THE LIGHTING of a commemorative flame, in a darkened MCG, will be the centrepiece of the pre-match to the Anzac Day eve clash between Richmond and Melbourne.

The eternal flame at the Shrine of Remembrance will be used to light a torch, which will be carried to the MCG by the Creswick Light Horse Troop.

The torch will then be handed to VFL/AFL legend Ron Barassi, who will light the flame on the MCG stage, where it will burn for the duration of the match. Barassi’s father, Ron Snr, died in Tobruk in 1941, during World War II.

Supporters of both sides will also become part of the pre-match ceremony with 50,000 finger lights distributed and held aloft in silence, in memory of those that served Australia in armed conflict.

The pre-match will also include the Army Band, returned service men and women and those currently serving overseas. Both teams will also line up in front of the flame for the Last Post and the National Anthem before the start of the game.

“We wanted to develop an occasion that enabled the supporters of both clubs to recognise the enormous sacrifice so many men and women have made for this country,” Richmond Football Club CEO Brendon Gale said.

“The Anzac round has become a very significant part of the AFL calendar. All Clubs look for ways to appropriately recognise our military history and Anzac Day eve provides an opportunity for two clubs with significant links to our military history to do just that.

“We clearly want this to become an annual game played between Richmond and Melbourne and we believe supporters of both sides will embrace the occasion and get to the MCG for what shapes as a very significant night.

“Importantly, this game and the pre-match ceremony have the full support of the RSL, the Shrine of Remembrance and the Australian Defence Force. They have each helped develop and shape our pre-match and we thank them for that support.”

Melbourne chief executive Peter Jackson acknowledged the club’s strong links with armed conflict.

“Our club lost more than any other in the AFL, in battle, with 30 Melbourne players making the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is fitting that we pay tribute to those we lost and all who served for their country on Anzac Day eve," Jackson said.

BACKGROUND
Melbourne and Richmond’s wartime heritage is significant.

And, it is for this reason, that the two clubs will pay tribute to their shared wartime history at the MCG on April 24 in their first Anzac Day eve night match.

It will be just the third time the two clubs have met on Anzac Day eve – although their previous two meetings occurred back in 1915 and 1937.

Tragically, 35 men who played for Melbourne or Richmond died from active service – either from World War I or World War II.

During the Second World War, the two clubs met in the 1940 Grand Final, which Melbourne won. It remains their only meeting in a Grand Final.

Melbourne shared Punt Road Oval as its home ground during WW2 – considered an act of generosity by Richmond – until late in the 1946 season, due to the MCG being occupied by the armed forces. In 1944, Melbourne contributed to Richmond’s prisoner of war fund.

All of Melbourne’s key best and fairest trophies are named after players lost due to war. The most famous is Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott, a dual Melbourne premiership player in 1939-40. He was also one of Australia’s best-known flying aces during World War II.

The VFL awarded premiership medals posthumously to Truscott, Ron Barassi Snr and Harold Ball, as it was considered that they would have certainly played in the 1941 Grand Final.

Melbourne lost players in many of the key Australian wartime battles, including Joe Pearce in Anzac Cove, Barassi Snr in Tobruk, Syd Anderson in the Pacific and Ball in the fall of Singapore. 

Richmond’s Bill Cosgrove is the uncle of Sir Peter Cosgrove, AK MC (Retd) who served as Chief of the Australian Defence Force. Cosgrove’s 1940 season was cut short by war service. In fact, six of Richmond’s 1940 Grand Final side served Australia in the war. In 1943 – just six weeks before Richmond’s premiership – Cosgrove was shot down and killed in action over New Guinea.

Players from both clubs killed in action:

Melbourne (30)

World War I: Jim Bonelli, Cliff Burge, Jack Doubleday, Bill Fischer, Albert Gourlay, Mal Kennedy, Frank Lugton, Jim Mackie, Bill Maxwell, Fen McDonald, Alick Ogilvie, Joe Pearce, Leo Rankin, Harold Rippon, Percy Rodriguez, Bobby Royle, Alf Williamson

World War II: Syd L. Anderson, Jack Atkins, Harold Ball, Ron J.Barassi, Laurie Brady, Noel Ellis, Clyde Helmer, Derek Mollison, Ted Regan, Beres Reilly, Archie Roberts, Keith Truscott, Barney Wood

Richmond (5)

World War I: Artie Harrison, Les Lee, Bill Nolan

World War II: Bill Cosgrove, Bill Garvie.