E. J. Whitten Legends Game

Last updated

E. J. Whitten Legends Game
EJ Whitten Legends Game - Victoria.svg
Victoria
Sport Australian rules football
TypeCharity event
First meeting1996
Latest meeting 2019
Broadcasters Seven Network (as at 2019)
Statistics
Most winsVictoria (12)
Largest victoryAll-Stars – 24 points (2015)
Largest goal scoringVictoria, All-Stars – 275 points (2019)
Longest win streakVictoria – 3 games (2012–2014)
Current win streakVictoria – 1 game (2019)

The E. J. Whitten Legends Game was an annual charity all-star Australian rules football match played in Australia. Retired star players were reunited, along with selected non-footballing celebrities, in a State of Origin interstate game between Victoria and a composite side known as the All-Stars. The game was contested annually from 1996 to 2019 and played under Superules.

Contents

Originally a sporting contest attracting interest from spectators, in later years it became a form of sports entertainment, including increased celebrity appearances, scripting and manipulated outcomes. The match was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not returned since.

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 not only State of Origin passion but Australian rules football in general. Soon after his death, the popularity of interstate football waned, 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.

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 Docklands Stadium.

In 2007, the organisers included female participants for the first time: Daisy Pearce and Shannon McFerran of the Victorian Women's Football League. Since then, it has become one of few high-profile mixed-gender-friendly events. [1]

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—a high-scoring format played on a rugby-sized field—and was played at AAMI Park in Melbourne. [5]

The match was not held in 2020–2021 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and since 2022 there has been no indication that the match will return in the future. [6]

Financial controversy

On average, the foundation was raising A$1.2 million per year for the five years prior to 2016, for a total of more than A$13.5 million by 2019, but it was alleged in court that most of the money raised was being exhausted on expenses during much of this period. [7] [8] For example, in the 2015/16 financial year, the foundation raised A$1.3 million but were only $125,883 in net profit for the year. [9] Worse still, it was determined that Baker Smith Management, who were in charge of running the foundation, were found to have only profited less than $100,000 per year during this 5-year period, and Baker Smith Management's contract was subsequently not renewed. [10]

Highlights

Hamish & Andy at the 2008 E. J. Whitten Legends Game Hamish & Andy - EJ Whitten Game - together.jpg
Hamish & Andy at the 2008 E. J. Whitten Legends Game

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, known in the games for his comical on-field antics; and the fictional character Bryan "Strauchanie" Strauchan, played by Peter Helliar. The game is frequently manipulated by the players, timekeepers, and field umpires in order to make for an exciting conclusion. Because of this, the average winning margin is only 7 points, including 5 draws, and official betting is disallowed.

The series has featured many memorable highlights over the years, including Strauchanie's various antics, usually involving staging for a free kick; [11] a 75-metre barrel from Jimmy Bartel that resulted in a 10-point super goal; [12] Jonathan Brown kicking a difficult pocket goal after the siren due to the umpire "not hearing the siren" (possibly a reference to sirengate); [13] Anthony Rocca turning back the clock with a massive torpedo goal from inside the centre square; [14] 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); [15] Derek Kickett kicking the ball over his head from the right forward pocket for an unlikely goal; [16] 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. [17]

Match results

YearVenueScoresAttendance
VictoriaAll-StarsWinnerMargin (points)
1996 Whitten Oval, Footscray 10.13 (73)13.9 (87)All-Stars14
1997 Whitten Oval, Footscray 10.11 (71)7.10 (52)Victoria19
1998 Whitten Oval, Footscray 8.6 (54)7.10 (52)Victoria2
1999 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 7.12 (54)8.8 (56)All-Stars2
2000 Shell Stadium, Geelong 6.2 (38)5.8 (38)Draw0
2001 Optus Oval, Melbourne 6.11 (47)7.5 (47)Draw — All-Stars0, won by goal kickoff
2002 Optus Oval, Melbourne 10.3 (63)10.8 (68)All-Stars5
2003 Telstra Dome, Melbourne 1.10.7 (76)3.6.12 (75)Victoria118,611
2004 Telstra Dome, Melbourne 3.7.7 (76)1.12.4 (85)All-Stars918,301
2005 Telstra Dome, Melbourne 3.9.6 (87)0.10.9 (69)Victoria1813,000 (approx.)
2006 Telstra Dome, Melbourne 1.12.7 (88)5.5.13 (88)Draw — Victoria0, 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-Stars1512,897 [18]
2008 Telstra Dome, Melbourne 1.10.9 (78)0.12.8 (80)All-Stars224,452 [19]
2009 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0.13.9 (87)0.11.6 (72)Victoria1520,883
2010 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0.12.12 (84)2.11.7 (91)All-Stars725,347
2011 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 4.12.3 (111)2.13.7 (109)Victoria225,086
2012 [20] Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 1.15.3 (102)2.12.6 (96)Victoria626,221
2013 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 1.11.10 (85)0.12.7 (79)Victoria624,087
2014 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0.15.6 (96)2.10.10 (88)Victoria827,800
2015 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0.11.5 (71)2.11.11 (95)All-Stars2426,309
2016 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 0.21.9 (135)2.17.15 (135)Draw — Victoria0, won by goal kickoff (3.0 to 1.1)18,074
2017 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne 4.19.6 (156)0.24.11 (155)Victoria113,106
2018 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 2.12.7 (97)1.15.10 (109)All-Stars128,000
2019 AAMI Park, Melbourne 33.23 (275)31.17 (275)Draw — Victoria0, 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 kick-offs decided 3)

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)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Blight</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1950

Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also coached the Geelong Football Club, Adelaide Football Club and St Kilda Football Club.

Anthony Howard Lockett is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he played as a full-forward and holds the VFL/AFL record for career goals, scoring 1,360 goals in total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitten Oval</span> Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Whitten Oval is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs, which competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The ground is also the home of the club's women's and reserves teams which compete in the AFL Women's (AFLW), Victorian Football League (VFL), and VFL Women's (VFLW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Representative matches in Australian rules football</span>

Representative matches in Australian rules football are matches between representative teams played under the Australian rules, most notably of the colonies and later Australian states and territories. Senior intercolonial representative matches took place from 1879 to the turn of the 20th century. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition in Australia meant that interstate matches were regarded as important events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strauchanie</span> Australian rules footballer

Bryan Keith Strauchan, better known as "Strauchanie", is a fictional Australian rules football player played by Peter Helliar, who first appeared during short sketches on Before the Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Modra</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1969

Anthony Dale Modra is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Adelaide and Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known for his spectacular marking ability in the full-forward position, Modra had the physical strength and size to match the best opposition full-backs in the competition. As of 2023, he is the only Adelaide player to kick more than 100 goals in a season, achieving the feat in 1993 by registering 129 goals for the year.

Scott Cummings is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon, Port Adelaide, the West Coast Eagles, and Collingwood in the Australian Football League.

In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules football tournament held amongst clubs prior to the premiership season between 1988 and 2013. The pre-season competition culminated annually in a grand final and pre-season premier.

Nick Holland is a former professional Australian rules football player who played 179 games for Australian Football League (AFL) club Hawthorn between 1994 and 2005, serving as Vice Captain between 1999 and 2003. Holland is an AFL Rising Star Award winner, a best and fairest and leading goal kicker at Hawthorn and represented Australia in International Rules. He is now CEO of the EJ Whitten Foundation.

The 2006 AFL season was the 110th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 30 March until 30 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

Stephen Scott Kernahan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also played 16 State of Origin games for South Australia and gained selection as an All-Australian five times. He later served for six years as president of the Carlton Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Australian rules football team</span> Australian rules football representative team

The Victoria Australian rules football team, known colloquially as the Big V, is the state representative side of Victoria, Australia, in the sport of Australian rules football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Australia Australian rules football team</span> Australian rules football representative team

The South Australia state football team is the representative side of South Australia in the sport of Australian rules football.

The West End Slowdown was an annual charity Australian rules football match run by the Little Heroes Foundation, formerly named the McGuinness-McDermott Foundation, to raise funds to improve oncology treatment for South Australian children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super-Flood</span> Australian rules football match

The Super-Flood is the unofficial title given to the round 21, 2000 match between Australian Football League (AFL) clubs Essendon and Western Bulldogs, which was played at Colonial Stadium on Friday, 28 July 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Jenkins</span> Australian rules footballer

Joshua Jenkins is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He last played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2012 to 2019 and was on the Essendon Football Club's list in 2011 without playing a senior game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Elliott (footballer, born 1992)</span> Australian rules footballer

Jamie Elliott is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Whitten</span> Australian rules footballer

Edward James Whitten Sr. OAM was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey Holmes</span> Australian rules footballer

Abbey Holmes is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She began playing football for the Waratah Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League in 2012 and won four consecutive premierships with the club, along with being the league's leading goalkicker the same four seasons. In 2014, she became the first woman to kick 100 goals in a season in an established football league, and in 2016 she was drafted in the inaugural AFL Women's draft by Adelaide.

AFLX is a variation of Australian rules football designed in 2017 to be played on a soccer field. Unlike the full 18-a-side game, AFLX required fewer players with some modified rules aimed at generating higher scores, including increased scoring points. It was founded in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience outside of its origin country of Australia. The AFL billed AFLX as its answer to Twenty20 or Rugby Sevens.

References

  1. ↑ South Australia’s Abbey Holmes is happy to tackle the blokes in EJ Whitten Legends match by Scott Walsh for Adelaide Now 14 June 2014
  2. ↑ Guthrie, Ben (16 February 2016). "Channel Seven, AFL unite to broadcast EJ Whitten Legends Game". Australian Football League . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  3. ↑ X, Mr (31 August 2016). "EJ Whitten Legends Game teams announced" (PDF). Australian Football League . Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Gaskin, Lee (31 August 2018). "All Stars get revenge in legendary style". AFL Media. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "Get ready for 'EJX': Legends game gets new format and new home". Australian Football League. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  6. ↑ Cherny, Daniel (9 August 2022). "EJ Whitten Legends match will not go ahead in 2022". Code Sports. News Corporation Australia. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "EJ Whitten Legends Game forced to be canned again as Hall of Fame details emerge". Fox Sports. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "EJ Whitten Legends find new home at AAMI Park". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Hatch, Patrick (4 March 2017). "Sacked EJ Whitten Foundation boss sues charity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Pierik, Mark Hawthorne and Jon (16 February 2016). "Channel Seven secures rights to EJ Whitten Legends game". The Age. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  11. ↑ AFL - EJ Whitten Legends Game No.1: Strauchanie goals | Facebook , retrieved 17 September 2021
  12. ↑ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, 20 October 2020, retrieved 17 September 2021
  13. ↑ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, 20 October 2020, retrieved 17 September 2021
  14. ↑ EJ Whitten Foundation - E.J. Legends Game Memorable Moments No. 3 - A. Rocca Torp | Facebook , retrieved 17 September 2021
  15. ↑ Russell Gilbert EJ Legends game 2015, 30 June 2015, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 17 September 2021
  16. ↑ BEST AND FUNNIEST MOMENTS - AFL EJ Whitten Matches, 20 October 2020, retrieved 17 September 2021
  17. ↑ GREATEST GOAL IN AFL HISTORY, 6 July 2011, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 17 September 2021
  18. ↑ EJ Whitten Legends Game : EJ Whittens Legend Game Archived 15 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ "Record Breaking Crowd at the Ray White EJ Whitten Legends Game". Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  20. ↑ Fevola lights up Legends game | AFL | Fox Sports
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.