E. J. Whitten Legends Game
Sport | Australian rules football |
---|---|
Type | Charity event |
First meeting | 1996 |
Latest meeting | 2019 |
Broadcasters | Footy on Nine (2021–present) |
Stadiums | Docklands Stadium (2003–2017) Adelaide Oval (2018) AAMI Park (2019) |
Statistics | |
Most wins | Victoria (12) |
Largest victory | All Stars – 24 points (2015) |
Largest goal scoring | Victoria, All Stars – 275 points (2019) |
Longest win streak | Victoria – 3 games (2012–2014) |
Current win streak | Victoria – 1 game (2019) |
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).
History[]
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 has persisted as an enduring 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 Whitten Jr., launched a foundation for research into prostate cancer, and the Legends Game raises money for the foundation. So far, almost a million dollars have been raised for the E. J. Whitten Foundation.[1]
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. Since 2003, the game has been held at Etihad Stadium (formerly known as Telstra Dome).
In February 2016, it was announced that the Seven Network had secured the rights to televise this match for the next five years; in addition, the match was moved to the football-free weekend between the final round of the premiership season and the first week of the finals series.[2][3]
In 2018, the match was played at Adelaide Oval. This was the first game played in Adelaide since 1999.[4]
In 2019, the match was contested under the AFLX format and played at AAMI Park in Melbourne.[5]
The match was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights[]
The game itself is a tongue-in-cheek affair, with games often involving non-football-related celebrities such as the comedy duo Hamish & Andy, the comedian Russell Gilbert, and the fictional character Bryan "Strauchanie" Strauchan, played by Peter Helliar.
The series has featured many memorable highlights over the years, including Stauchanie's various antics, usually involving staging for a free kick;[6] a 75-metre barrel from Jimmy Bartel that resulted in a 10-point super goal;[7] Jonathan Brown kicking a difficult pocket goal after the siren due to the umpire "not hearing the siren";[8] Anthony Rocca turning back the clock with a massive torpedo goal from inside the centre square;[9] Russell Gilbert changing his guernsey to the opposite team's late in the game to score a goal for the other team (which became a running gag);[10] Derek Kickett kicking the ball over his head from the right forward pocket for an unlikely goal;[11] and Craig Hutchison's so-called "greatest goal in AFL history" in 2011 that involved selling candy to a mooning Ryan Fitzgerald before kicking a banana goal from nearly 40 metres out, which has since garnered more than 1.8 million views on YouTube alone.[12]
The game is frequently manipulated by the players, timekeepers, and field umpires in order to make the game interesting until the very end. Because of this, the average winning margin is only 7 points, including 5 draws.
Match results[]
Year | Venue | Scores | Attendance | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victoria | All-Stars | Winner | Margin (points) | |||
1996 | Whitten Oval, Footscray | 10.13 (73) | 13.9 (87) | All Stars | 14 | |
1997 | Whitten Oval, Footscray | 10.11 (71) | 7.10 (51) | Victoria | 19 | |
1998 | Whitten Oval, Footscray | 8.6 (54) | 7.10 (52) | Victoria | 2 | |
1999 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | 7.12 (54) | 8.8 (56) | All Stars | 2 | |
2000 | Shell Stadium, Geelong | 6.2 (38) | 5.8 (38) | Draw | 0 | |
2001 | Optus Oval, Melbourne | 6.11 (47) | 7.5 (47) | Draw — All Stars | 0, won by goal kickoff | |
2002 | Optus Oval, Melbourne | 10.3 (63) | 10.8 (68) | All Stars | 5 | |
2003 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.10.7 (76) | 3.6.12 (75) | Victoria | 1 | 18,611 |
2004 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 3.7.7 (76) | 1.12.4 (85) | All Stars | 9 | 18,301 |
2005 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 3.9.6 (87) | 0.10.9 (69) | Victoria | 18 | 13,000 (approx.) |
2006 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.12.7 (88) | 5.5.13 (88) | Draw — Victoria | 0, won by 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 | 15 | 12,897[13] |
2008 | Telstra Dome, Melbourne | 1.10.9 (78) | 0.12.8 (80) | All Stars | 2 | 24,452[14] |
2009 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.13.9 (87) | 0.11.6 (72) | Victoria | 15 | 20,883 |
2010 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.12.12 (84) | 2.11.7 (91) | All Stars | 7 | 25,347 |
2011 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 4.12.3 (111) | 2.13.7 (109) | Victoria | 2 | 25,086 |
2012[15] | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 1.15.3 (102) | 2.12.6 (96) | Victoria | 6 | 26,221 |
2013 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 1.11.10 (85) | 0.12.7 (79) | Victoria | 6 | 24,087 |
2014 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.15.6 (96) | 2.10.10 (88) | Victoria | 8 | 27,800 |
2015 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.11.5 (71) | 2.11.11 (95) | All Stars | 24 | 26,309 |
2016 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 0.21.9 (135) | 2.17.15 (135) | Draw — Victoria | 0, won by goal kickoff (3.0 to 1.1) | 18,074 |
2017 | Etihad Stadium, Melbourne | 4.19.6 (156) | 0.24.11 (155) | Victoria | 1 | 13,106 |
2018 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | 2.12.7 (97) | 1.15.10 (109) | All Stars | 12 | 8,000 |
2019 | AAMI Park, Melbourne | 33.23 (275) | 31.17 (275) | Draw — Victoria | 0, won by goal kickoff (3.0 to 2.0) | 6,000 |
Wins: All Stars: 11, Victoria: 12, Draws: 1 (4 drawn at the final siren, of which 3 were decided by kick-offs)
Biggest Win: All Stars by 24 points in 2015.
Highest Score: All stars and Victoria (275), both in 2019.
Lowest Score: All Stars and Victoria (38), both in the drawn 2000 match.
Most Man of the Matches: John Platten 2 (All Stars), Matthew Lloyd 2 (Victoria)
References[]
- ^ "EJ Whitten Legends Game forced to be canned again as Hall of Fame details emerge". Fox Sports. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Guthrie, Ben (16 February 2016). "Channel Seven, AFL unite to broadcast EJ Whitten Legends Game". Australian Football League. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ X, Mr (31 August 2016). "EJ Whitten Legends Game teams announced" (PDF). Australian Football League. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Gaskin, Lee (31 August 2018). "All Stars get revenge in legendary style". AFL Media. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ^ "Get ready for 'EJX': Legends game gets new format and new home". Australian Football League. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ AFL - EJ Whitten Legends Game No.1: Strauchanie goals | Facebook, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ EJ Whitten Foundation - E.J. Legends Game Memorable Moments No. 3 - A. Rocca Torp | Facebook, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ Russell Gilbert EJ Legends game 2015, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ GREATEST GOAL IN AFL HISTORY, retrieved 17 September 2021
- ^ EJ Whitten Legends Game : EJ Whittens Legend Game Archived 15 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Record Breaking Crowd at the Ray White EJ Whitten Legends Game". Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
- ^ Fevola lights up Legends game | AFL | Fox Sports
External links[]
- Cancer fundraisers
- All-star games
- Australian rules football games
- Annual sporting events in Australia
- Australian rules football competitions in Australia
- Seven Sport