AFL Fixture 2015: Richmond and Melbourne to clash in Anzac Eve showdown

RICHMOND and Melbourne will host an Anzac Day eve clash at the MCG the night before the traditional Collingwood-Essendon blockbuster.

Round 9: Richmond v Melbourne MCG. May 17th 2014. Picture : Colleen Petch

RICHMOND and Melbourne will host an Anzac Day eve clash at the MCG the night before the traditional Collingwood-Essendon blockbuster.

The AFL approved a bid by the Tigers and Demons to stage their own tribute match to the Diggers on April 24.

The Friday night game, which has the backing of the RSL, will kick off Round 4.

Asked if the game would become an annual event, AFL scheduling boss Simon Lethlean said: “We’ve had that request for a number of years now and it has been hard to do because of Anzac Day falling on a Thursday and Friday.

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“We will take it a year at a time as Anzac Day moves through those schedules. Hopefully the crowds will come this year.”

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire this year likened the plan to “having Christmas twice” and said footy’s Anzac Day calendar was “oversubscribed already”.

But the league has effectively given the Tigers and Demons one year to prove the concept can work.

Jack Viney’s Melbourne will take on Richmond on Anzac Eve 2015. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said: “We think there’s an opportunity to complement the story.

“Both clubs have a great history of great war time heritage and it just so happens the schedule works this year and it happens to be on a Friday night.

“The AFL have given us no guarantees into the future but we’ve got 2015 and we’ll see what we can do with it. We’re very proud to be playing Melbourne in the lead-up to such an auspicious occasion.”

Five games will be held on Anzac Day next year, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.

The Saturday action kicks off at 11.10am in Wellington when the St Kilda takes on Carlton.

The Pies and Bombers clash at the MCG at 2.40pm, Gold Coast plays GWS in Canberra at 5.40pm, Port Adelaide host Hawthorn at 7.40pm and Fremantle meets Sydney at 8.40pm.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he believed the five games would enhance — not hinder — the Anzac Day experience.

“It’s the biggest thing we have in our game, so we would never do anything that we thought was hijacking it or downplaying it,” McLachlan said.

“We have to get nine games away that weekend. Simon (Lethlean) has met with the RSL on many different occasions — we have consulted widely.

“This is because it is on Saturday, no other reason.”

Richmond and Melbourne have been pushing hard for an annual Anzac Day eve match.

The two sides met in their only Grand Final meeting in 1940 during World War II.

The winning Demons side contained four players subsequently killed in action — Ron Barassi Sr, Keith Truscott, Syd Anderson and Harold Ball — along with Dick Hingston, who survived.

Six members of the Richmond team also served — Ian Hull, Kevin O’Neill, Jack Cotter, Jack Quinn, Laird Smith and Jack Crane.

Richmond’s Punt Rd Oval became Melbourne’s home ground during World War II as the MCG was occupied by the armed forces.

In 1965 the clubs became the MCG’s original cotenants.

Originally published as AFL Fixture 2015: Richmond and Melbourne to clash in Anzac Eve showdown