| Sport | Australian rules football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Inaugural season | 1996 |
| No. of teams | 2 |
| Country(ies) | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Victoria |
| Most titles | All Stars |
| TV partner(s) | Nine Network |
| Official website | www.ejwhittenlegendsgame.com.au |
The E. J. Whitten Legends Game is an annual charity Australian rules football All-star game, where retired star players are reunited, along with selected non-footballing celebrities, in a State of Origin interstate game, between Victoria and the All Stars (representing the rest of Australia).
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E. J. "Ted" Whitten, a former Footscray Football Club player who died of prostate cancer in 1995, was regarded as one of the greatest ever players of the game. He was also passionate about State of Origin football. With his enthusiasm and ability to keep in the media spotlight, Ted had kept State of Origin going for many years, and his emotional farewell at the Victoria vs South Australia game at the MCG in 1995 will long be remembered as a symbol of State of Origin passion. Shortly after his death, the concept was brought into question and the last such game was played in 1999.
When he died, his son, Ted Jnr, launched a foundation for research into prostate cancer, and the Legends Game raises money for the foundation. So far, more than $750,000 has been raised for the E. J. Whitten Foundation.
The first ever Legends Match was played at the Western Oval, home of the Footscray/Western Bulldogs, EJ Whitten's club. Most of the games have been televised free-to-air in Victoria and South Australia. Due to popularity of the event, later games were moved to bigger venues. And for the past few years the game has been held at Etihad Stadium (formerly known as Telstra Dome).
To many, the Legends Game has since then become an important substitute for official State of Origin games. More recently, the relevance of the matches has been brought to question on several occasions, along with a renewed push for an official State of Origin series (as a result of increased Australian rules football participation in New South Wales and Queensland).
| Year | Venue | Scores | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | All-Stars | Result | |||
| 1996 | Western Oval, Footscray | 10.13 (73) | 13.9 (87) | All-Stars won by 14 points | |
| 1997 | Whitten Oval, Footscray | 10.11 (71) | 7.10 (52) | Victoria won by 19 points | |
| 1998 | Whitten Oval, Footscray | 8.6 (54) | 7.10 (52) | Victoria won by 2 points | |
| 1999 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | 7.12 (54) | 8.8 (56) | All-Stars won by 2 points | |
| 2000 | Shell Stadium, Geelong | 6.2 (38) | 5.8 (38) | Draw | |
| 2001 | Optus Oval, Melbourne | 6.11 (47) | 7.5 (47) | Draw, All-Stars won goal kickoff | |
| 2002 | Optus Oval, Melbourne | 10.3 (63) | 10.8 (68) | All-Stars won by 5 points | |
| 2003 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.10.7 (76) | 3.6.12 (75) | Victoria won by 1 point | 18,611 |
| 2004 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 3.7.7 (76) | 1.12.4 (85) | All-Stars won by 9 points | 18,000 (approx.) |
| 2005 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 3.9.6 (87) | 0.10.9 (69) | Victoria won by 18 points | 13,000 (approx.) |
| 2006 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.12.7 (88) | 5.5.13 (88) | Draw, Victoria won goal kickoff (0.3.1 to 0.2.2) | 13,000 (approx.) |
| 2007 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.9.7 (70) | 0.13.7 (85) | All-Stars won by 15 points | 12,897[1] |
| 2008 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.10.9 (78) | 0.12.8 (80) | All-Stars won by 2 points | 24,452[2] |
| 2009 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.13.9 (87) | 0.11.6 (72) | Victoria won by 15 points | 20,883 |
| 2010 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.12.12 (84) | 2.11.7 (91) | All Stars won by 7 points | 25,347 |
| 2011 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 4.12.3 (111) | 2.14.7 (109) | Victoria won by 2 points | 25,086 |
Wins: All Stars 8 Victoria 7 Draws 1
Biggest Win: Victoria by 19 points in 1997
Highest Score: Victoria (111) in 2011
Lowest Score: All Stars and Victoria 38 in 2000- Draw
Most Man of the Matches: John Platten 2 (All Stars)
2005's game was notable for a sensational goal scored by former Essendon and Sydney star Derek Kickett.
Adding comedy to the event were comedians Peter Rowsthorn and Russell Gilbert, who made regular appearances in games despite their obvious lack of skill.
The 2006 event was held on June 14 at the Telstra Dome. Among the celebrity guests was Tasmanian Todd Russell, one of the miners rescued in the Beaconsfield mine collapse [1]. He did not play in the match though, because he still had injuries from the accident.
The Victorian side was coached by Danny Frawley, whilst the All-Stars were coached by Wayne Carey and guest Todd Russell.
Speckies were taken by Victoria's Dermott Brereton and All-Star Adrian Fletcher.
Dermott Brereton dished out rough play on former Hawthorn teammate John Platten, including an illegal elbow to Platten's head whilst the rover attempted to tackle and an illegal bump behind play.
A male streaker was arrested by security guards in the third quarter.
Guest appearances included comedians Peter Rowsthorn and Russell Gilbert and legendary Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League full-forward Simon Goosey.
The shootout at the end only featured 4 kickers per side, unlike the 5 stated by commentators.
2008's game was held on July 1, 2008 at the Telstra Dome. Celebrity players included radio comedy duo Hamish & Andy, with Hamish playing for the All Stars and Andy playing for Victoria. Andy managed to score 2 goals, while Hamish scored a spectacular goal, shaving the ball off the outside of his boot to trickle in for a goal. Bryan Strauchan made his second appearance for Victoria and kicked 3 goals. Underbelly star Rodger Corser made his debut for Victoria. Chris Connolly coached the Victorian team and Neale Daniher coached of the All Stars.
Darryl White, the former Brisbane defender, won the best on ground award.
| Victoria vs The All Stars | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final |
| Victoria | 0.2.3 (15) | 0.4.6 (30) | 0.7.7 (49) | 0.13.9 (87) |
| The All Stars | 0.3.2 (20) | 0.6.4 (40) | 0.10.5 (65) | 0.11.6 (72) |
| Venue: | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | |||
| Date and time: | 30 June 2009 – 7:45 pm AEST | |||
| Attendance: | 20,888 | |||
| Umpires: | Ray White | |||
| Goal scorers: | Victoria | 3: Strauchan, 2: Martyn, Murphy, Johns. 1: Lee | ||
| All Stars | 2: Blake, Modra | |||
| Best: | Victoria | Bryan Strauchan, Andy Lee, Stewart Leowe | ||
| All Stars | Hamish Blake, Phil Matera | |||
| Reports: | Nil | |||
| Injuries: | Strauchan (ankle) | |||
| Australian television broadcaster: | Nine Network | |||
| Victorian team[3] | |||
| B: | Paul Dimattina | Mick Martyn | Joel Smith |
| HB: | Ang Christou | Glenn Archer (c) | Michael Braun |
| C: | Damien Peverill | Chris Johnson | Paul Licuria |
| HF: | Andrew Thompson | Stewart Loewe | Adam Ramanauskas |
| F: | Austinn Jones | Andy Lee | Ben Dixon |
| Foll: | John Barnes | Anthony Koutoufides | Tony Liberatore |
| Int: | Damian Monkhorst | Wayne Schwass | Mark Mercuri |
| Anthony Rock | Justin Murphy | Joe Misiti | |
| Mark Graham | Bryan Strauchan | Vince Colosimo | |
| Les Hill | |||
| Coach: | Chris Connolly (Assistant coach: Andrew Bews) | ||
| Runners: | Joshua Gibson, Dr. Peter Larkins | ||
| Team manager: |
Noel Moore | ||
| The All Stars team[3] | |||
| B: | Martin Pike | Mal Michael | Paul Barnard |
| HB: | Craig McRae | Shane Wakelin | Michael McLean |
| C: | Peter Matera | Sam Gibson (c) | Mark Ricciuto |
| HF: | Richie Vandenberg | Nick Holland | Ronnie Burns |
| F: | Phil Matera | Tony Modra | Troy Luff |
| Foll: | Ben Holland | Darryl White | Brodie Holland |
| Int: | Richard Champion | Damien Oliver | Hamish Blake |
| Paul Hudson | Marcus Seecamp | Dale Kickett | |
| Shaun Smith | Scott Cummings | Blair McDonough | |
| Adrian Raftery | |||
| Coach: | Neil Balme (Assistant coaches: Terry Daniher, Mark Kleiman) | ||
| Runners: | Nathan Brown, Russell Gilbert | ||
| Team manager: |
Russell Masterton | ||
Man of the match was Sam Newman, who kicked four goals despite playing only for a quarter of the playing time. Bryan Strauchan, Damian Monkhorst, Tony Modra and jockey Craig Newitt also scored well. During the last quarter it was picked up on television Nathan Brown (a runner for the Victorian team) exchanging words to Nathan Thompson and stated that it was a "A legends game mate. You shouldn't be playing" however, nothing became of the exchange.
The game ended in controversy after Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald kicked a goal on the siren. However, Garry Lyon, the judge of the final score, deemed that the goal had been kicked after the siren had blown, and therefore was discounted. This decision was made in direct contradiction to the laws of the AFL, which state that the time from which a goal can be within match time is from the drop of the ball from the hands. Lyon said "It went through the goals after the siren", which was irrelevant. There was also much controversy about an All Stars mark directly in the goal-square that was not awarded by the umpire. After original thoughts that the All Stars had won, there was then a claim that there would be a shoot out, before finally it was announced that Victoria had won the match. The All-stars' Brodie Holland, formerly of Fremantle and Collingwood, had won Man of the Match. In the final minutes of the match, Victorian runner Shane Crawford was "substituted" on to the ground, and coach Sam Newman put 24 players on the ground, instead of the legal 18. It is speculated that the All Stars had as many as 22 players on the ground, although there was no coverage of their interchange bench, so this was not confirmed.
Victorian Team Coach: Sam "Fossil" Newman
1. Damian "Monkey" Monkhorst
2. Chris Johnson
2. Wayne Schwass
3. Nathan Burke
4. Michael Martyn
5. Rohan Smith
6. John Barnes
7. Nathan Brown
8. Lance Whitnall
9. Jess Sinclair
9. Michael "Wippa" Wipfli
9. Craig "Hutchy" Hutchison
11. Nick Sautner
11. Joel Smith
19. Ben Dixon
21. Heath Black
23. Dean Rice
23. Anthony Rocca
24. Nick Stevens
28. Paul Dimattina
31. David Mensch
35. Simon "Presti" Prestigiacomo
37. Angelo Lekkas
39. Ang Christou
39. Tony "Liba" Liberatore
43. Anthony "Kouta" Koutoufides (Captain)
44. Nigel Lappin
59. Bryan "Strachanie" Strauchan
All Stars Team Coach: Neil Balme
1. Richard Champion
2. Nick Davis
2. Nick Holland
4. Craig McRae
6. Brodie Holland
8. Nathan Bassett
8. Ronnie Burns
9. Tyson Edwards
10. Nick Daffy
11. Des Headland
12. Jason "Aker" Akermanis
13. Martin Pike
15. Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald
15. Mal Michael
16. Paul Barnard
16. Warren Tredrea
18. Wayne "The Duck" Carey (Captain)
19. Michael O'Loughlin
21. Richie Vandenberg
24. Russell Robertson
28. Jared Crouch
29. Shaun Smith
33. Paul Hudson
33. Phil Matera
34. Troy Luff
36. Simon Goodwin