Grudge Match: Collingwood vs Carlton
These two grand clubs share a history of hatred and rivalry like no others in the AFL, each relishing the other’s failures as much as their own team’s successes. It’s a rivalry as old as Australian Rules football itself and the stakes are always high.
Origins — Controversy and Contempt
Both Carlton and Collingwood were founding members of the VFL and had played previously in the VFA since Collingwood formed in 1892. The teams proved to be amongst the strongest in the VFL in the early days and hence a natural rivalry was forming at this competitive level. Additionally, supporters from each club hated what the other stood for. Blue Baggers saw the Magpie army as from a poor area of Melbourne, who recruited only Catholics for many years. Whereas Collingwood saw Carlton as a secular, rich club that represented the elite of the city. Collingwood looked upon Princes Park as a place of privilege where the fans grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth, compared to Carlton seeing Victoria Park as a place of ignorance and bigotry. These views were both probably incorrect, with both Carlton and Collingwood being working class suburbs at the time, nevertheless it fostered a hostile relationship between the two sides.
The Talking Points
1910 Grand Final
The early success from the two clubs manifested itself in the first Grand Final encounter between the two teams in 1910. Carlton had played in the previous four Grand Finals, winning three in a row from 07–09 and was a powerhouse at the time. The match was marked by a brawl involving at least thirty players and officials from both sides. Collingwood would win their first Grand Final encounter by 14 points. Following the brawl, in striking similarities to modern football, the VFL tribunal laid down a very controversial verdict, which would go a long way to forging the continued hatred between the two clubs. Two players from each team were suspended for 12 months and for 18 months due to their actions in the brawl. However, Collingwood appealed the decision with a written declaration from another player (Richard Daykin) claiming that it was he who was involved in the brawl, not suspended star player Tom Baxter. Despite the umpire claiming the player involved had dark hair, not Daykin’s bright red, the VFL agreed with Collingwood’s appeal and removed Baxter’s suspension. To rub salt into the wounds of aggrieved Carlton players and supporters, Daykin announced his retirement from the game almost immediately following the decision, meaning that Carlton would be without two star players for the next 12 months, whereas Collingwood would only be without one. This was a decision that Carlton vowed to avenge. Ever since, Collingwood and Carlton matches have carried extra spite and meant more to both teams with the ‘spirit of the game’ often being disregarded.
1915 Grand Final
The two teams were locked in a fierce rivalry from 1910, ten of their next fifteen matches were decided by 15 points or less. This culminated in the 1915 Grand Final between the two teams, which was again marked by controversy and scandal. Two star Collingwood players were sent on a ten-mile march by their commander at Broadmeadows army camp on the morning of the match, making them late and tired for the match. The commander was rumoured to be a passionate Carlton supporter but this was never confirmed. Carlton wound up winners by 33 points to avenge the 1910 defeat.
1938 Grand Final
The 23 years between Grand Final match-ups were marked with a period of unprecedented dominance by Collingwood — they won 7 premierships, including four in a row. Carlton, however, had not won a premiership since 1915 and, as would be the case in years to come; their slump coincided with Collingwood’s success. The teams played in front of a record crowd of 96,486 — a number that wouldn’t be bested until the 1956 Grand Final. In a similar incident to the prelude to the 1915 Grand Final, Carlton captain/coach Brighton Diggins was rostered to clean barrels at the Carlton brewery on the morning of the game and hence was late to the match. Coincidentally or not, Collingwood coach Jock McHale was foreman at the same brewery. In spite of this, Carlton ran out winners by 15 points and the success led to a golden period for Carlton, winning three flags in ten years, in direct contrast to Collingwood’s lack of success for the next 15 years.
Jock McHale
Few people have the impact on a club that McHale had on Collingwood — he coached a remarkable 8 premierships from 16 Grand Finals over his career from 1912 to 1949. He was so entwined with the club, that when the Pies won the 1953 premiership, he was overcome with emotion and had a heart attack the following day, dying within the week. McHale was famous in his hatred for Carlton and is often regarded as the man responsible for Collingwood’s passionate loathing of the navy Blues. Amongst a number of incidents, he was renowned for ordering the hot water to be turned off in the visitors change rooms whenever Carlton played at Victoria Park. He would also never invite Carlton players into the rooms after the match for a drink, despite this being the norm at every other club.
The Bloodbath
As would set the tone for years to come, one team’s success led to the other’s demise. Collingwood had a relatively unsuccessful couple of decades following Carlton’s premiership, with the club having a 17-year hiatus from premiership success. This span included the 1945 finals series — mostly remembered nowadays as the stage of the infamous ‘Bloodbath’ Grand Final between Carlton and South Melbourne in which 10 players were reported. However, less commonly remembered is the preliminary final played between Collingwood and Carlton the week before the Bloodbath. This is regarded by many contemporaries as even more ferocious and spiteful than the game next week. Typifying the spirit the game was played in, Carlton enforcer Bob Chitty played on despite losing a part of his middle finger at work in a munitions factory the previous day, as well as breaking a bone in his foot whilst kicking someone during the match. He would also go on to play in the winning Grand Final next week after which he was suspended for 8 matches.
The Birth of the Colliwobbles and a Golden Era for Carlton
1970 Grand Final
If one match encapsulates the Carlton-Collingwood rivalry, then it has to be the 1970 Grand Final, a match that will always be regarded as one of the most epic in the AFL/VFL history. Similarly to the gap between 1915 and 1938, the 21-year period from 1947 to 1968 was marked by Collingwood success, playing in 8 Grand Finals, compared to a lull from Carlton, playing in only one. The hatred between the two clubs was still high, but would only grow after this match and the following decades. Fuelling Carlton’s hatred of Collingwood was head coach Ron Barrassi, who was recruited from Melbourne. He bore a special disgust of Collingwood due to their Grand Final defeat in 1958, which robbed Melbourne of equaling the four premierships in a row record set by Collingwood. So in 1970, there was great anticipation as these two successful clubs came together for their first Grand Final since 1938. Collingwood went into the match as favourites — they finished top of the ladder and had beaten Carlton three times during the season, including the semi final only two weeks earlier. This favouritism appeared to be justified as Collingwood went into half time with a 44 point lead, with Carlton’s only highlight being Alex Jesaulenko’s memorable mark, you beauty. The second half was marked by a change of tactic from Barrassi, he instructed his players to play on whenever they could with a quick, handball heavy play, revolutionary tactics at the time. This led to a remarkable turnaround — Carlton kicking 13 goals to Collingwood’s 4 in the second half, turning the 44 point deficit to a 10 point lead by the end of the game — still the biggest comeback from half-time in Grand Final history. This game led to the nickname the ‘Colliwobbles’ — Collingwood had now lost their last four Grand Finals in the space of 11 years and losing this one from a seemingly unlosable position made the nickname stick. The game was played in front of what remains a record crowd for any sporting event in Australia of 121,696. This match further represented the link between the two teams — Carlton went on to have the most successful era in its history whilst Collingwood went through its darkest chapter — losing four more Grand Finals before finally winning in 1990.
1979 Grand Final
The curse of the Colliwobbles continued in 1979 in another famous Grand Final. Carlton again defeated the Pies, in a match remembered for the famous Wayne Harmes slide and tap back that led to the matchwinning goal for the Blues. Collingwood fans are still ardent that the ball was out of bounds, which only delights Blue-Baggers even more. The pleasure Carlton fans took in defeating their rivals in such a manner was summed up by their president George Harris after the match, with this poignant quote: “What’s better than beating Collingwood by ten goals? Beating them by five points.”
1981 Grand Final
In another heartbreaking loss for Collingwood and awe-inspiring win for Carlton, the Pies succumbed to their third successive Grand Final loss and 4th in five years. Collingwood again lived up to their nickname, leading by 21 points late in the third quarter before Carlton stormed home, kicking the last six goals of the game to win by 21 points. The win meant that Carlton drew level with Collingwood with the most premierships in VFL history at 13, despite Collingwood having played in 13 more Grand Finals than the Blues. Carlton would win three more premierships in the 80’s before Collingwood finally ended their curse with a win over Essendon in the 1990 Grand Final.
AFL Era — Spoons and Avoidance
The two clubs have avoided each other in finals since 1988 and both have had their ups and downs since then. Following a recurring theme, each club’s moments of glory seem to coincide with dark moments at the other club. Collingwood missed the finals for the back-end of the 90’s and won a wooden spoon in 1999 whilst Carlton won the flag in 1995 and played in another Grand Final in ‘99. Similarly, Carlton’s first wooden spoon in 2002 coincided with Collingwood’s first Grand Final appearance since 1990. The Collingwood army relished their rivals’ demise, brandishing hundreds of wooden spoons at Carlton when the Pies inflicted their biggest ever win over their rivals with a 108 point thrashing of the Blues in Round 18. The introduction of the AFL and draft system has seen both clubs at a relatively low point in their history — winning only two premierships between them in the past 25 years. However, current Collingwood President Eddie McGuire sums up the sentiments of both sets of fans with the quote: “No season is wasted if we get at least two wins — Carlton at home and Carlton away.” The link between the two teams is remarkable in that they have played in the most Grand Finals (six) and yet, their periods of dominance rarely overlap — when one team is on top, the other is usually struggling. The clubs have both been incredibly successful, and the longest period of time without either appearing in the Grand Final is 6 years, occurring from 2004 to 2009. The matches they play are still fiercely competitive and ladder position doesn’t seem to matter. Carlton’s worst period in history from 2002–12 coincided with Collingwood playing in four Grand Finals, winning one, and yet the win-loss over this time period is Carlton 9, Collingwood 13. Similarly, in the 80’s, Collingwood won 9 of the 22 matches between the sides despite Carlton winning three premierships and Collingwood none. This shows the continued irrelevance of ladder position between the two sides, and that when it comes to clashes between Carlton and Collingwood, anything can happen. The formation of the AFLW this year has added further fuel to the rivalry. Carlton’s dominant win over Collingwood in the inaugural match is sure to make Collingwood’s players even more determined to turn the tables next season and gives fans of both teams another reason to look forward to clashes between the teams.
Overall Head to Head: Carlton 126 wins, Collingwood 123 wins, 4 draws
Finals: Carlton 14 wins, Collingwood 8 wins
Grand Finals: Carlton 5 wins, Collingwood 1 win
