Queen's Birthday clash

The Queen's Birthday clash is an annual Australian rules football match between the Melbourne Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the Queen's Birthday public holiday in Victoria (the second Monday in June).

History

Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday holiday since the first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.^[1]

The rivalry between Collingwood and Melbourne goes back many years. In 1958 a record non-finals crowd of 99,256 saw a top of the table clash between the two teams.^[2]

Since 2001, the AFL has only scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the MCG on the public holiday. The round in which the game is played is sometimes referred to as the "Queen's Birthday Round", although this is somewhat misleading as Queensland and Western Australia do not celebrate a public holiday on that date.

Introduced in 2015, the player adjudged best-afield is awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.^[3]

Benefits

As Collingwood has one of the largest supporter bases in Victoria, the opportunity to host them on a public holiday is seen as a major financial benefit to Melbourne.^[4] It had previously been suggested that other teams such as North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs should share the clash.^[5] In 2008 the AFL threatened to change the fixture to another club if the attendances did not remain above 60,000.^[6]

Match results

This table lists all Queen's Birthday matches since it became an annual fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood in 2001.

* Capacity reduced due to redevelopment at the MCG
¹2001–2014: three Brownlow votes, 2015–present: Neale Daniher trophy
²Player also received three Brownlow votes

Big Freeze at the 'G

In 2014, former Melbourne coach for ten years (1998–2007) Neale Daniher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.^[7] The Big Freeze at the G is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event at the MCG partner with the AFL's "Queen's Birthday Clash" match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", several well known football and television personalities get dunked into a giant ice pool before the start of the game. Such personalities usually pledge to raise $10,000 for vital MND research after being nominated, and once successful at hitting this target, they then get to pass on the challenge and nominate the next personality into the “cold seat”. This person in turn will raise funds and agree to “Freeze for MND” if their fundraising goal is met. The challenge will continue right up until the game, with each celebrity challenging the next.^[8][9]

Big Freeze 2015

Over $2.2 million was raised.^[10]

• Tim Watson, former Essendon champion, AFL commentator for the Seven Network.
• Sam Lane, Australian journalist, television and radio personality, AFL commentator for ABC Radio Grandstand.
• Ross Stevenson, radio personality, AFL commentator for 3AW.
• Dermott Brereton, former Hawthorn champion, television and radio personality, AFL commentator for Fox Footy and SEN 1116.
• Sam Newman, former Geelong champion, TV and radio personality, host of The Footy Show.
• Brian Taylor, former Collingwood champion, TV and radio personality, AFL commentator for the Seven Network and Triple M radio.
• Garry Lyon, former Melbourne champion, TV and radio personality, host of The Footy Show.
• Mick Molloy, comedian, TV and radio personality for Triple M.
• Mark Robinson, Australian journalist, television and newspaper personality, host of AFL 360.
• Bryan 'Strauchanie' Strauchan, fictional comedic character created by Peter Helliar, played six games for Victoria, TV and radio personality.

Big Freeze 2016

Over $4 million was raised.^[11]

• Matthew Richardson, former Richmond champion, AFL commentator for the Seven Network.
• Matthew Lloyd, former Essendon champion, AFL commentator for 3AW radio.
• Kevin Sheedy, legendary AFL player and coach, AFL commentator and media personality.
• Eddie McGuire, President of Collingwood, AFL commentator for Fox Footy and Triple M radio.
• David Koch, President of Port Adelaide, host of Sunrise.
• Samantha Armytage, Australian journalist, host of Sunrise.
• Jonathan Brown, former Brisbane Lions champion, TV and radio personality, Fox Footy and Nova 100.
• Anthony Lehmann, comedian, TV and radio personality, Network Ten and Gold 104.3.
• Cameron Ling, former Geelong champion, AFL commentator for the Seven Network.
• Gerard Whateley, Sports commentator, ABC journalist, host of AFL 360.
• Dave Hughes, comedian, TV and radio personality, recurring panellist on The Footy Show.

Trivia

• The largest crowd was 78,773 in 2006. The lowest crowd was 50,853 in 2013.
• The biggest winning margin is held by Collingwood who had an 88-point victory in 2011. Melbourne's biggest winning margin of 47 was achieved in 2006.
• The 2010 match was the first Queen's Birthday clash to result in a draw and their first since 1957.
• The highest score was 141 points, by Melbourne in 2006. The lowest score by a team was 28 points, also by Melbourne in 2014. Collingwood's scores in these categories were 134 and 58 in 2001 and 2016, respectively.
• The most goals kicked by a Melbourne player in a single match is seven, which was achieved by Russell Robertson in 2007.
• The most goals kicked by a Collingwood player in a single match is also seven, which was achieved by Chris Tarrant in 2002 and Travis Cloke in 2015.
• The youngest player to play in the game is Mark McGough of Collingwood who was 17 years and 353 days old (2002).
• The oldest player to play in the game is Nathan Buckley of Collingwood who was 33 years and 321 days old (2006).
• Six players have made their debut in a Queen's Birthday Holiday match;
  • Danny Stanley of Collingwood in 2007.
  • Jack Watts of Melbourne in 2009.
  • Alex Fasolo of Collingwood in 2011.
  • Adam Oxley of Collingwood in 2013.
  • Tom Phillips of Collingwood in 2016.
  • Callum Brown of Collingwood in 2017.
• Seven players have represented both teams in a Queen's Birthday Clash game.
  • Shane Woewodin (1999–2002 with Melbourne and 2003–2005 with Collingwood).
  • Darren Jolly (2002 with Melbourne and 2010 with Collingwood).
  • Chris Dawes (2011–2012 with Collingwood and 2013–2014, 2016 with Melbourne).
  • Heritier Lumumba (2007–2014 with Collingwood and 2015 with Melbourne; 2007–2013 as Harry O'Brien).
  • Ben Kennedy (2013 & 2015 with Collingwood and 2016 with Melbourne)
  • Jeremy Howe (2011–15 with Melbourne and 2016–17 with Collingwood)
  • Lynden Dunn (2006–15 with Melbourne and 2017 with Collingwood)
• Mark Neeld represented both sides in a coaching capacity at Collingwood (2008–11 as an assistant coach) and Melbourne (2012–2013 as head coach).^[12] The 2013 Queen's Birthday clash was Neeld's final match as Melbourne head coach; he was sacked a week after the match.^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen's Birthday clash.

• Queen's Birthday clash on AFL Tables.

Coordinates: 37°49′12″S 144°59′00″E / 37.82000°S 144.98333°E / -37.82000; 144.98333