A CASE OF THE MONDAYS
RECALLING GEELONG’S PAST MONDAY NIGHT ENCOUNTERS
Playing on a Monday is not unfamiliar to Geelong, given the Cats have played 93 times on the first day of the working week.
But the Round 9 clash with Fremantle will be only the third time Geelong has played on a Monday night, following two experiments separated by 44 years. Both ideas by league administrators failed but that did not stop two of football’s most dynamic forwards dominating WHEN
football left Victoria because of coronavirus this month, it was not the first time the top league abandoned its heartland completely in the middle of winter.
In Round 8, 1952, the VFL decided all matches should be played outside of Melbourne, in a bid to grow the game.
Carlton and Hawthorn played in Euroa, Footscray and St Kilda travelled to Yallourn, Fitzroy and Melbourne did battle in Hobart and Geelong and Essendon were sent north to play in Brisbane.
The Bombers were out for revenge from their defeat at the hands of the Cats in 1951, which was coloured by the controversial suspension of superstar forward John Coleman.
The Cats stepped away from their jobs midweek and caught a flight, first to Wagga Wagga to refuel and then to Brisbane ahead of the game at the Brisbane Exhibition ground.
Due to play on Saturday, heavy rain meant those in charge of the ground demanded the game be pushed back to Monday.
The drawcard for most of the official attendance of 28,000 for the game was the great goalkicker Coleman, who did not disappoint and exacted his revenge.
With Geelong fullback Bruce Morrison on state duties, he ran riot and snagged 13 majors to lead Essendon to a 69-point victory.
The VFL shelved its travelling circus idea and Queensland next saw football in 1981 when Hawthorn and Essendon were sent to the Gabba. NOT
for the first or last time, the AFL tried to adopt the NFL’s Monday Night Football routine in the mid-’90s, leading to Geelong facing Collingwood in Round 9.
Cats fans complained before the match about the fixture being on a school night and Geelong president Ron Hovey said his fans would have to grin and bear it.
“We accept that they want to trial a game on a Monday night and it will be a big night for the club,” Hovey said.
“It’s a bit hard for supporters but they wanted to trial a game and we’ve been allocated that match.”
Outspoken Collingwood president Alan McAlister did not mince his words on following an American tradition.
“If you want to see the shallowness of gridiron football, watch it once, you won’t watch it twice,” McAlister said.
There were no complaints from Cats star Gary Ablett Sr however, with the goalkicking great taking Craig Kelly and the Magpies to the cleaners with nine goals.
It would be the last time Ablett would kick that many in a match and it was a joy to do it on Kelly, who had infamously dealt out a string of pinches when the sides last met in 1995.
Collingwood coach Tony Shaw cycled through Kelly, Gavin Crosisca, Andrew Schauble and even a young Nathan Buckley as match ups for Ablett, but no man slowed him down.
In front of 56,609 spectators, the Cats led at every break and pulled away to finish 63point winners.
Michael Mansfield chipped in with five goals for the Cats, while Garry Hocking’s 29 disposals was enough to trump Ablett and claim three Brownlow votes.
For the Pies, Saverio Rocca kicked six of their 11 goals.
Shaw mused post-match that Ablett could have three more seasons in him, but unknown to the league, the superstar was in his final year of footy.
The Monday night experiment was tried again in 1997 and 1998 but did not catch on.