‘Get your foot off Carlton’s throat’: When Eddie McGuire went into bat for the Blues

2 weeks ago 6

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire lobbied the AFL to relieve sanctions against Carlton successful the aftermath of the Blues’ wage headdress ungraded aboriginal this period – for the bully of some clubs and the competition.

Heavily fined and deed with draught penalties successful precocious 2002 for under-the-table payments to a fig of stars, Carlton had won their archetypal woody spoon that twelvemonth and finished successful the bottommost fractional of the ladder successful 15 of the ensuing 20 seasons.

Former nine presidents John Elliott (Carlton) and Eddie McGuire (Collingwood) ensured the rivalry stayed strong.

One effect was to mute and dilute the Carlton-Collingwood rivalry, the oldest and fiercest successful footy. As Collingwood dominated, dependable crowds of 80,000-plus dwindled to less than 70,000, recovered and past fell distant again. Sympathy for the Blues was successful abbreviated supply.

“There were times erstwhile we had to say, overmuch arsenic we astatine Collingwood bask Carlton’s suffering connected the bottommost of the ladder, it’s astir apt costing america a cardinal bucks a twelvemonth arsenic well,” McGuire said this week.

“I said, the champion happening you tin do, astatine immoderate stage, is to get your ft disconnected Carlton’s pharynx and get them going again.

“If we tin get Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Richmond up astatine 1 time, with the interstaters, that’s going to beryllium best. The wage headdress and the draught volition marque definite that everyone rolls through, but you’ve inactive got to person the large games. As idiosyncratic who makes a surviving retired of getting shows to rate, I cognize however important large games are.”

Footy sometimes feels similar geopolitics and often reads similar fiction. At the extremity of Alistair MacLean’s 1963 caller Ice Station Zebra, it suits some sides of the Cold War for captious quality to beryllium destroyed truthful neither tin beryllium tempted to usage it successful a mode that mightiness beryllium ruinous to all. Similarly, portion Collingwood and Carlton are sworn enemies, equilibrium benefits most.

The footwear was connected the different ft erstwhile McGuire took implicit Collingwood successful 1999 and John Elliott presided implicit high-flying Carlton. Elliott was notoriously chauvinistic, but cunning. “He’d say, we’ve got to get your mob backmost up,” McGuire said. “That’s wherefore we did the New Year’s Eve crippled that year. That’s wherefore we mugged it up connected The Footy Show. We each knew however important this was.”

Carlton and Collingwood are the oldest of frenemies. They’ve played each different 264 times, much than immoderate different brace of clubs. As precocious arsenic 2002, Carlton led the head-to-head by 14, but Collingwood person won 22 of their past 26 encounters and present pb by two. The quirk is successful expansive finals, successful which the Blues prevail 5-1. But they haven’t met successful immoderate last since 1988.

High-flying guardant Craig Davis is 1 of fewer players to look for some clubs. He played successful a losing expansive last with Carlton successful his debut play successful 1973, past aft a stint astatine North Melbourne played for Collingwood successful expansive finals losses to Carlton successful 1979 and 1981. He is the lone subordinate to person topped the goal-kicking astatine some clubs.

This was astatine the zenith of the rivalry. “The happening is that each crippled was a blockbuster,” helium said this week. “If it wasn’t astatine Victoria Park oregon Princes Park, we’d person had 80,000 astatine each game.”

Davis remembers that contention betwixt fans was intense. The players felt the edge. “We ever knew erstwhile a Carlton crippled was coming up,” helium said. “It wasn’t the aged bullshit astir 1 week astatine a time. We knew 4 weeks down the way erstwhile we were playing Carlton.”

Then Pie Craig Davis flies with Carlton’s Wayne Harmes for the shot successful the 1981 expansive final.

But neither connected the tract nor disconnected did it often descend into violence. Davis said the hallmark betwixt the clubs astatine slightest was communal respect.

In 1979, Carlton bushed Collingwood successful different expansive last epic. The adjacent morning, Blues captain-coach Alex Jesaulenko rang Davis to accidental that the state vessel had tally retired astatine the squad barbecue astatine his location and asked if helium could driblet his over. “I said yes, of course,” said Davis. Two weeks later, helium and Jesaulenko drove unneurotic to Noosa for a holiday, and successful time, Jesaulenko became a godfather to Davis’s children.

Victoria Park and Princes Park were neighbourly suburban redoubts. Each nine won three-quarters of their matches astatine these fortresses, and two-thirds of matches against each other.

The dynamics changed arsenic each nine eased their mode to bigger homes, Collingwood to the MCG and Carlton to the caller Docklands stadium. Since 1993, each barroom 2 of their clashes person been astatine the MCG. It has been precise overmuch vantage Collingwood.

Midfielder Heath Scotland played successful losing Collingwood expansive finals successful 2002 and 2003 earlier leaving for much crippled clip astatine Carlton, wherever helium gave yeoman work and won a champion and fairest. His peculiar favoritism is to person played successful the last-ever crippled astatine each historical venue.

Both were funereal. Collingwood astatine Victoria Park finished with a circular 22 thrashing from Brisbane successful 1999. Carlton signed disconnected astatine Princes Park with a beating from Melbourne successful a one-off crippled successful 2005.

Eddie McGuire and John Elliott spruik the rivalry astatine a Carlton-Collingwood property league successful the aboriginal 2000s.

“We were focusing connected a crippled of footy, but I retrieve it being a truly affectional time for radical externally,” Scotland said. “It was similar a divorce. Those grounds meant truthful overmuch to a batch of people. The memories. Duffle coats, eskies, lasting connected cans. I heard a 1000 stories. I could consciousness the emotion.”

Collingwood emerged sooner from their wilderness than Carlton from theirs. Davis, by past surviving successful Sydney, ached to ticker the Blues flounder, albeit that it was self-inflicted. “The aged players felt hurt,” helium said. “Our estimation arsenic a fair, honorable pugnacious footy nine was taken down, and it took a bloody agelong clip to get it back.”

The rivalry became astir defunct. The Blues mislaid their erstwhile celebrated clout, too. McGuire said that astatine 1 point, the AFL told him they would marque Carlton deterioration an distant jumper against Collingwood. He demurred. “No, nether nary circumstances,” helium said. “They’re the navy bluish and we’re the black-and-white. They’re the lone outfits we privation to spot retired determination connected the greenish baize. That to maine is what shot looks like.”

In an ever-expanding competition, it is galore decades since footy’s aged powers were beardown contemporaneously. But Collingwood are the reigning premiers, Essendon are emerging and McGuire notes that a gathering Carlton person overmuch of their aged swagger back. Unsurprisingly, crowds and memberships are bursting astatine the seams.

Eighteen months ago, Collingwood’s last-gasp triumph successful circular 23 propelled them into the last 4 and tipped Carlton retired of the finals. It was the nearest they person played to a last successful astir 40 years. Everything aged was Blue again.

On Friday night, they spell again, these reheated acold warriors. McGuire said his puerility substance of excitement and dread astir these days had ne'er near him. “There’s thing amended successful beingness than beating Carlton,” helium said, “but there’s besides thing amended successful beingness than the feeling of going to the footy to play Carlton – and bushed them.”

For Davis and Scotland, memories volition abound. Scotland says helium is simply a Carlton man, but with a dash of Collingwood. “Some of my mates astatine Collingwood can’t basal Carlton still,” helium said.

Davis identifies mostly with Collingwood, but with nary animus. If, arsenic signifier suggests, the Blues win, helium knows his telephone volition airy up with texts from aged Carlton mates, each saying the aforesaid thing: “Dah, de dah, de dah …”

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