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Every April 25, something remarkable happens at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The gates open early. The scarves come out in red and black, black and white. And 90,000-plus people settle in for a football match that, year after year, somehow manages to live up to its own mythology.
The ANZAC Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood is more than a round-six fixture. It is a ritual — a piece of the calendar that carries the weight of history, remembrance, and genuine sporting drama all at once. And remarkably, it started with a phone call and a bold idea from one of football's great visionaries.
How It All Began
Before 1995, ANZAC Day and football had no formal connection. The day was observed solemnly, but the nation's game stood apart from it. That changed when Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy — a man never short of a big idea — took the concept directly to the RSL. Sheedy's vision was straightforward: bring football and remembrance together in a way that honoured veterans without diminishing either. He worked with the AFL and Collingwood to give it shape.
The result was a fixture that would be played every ANZAC Day, with pre-match ceremonies befitting the occasion, and eventually the introduction of the ANZAC Day Medal — awarded to the best player on the ground — to give the match its own sense of legacy and honour. What Sheedy sparked has since grown into the highest-attended regular-season game in Australian football, and one of the most anticipated days on the sporting calendar.
Here is a look back at the matches that have defined it.
The Key Matches
Sav Rocca, James Hird, and a Result That Felt Exactly Right
No one quite knew what to expect from the first ANZAC Day match. What they got was 94,825 people packed into the MCG — well above any anticipated attendance — and a game that validated everything Sheedy had imagined.
Saverio Rocca was almost unstoppable, finishing with nine goals and giving the Pies the ascendancy for much of the afternoon. The Bombers trailed by 14 points heading into the final term, and the contest appeared to be slipping away. Then James Hird kicked a late goal to bring Essendon back within reach, setting up a frenetic finish.
With the Pies needing one last score to win, Nathan Buckley passed to Wayne "Bucks" Carey — no, wait, that was another era. The chance came, the shot was not launched, and the game ended in a draw.
In hindsight, it was a fitting result. A scoreline that said: this belongs to everyone. The concept had worked beyond all expectations on the very first try.
Hird Announces His Return on the Biggest Stage
By the year 2000, ANZAC Day had form teams in spades. Essendon were the dominant side of the competition; Collingwood were playing well enough to challenge anyone. From the first bounce, it had the feel of a genuine all-time classic in the making.
Nathan Buckley was exceptional through the middle for the Pies, making it clear this Essendon outfit would have to fight every inch for it. But Scott Lucas, returning from a long spell on the sidelines, delivered when it mattered most — six goals in a performance that reminded everyone of his quality.
Then there was Hird. A late surge from Essendon ultimately took the game away from Collingwood, and the architect of it was their captain. Hird was brilliant, announcing himself back to his very best when it counted. He claimed the ANZAC Day Medal — the first of what would become a remarkable personal collection on this ground and this occasion.
A Teenage Unknown Plays Like a Veteran in the Pouring Rain
The 2002 clash is remembered as the wettest ANZAC Day on record at the MCG. The conditions were treacherous, the footy slippery, and the match an attritional grind that rewarded the sides prepared to play ugly football.
Essendon were still a powerhouse outfit, but the Magpies refused to be intimidated. And into the spotlight stepped one Mark McGough — a name that would not ring immediately familiar to the casual fan, but one that belonged on this occasion. McGough was young, relatively unheralded, and completely unfazed by the magnitude of the moment or the weight of the rain. He played with remarkable composure and an evident comfort on wet tracks, and on a day when experience might have been expected to win out, the youngster was the best player on the ground.
He claimed the ANZAC Day Medal. History remembered him for it.
The Captain Steps Up, Again
Limited crowds attended the 2003 clash due to construction at the MCG, but those who were there witnessed James Hird at perhaps the absolute apex of his ANZAC Day powers. The game was expected to be tight — the Pies were in the middle of a successful period — and it largely delivered on that promise, trading blows for three quarters.
Then Hird took over. Five goals for the day, with three coming in the final term, was the kind of performance that separates ordinary great players from legends. When Collingwood came back into the contest in the third quarter, threatening to wrest momentum away for good, it was Hird who settled matters.
Intercepting a clearing kick from Shane O'Bree in the final minutes of the third quarter, Hird steadied, took his time and rammed it through from just inside the 50-metre arc. The Bombers never looked back.
His game-breaking goal in the dying stages of the third term turned the contest irreversibly in Essendon's favour. The captain had made the MCG his personal stage, and another ANZAC Day belonged to him.
Medhurst Makes History in Essendon's Nightmare
Not every ANZAC Day is a thriller. Some are lopsided, and the 2008 clash was the most lopsided of all. Collingwood recorded the largest winning margin in the history of the fixture, and the day belonged entirely — utterly, comprehensively — to Paul Medhurst.
Six goals. Seventeen disposals. An absolute clinic against an Essendon side that had no answer for him. Medhurst was everywhere the Bombers didn't want him, a player in the form of his life on the grandest of stages, and the ANZAC Day Medal was his by a significant distance.
It remains a result Essendon fans would rather not revisit. For Collingwood supporters, it stands as a reminder that this fixture has produced dominance as well as drama.
Zaharakis in the Rain: The Moment That Defines the Day
If you had to choose one moment that encapsulates what ANZAC Day football is — the drama, the weather, the improbability — it would be this one.
Collingwood were one of the sides to beat in 2009 and they controlled large portions of the contest. The Bombers' task became significantly harder early when David Hille went down with an ACL injury, forcing a very young Paddy Ryder into the ruck. Ryder responded with a performance no one saw coming: 16 disposals, 27 hit-outs, 13 tackles, and a goal. Remarkable for any ruckman. Extraordinary for one thrown in under those circumstances.
But still the Pies held the lead late. Then the rain came in — properly came in, as only MCG rain can. Down 14 points with less than two and a half minutes remaining, a Leroy Jetta goal gave the Bombers the faintest pulse. Ricky Dyson then threaded one from the boundary line and it was, suddenly, a football match again.
Whether it's the cry of 'Zaharakis!' from Steven Quartermain or 'It's absolutely pissing down at the 'G!' from Brian Taylor, David Zaharakis' first career goal in just his fourth game is not just a famous Anzac Day moment — it is one of the most celebrated goals in the history of the game.
Heritier Lumumba's desperate diving tackle on Jetta deep in Essendon's forward 50 looked like it had ended it for the Pies. Then David Zaharakis gathered possession, steadied in the chaos, and kicked truly. His first goal in league football. In the rain. In his fourth game. On ANZAC Day.
Some moments in sport are just perfect. This was one of them.
Swanny, Pendlebury, and Jarryd Blair's Last-Gasp Soccer
Collingwood came into 2012 fresh off consecutive Grand Final appearances and feared absolutely nobody. The Bombers had started their year strongly and the match had the makings of a genuine heavyweight contest. It delivered.
Dane Swan was, as he so often was in that era, simply outstanding. Forty-four disposals, three goals, fourteen clearances — a performance that defied conventional limits for a single player in a single game. Around him, the Collingwood midfield was operating at its formidable peak: Scott Pendlebury with 36 disposals, Dayne Beams with 34, Steele Sidebottom with 29, all fed by Darren Jolly's ruck work.
The Pies led for most of the afternoon. Then, remarkably, the Bombers surged. A barrage of Essendon pressure in the final quarter saw Brent Stanton put his side ahead with two minutes remaining. It looked like the Bombers had stolen it.
But Collingwood had one last play. The ball was launched to the goal square — and Jarryd Blair was there, composure intact, to soccer it home. One of the most memorable match-winning moments in the history of the game, sealed in the dying seconds of a classic.
Pendlebury's Leadership Settles a Classic
Both sides arrived at the MCG in Round 6 of 2019 with identical three-and-two records, and the contest was as even as that scoreline suggested. Collingwood flew out of the blocks, piling on nine scoring shots in the opening term to lead by four goals at the first break.
The Bombers responded. Three goals either side of half-time — two of them from Joe Daniher — dragged them back to within nine points at the final change. Essendon supporters, and there were plenty of them who felt the umpiring had not helped their cause, believed the comeback was on.
But Scott Pendlebury had other ideas. The Collingwood captain finished the day with 38 disposals, a performance of consistent class through the midfield alongside Brodie Grundy and Taylor Adams. When the final quarter turned into a grinding stalemate, it was Pendlebury who provided the quality that mattered. Jordan De Goey's running goal sealed a four-point victory — but it was the captain's day.
Parish Collects 42 and the Largest Post-COVID Gathering in the World Roars
The COVID-19 pandemic cast a shadow over Australian football for two years. ANZAC Day 2021 marked something of a return — this was reportedly the largest public gathering anywhere in the world since the pandemic had taken hold. The occasion carried extra weight.
Essendon entered the day having won only two of their previous ten ANZAC Day fixtures. They were determined. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti provided moments of breathtaking brilliance — he always did — but the day ultimately belonged to Darcy Parish, who collected 42 possessions and two goals in a dominant display.
A fitting result in a year that needed one. Essendon won, and the MCG came alive again.
28 Points Up at Three-Quarter Time. Then Nick Daicos Happened.
Collingwood were on their way to a premiership in 2023. But for 75 minutes of ANZAC Day, it didn't look like it. Essendon — missing skipper Zac Merrett — built a 28-point lead heading into the final quarter in front of 95,179 fans at a heaving MCG. Kyle Langford was sensational up forward, kicking three majors, and the Bombers dared to believe they were about to write a famous chapter of their own.
Then Nick Daicos played football.
Forty touches. Two goals in the final quarter. The ability to lift an entire team on his back at the age of 21. Daicos dragged Collingwood back from what appeared to be an impossible position, sparking a comeback that the MCG crowd will talk about for decades.
The Pies won. Daicos claimed his first ANZAC Day Medal. The Bombers were left to reflect on what might have been.
93,644 See Another Day That Couldn't Be Separated
The 30th anniversary brought another match that refused to provide a winner. 93,644 fans watched Essendon and Collingwood trade blows from first bounce to last in a contest that produced moments to savour and a finish to torment the neutral.
Zac Merrett led from the front for the Bombers all afternoon, while Nick Daicos once again found his best form on football's biggest regular-season stage. But the moment of the day came from Jamie Elliott — a towering mark over the top of Ben McKay, hauling in a grab that immediately entered the conversation for the best contested mark in recent MCG history.
The game went to the wire. Kyle Langford — who had been excellent all afternoon — had a shot in the dying seconds to win it for Essendon. It fell short. The siren sounded. Another draw.
Just like 1995. Just like the occasion itself seems to demand sometimes.
Will 2026 Deliver Again?
Thirty years in, the ANZAC Day fixture has earned a reputation that few sporting occasions in this country can match. Year after year, the match has produced something worth remembering — a goal in the rain, a captain's moment, a teenager's first career major, a 28-point comeback. The MCG reliably fills beyond 90,000. The football reliably rises to meet it.
Essendon arrive in 2026 in the middle of a rebuild, with a young list carrying genuine upside and a fanbase that believes. Collingwood, as always, enter as a side that takes every fixture seriously and understands the weight of this one as well as anyone. On paper, the Bombers face a challenge. On ANZAC Day, the ledger starts level at the first bounce.
Only one thing is certain: somewhere inside the MCG on April 25, a moment will happen that we will still be talking about in ten years. That is what this day does.
Secure your seat for Anzac Day 2026 at the MCG - Essendon v Collingwood Here.
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