AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match
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| Home Team | Victoria |
| Away Team | Dream Team |
| Date | May 10, 2008 |
| Stadium | MCG, Melbourne |
| TV in Australia | |
| Network | Network Ten |
The AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match was a one-off all-star game between two representative sides organised by the Australian Football League to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Australian rules football.
The match was intended to celebrate the role of State of Origin (and to a lesser extent Interstate matches) to the history of the code.
The match was played on May 10th, 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia between Victoria (the "Big V") and the "Dream Team".
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[edit] History
For nearly two years, the AFL had toyed with the idea of bringing back the State of Origin series, a series which the league had itself abandoned in 1999 only a few years before it had dissolved the Australian National Football Council to govern the game at national level. The AFL had pushed for a national club competition and argued that State of Origin was not in its interests.
On several occasions, the AFL made clear that it did not support the E. J. Whitten Legends Game concept, which was used by proponents to capture the public imagination keep the idea alive, though the exhibition match itself degenerated into a farce with each year.
Despite this, demand had grown for a return of State of Origin. Public figures such as Kevin Sheedy continually pushed for a return.[1][2]
In early 2007, the AFL finally announced that it would consider a return of the series.
Speculation reached a peak during 2007 as the football community put pressure on the AFL to make a decision and include State of Origin as a component of the AFL's 150th celebrations, given that interstate matches had played a big part for much of this history, since 1879 before the AFL became the governing body.
In 2007, it was announced that it would support a return of the State of Origin concept as a once-off carnival to celebrate the game's 150th, rather than a regular event.[3]
However the format remained undecided and a cause of controversy. While the game's governing body still left open the possibility of a full series, the league clearly did not want it to interrupt its premiership season.
The media featured several opinions on how the series could work within the AFL, but not one was able to convince the AFL. Some suggested a two division format, while others called for Victoria to be divided into two teams Metro and Country (similar to the format of the Under 18 national championships and women's national championships) to make the interstate sides more competitive.[4]
Due to indecision and the impending 2008 anniversary year, at one stage in late October 2007 the AFL had announced that it intended to bury the concept completely, completely abolishing State of Origin from the anniversary celebrations and in future.[5]
The announcement caused uproar among fans and the media. In response, the AFL held a series of meetings to discuss the concept and save face.
In November 2007, The AFL revealed that the series would include an All-Star side, similar to the later State of Origin series, indicating that some states would not be represented individually. Tasmania, in particular, lobbied for its inclusion after this was announced.[6] Many argued that the event, like later State of Origin matches featuring "The Allies" combined side would fail to draw sufficient support or passion. Many argued it would be difficult to convince clubs to release players (at risk of injury to key players) and difficult to convince players to play for the Allies. In later State of Origin matches involving the Allies, clubs would often advise players would often feign injuries to escape selection.
By December, the AFL had announced that it was considering an All-Star match between just Victoria and "The Rest". This caused significant controversy, particularly in South Australia, which had been a traditional rival of Victoria, where prominent figures openly criticised the decision and called for a boycott of the game.[7]
It was later confirmed that this was the case and that the "Allies" would be rebranded as the "Dream Team" and also include traditionally strong standalone states such as South Australia and Western Australia. The AFL argued that an All-Star match format would produce the best spectacle, however many fans questioned whether it would produce any passion. It was also announced that the MCG was the preferred venue for a once off match. The decision to hold the match in Melbourne also angered many in non-Victorian states.
To address the concerns over player participation, the AFL announced it would introduce penalties for players who refused to participate. Instead, players were paid AUD$5,000 each to compete in the match, and the players agreed to donate the money to the AFL Players Association to be to distributed via a special past players fund.
In early 2008, the AFL announced the full details of the match and branded it as the "AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match", further distancing it from true State of Origin status, and promoted the event by announcing two captains in Jonathon Brown (Victoria) and Andrew McLeod (Dream Team). The game would be played during a traditional mid year break in the AFL season.
In April, 2008, the AFL announced 40 man squads for both teams, which would later be trimmed to 25 per side (7 players on the bench instead of 4).
[edit] Pre-Match
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[edit] Squads
[edit] Victoria ("Big V")
- Jonathan Brown (captain, Brisbane)
- Jimmy Bartel (Geelong)
- Daniel Bradshaw (Brisbane)
- Campbell Brown (Hawthorn)
- Paul Chapman (Geelong)
- Trent Croad (Hawthorn)
- Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda)
- Brendan Fevola (Carlton)
- Nathan Foley (Richmond)
- Josh Fraser (Collingwood)
- Adam Goodes (Sydney)
- Brent Harvey (North Melbourne)
- Brad Johnson (Western Bulldogs)
- Steve Johnson (Geelong)
- Chris Judd (Carlton)
- James Kelly (Geelong)
- Darren Milburn (Geelong)
- Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
- Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs)
- Ryan O'Keefe (Sydney)
- Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
- Luke Power (Brisbane)
- Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn)
- Matthew Scarlett (Geelong)
- Joel Selwood (Geelong)
- Brad Sewell (Hawthorn)
- Heath Shaw (Collingwood)
- Troy Simmonds (Richmond)
- Jarrad Waite (Carlton)
[edit] Rest of States/Territories (Dream Team)
- Andrew McLeod (captain, Adelaide)
- Nathan Bassett (Adelaide)
- Nathan Bock (Adelaide)
- Craig Bolton (Sydney)
- Peter Burgoyne (Port Adelaide)
- Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adelaide)
- Brett Burton (Adelaide)
- Jamie Charman (Brisbane)
- Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs)
- Joel Corey (Geelong)
- Kane Cornes (Port Adelaide)
- Dean Cox (West Coast)
- Daniel Cross (Western Bulldogs)
- Leon Davis (Collingwood)
- Corey Enright (Geelong)
- Lance Franklin (Hawthorn)
- Darren Glass (West Coast)
- Simon Goodwin (Adelaide)
- Ryan Griffen (Western Bulldogs)
- Graham Johncock (Adelaide)
- Tadhg Kennelly (Sydney)
- Daniel Kerr (West Coast)
- Brett Kirk (Sydney)
- Luke McPharlin (Fremantle)
- Cameron Mooney (Geelong)
- Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide)
- Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
- Matthew Richardson (Richmond)
- Ben Rutten (Adelaide)
- Mathew Stokes (Geelong)
[edit] Final Teams
[edit] List
[edit] Gallery
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sheedy calls for AFL State of Origin return
- ^ Clubs need to embrace State of Origin: Sheedy
- ^ AFL pushes state-of-origin
- ^ Divide Victoria in State of Origin, says Connolly
- ^ Two-game start but origin dies - realfooty.com.au
- ^ Tasmania's Origin plea
- ^ Cornes blasts all-star match
- ^ a b Pos'ns stands for Possessions.
[edit] External links
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