It started and ended with silence as two teams hung their heads and pondered what could have been after a thrilling contest
Two critical errors from the Essendon substitute Nick Hind gave Collingwood the reprieve they needed, but it wasn’t enough to secure an Anzac Day victory.Two critical errors from the Essendon substitute Nick Hind gave Collingwood the reprieve they needed, but it wasn’t enough to secure an Anzac Day victory.
here are known knowns, there are known unknowns and there are things we don’t know. And then there’s the finish to today’s drawn Anzac Day clash. How on earth does one make sense of that game? Both sides had the four points in their grasp, but let them slip. Both sides played scintillating football at times, and had Frank Spencer-like calamities at others. Both sides had opportunities to win it at the death.
But the Pies methodically worked their way back into it. It wasn’t the crazy cavalry charge of last week. This time, it was about picking holes and finding space. Crucially, they addressed their lacklustre work at the contest. And Darcy Moore, in his best game for the year, folded back, swatted, thwarted and kickstarted many aattack. They kicked a lot of behinds, but so many of their set shots were from awkward spots, whether it was outside the ark or hemmed in a pocket.
And then, after an hour and a bit of momentum shifts, lulls and moments of madness, the game was trundling along when Jamie Elliott went into orbit. A preposterous leap, a take at the ball’s highest point, a vertiginous plunge and surely one of the bests marks we’ve seen this decade. Just a few feet from where he broke Essendon hearts years ago, he nailed the set shot – of course he did – and the intensity of the game went up a notch.
The Anzac medal for best afield went to Zach Merrett, who was suspended and missed last year’s game, but who’s been in slashing form this year. He’s polled coaches votes in every game so far and remains one of the most consistent and reliable footballers in the caper. He was among Essendon’s best in the last two wins they’ve had in this fixture, in 2017 and 2021, and was excellent again today.
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