Queen's Birthday match

The Queen's Birthday match is an annual Australian rules football match between the Melbourne Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the Queen's Birthday public holiday in Victoria (the second Monday in June).

Queen's Birthday match
Panorama of the 2011 Queen's Birthday match
LocaleMelbourne, Victoria
TeamsMelbourne
Collingwood
First meeting11 June 2001
Melbourne 8.9 (57) def. by Collingwood 19.20 (134)
Latest meeting10 June 2019
Collingwood 15.8 (98) def. Melbourne 7.14 (57)
Next meeting14 June 2021
BroadcastersSeven Network (2001, 2012–present)
Network Ten (2002–2011)
Statistics
Most winsCollingwood
11 wins
Most player appearancesBrad Green (Melbourne), Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
12 matches
Largest victoryCollingwood
88 points (13 June 2011)

History

Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday holiday since the first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.[1]

The rivalry between Collingwood and Melbourne goes back many years. In 1958 a record non-finals crowd of 99,256 saw a top of the table match between the two teams.[2]

Since 2001, the AFL has only scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the MCG on the public holiday. The round in which the game is played is sometimes referred to as the "Queen's Birthday Round", although this is somewhat misleading as Queensland and Western Australia do not celebrate a public holiday on that date.

Introduced in 2015, the player adjudged best-afield is awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.[3]

Benefits

As Collingwood has one of the largest supporter bases in Victoria, the opportunity to host them on a public holiday is seen as a major financial benefit to Melbourne.[4] It had previously been suggested that other teams such as North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs should share the match.[5] In 2008 the AFL threatened to change the fixture to another club if the attendances did not remain above 60,000.[6]

Match results

This table lists all Queen's Birthday matches since it became an annual fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood in 2001.

Year Winner Melbourne score Collingwood score Margin Attendance Best on ground1
2001Collingwood8.9 (57)19.20 (134)7762,761Anthony Rocca (Collingwood)
2002Collingwood10.15 (75)19.12 (126)5165,860Chris Tarrant (Collingwood)
2003Collingwood10.17 (77)20.13 (133)5660,010*Paul Licuria (Collingwood)
2004Melbourne12.10 (82)11.7 (73)956,988*Josh Fraser (Collingwood)
2005Melbourne17.15 (117)10.12 (72)4565,347*Travis Johnstone (Melbourne)
2006Melbourne22.9 (141)14.10 (94)4778,773Cameron Bruce (Melbourne)
2007Melbourne13.16 (94)11.15 (81)1370,660Russell Robertson (Melbourne)
2008Collingwood13.17 (95)17.14 (116)2159,548Tarkyn Lockyer (Collingwood)
2009Collingwood8.12 (60)19.12 (126)6661,287Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
2010
Draw
11.10 (76)9.22 (76)067,454Aaron Davey (Melbourne)
2011Collingwood6.5 (41)19.15 (129)8875,998Sharrod Wellingham (Collingwood)
2012Collingwood13.9 (87)19.15 (129)4264,250Dane Swan (Collingwood)
2013Collingwood5.9 (39)17.20 (122)8350,853Dane Swan (Collingwood)
2014Collingwood3.10 (28)8.13 (61)3368,124Bernie Vince (Melbourne)
2015Collingwood13.7 (85)17.8 (110)2566,120Travis Cloke (Collingwood)2
2016Melbourne16.8 (104)8.10 (58)4660,158Max Gawn (Melbourne)
2017Melbourne15.14 (104)15.10 (100)470,926Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
2018Collingwood14.7 (91)20.13 (133)4283,518Mason Cox (Collingwood)2
2019Collingwood7.15 (57)15.8 (98)4174,036Adam Treloar (Collingwood)
2020No match played due to the COVID-19 pandemic

* Capacity reduced due to redevelopment at the MCG
1 2001–2014: three Brownlow votes, 2015–present: Neale Daniher trophy
2 Player also received three Brownlow votes

Big Freeze at the 'G

In 2014, former Melbourne coach for ten years (1998–2007) Neale Daniher was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.[7] The Big Freeze at the 'G is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event at the MCG partner with the AFL's Queen's Birthday match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", several well known football and television personalities get dunked into a giant ice pool before the start of the game. Such personalities usually pledge to raise $10,000 for vital MND research after being nominated, and once successful at hitting this target, they then get to pass on the challenge and nominate the next personality into the "cold seat". This person in turn will raise funds and agree to "Freeze for MND" if their fundraising goal is met. The challenge will continue right up until the game, with each celebrity challenging the next.[8][9]

Participants

Big Freeze 1 (2015)

Over $2.2 million was raised.[10]

Big Freeze 2 (2016)

Over $4 million was raised.[11]

Big Freeze 3 (2017)

Big Freeze 4 (2018)

Big Freeze 5 (2019)

Big Freeze 6 (2020)

No Queen's Birthday match will be played this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a Big Freeze event has been confirmed to go ahead.[12]

Neale Daniher Trophy

Since the event's inception, the player adjudged best afield in the Queen's Birthday match has been awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.

Trivia
  • The most wins is eleven, by Collingwood.
  • The most consecutive wins is five, by Collingwood (2011-2015).
  • The largest crowd was 83,518 in 2018. The lowest crowd was 50,853 in 2013.
  • The biggest winning margin is held by Collingwood who had an 88-point victory in 2011.
  • The 2010 match is the only Queen's Birthday match to result in a draw and their first between each other since 1957.
  • The highest score was 141 points, by Melbourne in 2006. The lowest score by a team was 28 points, also by Melbourne in 2014.
  • The most best on ground awards a player has received is two, which was achieved by Dane Swan (2012-2013).
  • The most goals kicked by a Melbourne player in a single match is seven, which was achieved by Russell Robertson in 2007. The most goals kicked by a Collingwood player in a single match is also seven, which was achieved by Chris Tarrant in 2002 and Travis Cloke in 2015.
  • The youngest player to play in the game is Mark McGough of Collingwood who was 17 years and 353 days old (2002).
  • The oldest player to play in the game is Nathan Buckley of Collingwood who was 33 years and 321 days old (2006).
  • Mark Neeld represented both sides in a coaching capacity at Collingwood (2008–2011 as an assistant coach) and Melbourne (2012–2013 as head coach).[13] The 2013 Queen's Birthday match was Neeld's final game as Melbourne head coach; he was sacked a week after the match.[14]
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See also

References
  1. 1897 Match Results (Queen Victoria was born on 24 May)
  2. Memorable Moments Archived 17 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Collins, Ben (8 June 2015). "Best player to receive Neale Daniher Trophy". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  4. 2009 Fixtures: Club by Club Analysis
  5. Gough, Paul Dees don't deserve headline act
  6. Spits, Scott (6 June 2008) Dees risk losing Queen's Birthday clash; The Age
  7. Neale Daniher interview with Tim Watson (18 Aug 2014)
  8. Cure 4 MND: Tim Watson interviews Neale Daniher
  9. Freeze MND official site
  10. Big Freeze at the 'G: Stars take the plunge to raise huge sum
  11. Navaratnam, Dinny (13 June 2016). "Big freeze 2: Sheeds turns Tinkerbell as fans raise over $4m to help fight MND". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  12. Knox, David (25 May 2020). "Returning: AFL: The Big Freeze". TV Tonight. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  13. Natoli, David (6 June 2013). "Ultimate Queen's Birthday Preview". Collingwood Football Club official website. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  14. Ralph, Jon; Warner, Michael (18 June 2013). "Melbourne coach Mark Neeld has been sacked, and now the Dees want premiership mentor Paul Roos". Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

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