They say we should use this time to learn something new – so we thought we’d offer up a history lesson free of charge!
We’re going to be recapping all the important sporting moments each and every day as we look to fill the void our beloved sports and teams have left behind.
So if it’s AFL, NRL, Basketball, Cricket, Golf or even Wrestling, be sure to return each and every morning as we take a trip back through the history books to relive some of sports‘ greatest moments.
2009 – The First Storm v Warriors ANZAC Clash
While the Essendon v Collingwood in the AFL and The Roosters v St George clash in Sydney is always great, the Melbourne Storm’s off-broadway offering against the New Zealand Warriors has turned into a must-see offering since their first encounter 11 years ago.
Like the first Dons v Pies clash in 1995, the first Storm v Warriors clash resulted in a draw at the old Olympic Park.
Heading into the game, Storm and the Warriors sat seventh and eighth on the NRL ladder and desperately needed the win to stay in the hunt.
In the pouring rain, 15,000 were on hand to witness an all-time classic.
Brett Finch made a name for himself in one of his early games for the Storm playing at five-eighth, and Melbourne was able to push out to a 14-6 advantage at the main break.
The Warriors came to play after half-time and at the final siren, the game was tied 14-14.
Golden point extra time was in play and it looked like Warriors fullback Lance Hohaia broke the deadlock with a minute left on the clock, until the video referee disallowed the field goal due to a knock-on from Melbourne’s Stacey Jones.
Time was up in Golden Point, and the match was a tie.
Melbourne Storm’s Adam Blair received the first spirit of Anzac Medal named best on ground.
One year later, Storm would thrash the Warriors 44-6 on ANZAC day, just three days after the club was stripped of their premierships and points for breaching the salary cap.
1960 – 1994: ANZAC Day Footy Wasn’t Just Collingwood v Essendon
While it’s easy to think the famous Essendon v Collingwood drawn game was the first time footy was played on ANZAC Day, it actually happened some 35 years beforehand.
It was Round 2, 1960 when the VFL was permitted to stage senior matches only on ANZAC Day.
Prior to that, had ANZAC Day fallen on a Saturday no footy would be played on that day resulting in a bye for every club as was the case in the previous year, 1959.
Two games were scheduled on April 25, 1960.
At Brunswick Street Oval, 39,927 were on hand to see Collingwood beat Fitzroy by 55 points.
The other was at Windy Hill when the Bombers got the job done over the Hawks with a 27 point win in front of 23,000.
Various formats including State Games, double headers and some big crowds in the 1970s occurred on ANZAC day when 77.000 fans turned up to VFL Park for a Carlton-Essendon match and in 1977 a bumper crowd of 92,436 showed up to the MCG for the Richmond v Collingwood match.
On ANZAC Day 1986, the VFL staged its one and only doubleheader at the MCG.
Melbourne played Sydney in the afternoon followed by North Melbourne and Geelong that night, with half an hour between games.
Only 40,117 showed up and logistical problems resulting in the League never staging double-header event since.
It was common prior to 1995 for the League to fixture a couple of matches on ANZAC Day.
The last ANZAC Day before the Collingwood v Essendon era began was in 1994 when St Kilda and Richmond faced each other at Waverley Park.
It was the only game scheduled for the day.
The Football Record for the round only featured an honour roll of football players that had made the ultimate sacrifice and a minutes silence was to be observed only at the Saints v Tigers match.
As for the game, the Tigers cruised to a 44 point win over the Saints with the now CEO of the Richmond Football Club Brendon Gale kicking two goals-seven behinds and Scott Turner kicked four for the yellow and black in front of a crowd of 37,870.