Others want share of AFL Anzac spoils - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Others want share of AFL Anzac spoils

Guy Hand 24/04/2011 04:30:45 PM Comments (0)

Calls are growing for other AFL clubs to be allowed to share in the Anzac Day blockbuster built by Essendon and Collingwood.

Geelong coach Chris Scott and former great Leigh Matthews have backed comments by Collingwood's Mick Malthouse that other clubs should be allowed to take part in the Anzac Day fixture started by the Magpies and Bombers.

The match has become the most prestigious home-and-away match of the season, regularly drawing over 80,000 and often more than 90,000 spectators to the MCG.

It also rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars in gate receipts for the two clubs.

Scott said it was "a no-brainer" that other clubs should not only be able to share in the profits from the match, but the right to play could be shared around among other Victorian clubs.

"I thought Mick Malthouse articulated it really well. It's the biggest home-and-away game of the year, everyone deserves to have a role in that," Scott told the Seven Network's AFL Game Day.

"I think you've got to earn it, I think it's got to be a game that fits the occasion - maybe the two best clubs from the previous year.

"I don't think anyone owns any timeslot.

"To think you can have two of the most powerful Melbourne clubs profiting from what is an AFL event, I'd say that's ridiculous."

Former Collingwood premiership coach Matthews said even if the Magpies and Essendon kept their playing roles in the match, gate receipts should benefit other clubs as well.

"If it's a big event, it should be an AFL game ... the proceeds should be split among the whole competition," he said.

Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, who helped pioneer the Bombers-Collingwood Anzac Day clash in the mid-1990s, said last week he believed there should be an Anzac Day match in every state.

Fremantle are hosting their Len Hall Game on Anzac Day this year, playing the Western Bulldogs on Monday night in an annual match to commemorate Australian war veterans.

AAP gh/ash/e

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