2002), I reckon he got it because of the Anzac spirit … Scott Burns was the best man on the ground.”
TRAVIS CLOKE
11 games
“Another heart and soul player. Trav had great stamina. He had trouble with his left foot early on. Was a great competitor.”
DAMIAN MONKHORST
4 games; 1997 Anzac Medal (restrospective)
“He would be a great back-up for Jolly in the ruck. Very good player.”
TARKYN LOCKYER
8 games
DALE THOMAS
7 games
GAVIN BROWN
5 games
“These three players would normally get a game in a best Pies’ side, and they are very unlucky to miss out on this best Anzac team.”
MACCA’S BEST
JAMES HIRD
Kevin Sheedy once said it seemed as though James Hird had a computer chip fitted into his memory serving as a constant reminder he had to play well on Anzac Day every year.
Hird never let his coach down.
“There was one thing I was alway sure of when I coached Essendon in Anzac Day games,” Sheedy would recall.
“James Hird would turn up and own it.”
Of all the players to have represented Essendon and Collingwood in the 24 Anzac Day games since 1995, no one has come close to the dominance Hird displayed in his 10 matches on the most sacred day on the Australian sporting calendar.
So much so that he was dubbed “Mr Anzac Day” for his unrivalled dominance.
He won three Anzac Medals (2000, 2003, 2004) and was narrowly pipped by teammate Andrew Lovett for the 2005 Medal, despite winning the three Brownlow votes from the game.
He was in the Bombers’ best players in all but one of his 10 Anzac games (missing in 1995).
Hird revealed on Triple M before the 2019 Anzac Day game the desire he had to honour his family’s war service by performing to the best of his ability on Anzac Day.
“My grandfather fought in the Second World War in Papua New Guinea, and my uncle on my father’s side was a fighter pilot for the RAF,” Hird said.
“He got shot down over France and spent a couple of years in a concentration camp in Germany.”
“I would always listen to the stories about the war from my relatives.
“Then our daughter (Stephanie) was born on Anzac Day in 1999. During that year, I hadn’t played a lot of football.
“Anzac Day 2000 was like the day my body came back together again.”
SCOTT PENDLEBURY
While James Hird was head and shoulders above the rest as Essendon’s best player in Anzac Day games, finding Collingwood’s equivalent is a far more subjective choice.
Was it Nathan Buckley, who despite not winning an Anzac Medal, rarely failed to deliver on the day? Or Dane Swan, who savoured the big moments/big games even if he liked to pretend that he didn’t, winning two Anzac Medals in 2012 and 2014, and coming close in 2009?
Or even Sav Rocca, who was awarded two retrospective Anzac Medals, including one for his remarkable nine-goal haul in the inaugural game?
But for sheer consistency of performance — and individual impact — that best Magpies’ player across all the Anzac games since 1995 has to go to Scott Pendlebury, who has the chance to chase more glory this year.
Pendlebury has won three Anzac Medals (2010, 2011 and 2019) and has the most Brownlow Medal votes (15) from Essendon-Collingwood April 25 games.
He once said he learnt a great lesson from his first Anzac game in 2007, when the big stage and the momentous occasion got to him.
“The first one, I just remember being so nervous,” he once recalled.
“Each year, you sort of get a little bit more composed. You still get the butterflies in your stomach with the ceremony that happens before the game.”
As he prepares to play his 13th Anzac Day match, Pendlebury holds the record for the most disposals from Collingwood-Essendon Anzac games — a total of 352 (averaging 29.33).
Malthouse said of Pendlebury after his 2011 Anzac Medal win: “No accidents happen for Scott Pendlebury.”
Originally published as Coaching greats Kevin Sheedy and Mick Malthouse select their best Anzac Day teams
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