Kevin Sheedy urges Australians to embrace Anzac Day spirit — with or without football
Founding father Kevin Sheedy hasn't missed an Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon since its inception in 1995. Here’s how the AFL great will spend April 25 and his message for football fans.
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Anzac Day footy’s founding father Kevin Sheedy has urged footy fans not to forget the day’s ideals despite the first season without Anzac Day football since 1995.
Sheedy’s determination to play football on Anzac Day has reinvigorated one of footy’s rivalries but more importantly has helped commemorate a day when Australia pays tribute to its fallen soldiers.
Former Essendon coach Sheedy has been to every one of the 25 contests, still adamant his favourite moment is Nathan Buckley’s decision to pass to Sav Rocca instead of kicking at goal in the dying seconds.
It meant the first Anzac Day clash in its current incarnation was a draw, setting the scene for 25 years where football has helped heighten the memory of those to fall in battle.
Sheedy will spend Saturday at his home in Park Orchards instead of at a heaving MCG, determined to ensure the day is more than a chance to play the most cherished home-and-away game on the AFL calendar.
“There is always Anzac Day. It’s how you think about the day and how you personally want to remember it,” he told the Herald Sun.
“There might not be a game on Anzac Day but Anzac Day matches are only the entertainment. There is always Anzac Day. Always remember that. We don’t have to have a game to celebrate it, we only have to remember the many wonderful men and women that never come home.
“We also need to remember the ones that did and the ones who are often forgotten, the many men and women of our defence forces who have been to war zones since, because many don’t get the credit and are still suffering some grave mental unhappiness.”
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Melbourne was set to host Richmond in the now-traditional clash on the eve of Anzac Day on Friday before four games on Saturday including a twilight Collingwood-Essendon clash.
Sheedy was in charge of the Bombers for 13 Anzac Day concepts after convincing the RSL that playing footy after the dawn service on a sacred day could heighten the significant of the day instead of detract from it.
“I will get my Victoria Cross book out (on Saturday). I have written a few things about who did what and when in the wars. There was so much courage from men and women in war zones and so people can remember them in their own way. We aren’t robots. If you are a Melbourne fan you could commemorate Ron Barassi’s father who was killed at war.”
Barassi Sr was killed in Tobruk in 1941, the first VFL footballer to lose his life in World War II while part of Australia’s campaign in Northern Africa.
Australians have been called upon to stand in their driveways or living rooms at 6am on Anzac Day as the RSL streams a brief Anzac Day service, with no mass gatherings under the coronavirus regulations.
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