The Preview | Round 13 V Essendon
Back to Friday night football for the Carlton Football Club. This time, it's against another arch-rival, the Essendon Football Club. After falling short against the Pies just under a fortnight ago, the Blues will be looking for revenge and to upset the Bombers 150-year anniversary. The Bombers, in the midst of a turbulent period in the history of their football club, will be looking to give their fans something to cheer about as these two historic rivals go to battle one more time.
While the ledger isn’t as close as the Carlton-Collingwood, it’s still unbelievably tight for two teams that have played so many games against each other, with Carlton leading 126-118 across both home and away games as well as finals. However, the ledger across those games in September is dead even. With 7-7 across finals and 3-3 in the big dance.
These two clubs, similar to Carlton and Collingwood, are very, eerily similar. Massive fan bases, ‘working-class’ roots, starved of success for a long time, and still, to some extent, living in the past. This is what makes a rivalry, this is what makes great rivalries.
It’s like Manchester United and Liverpool. The two clubs are so similar, with their only difference being their location. It’s the bragging rights of being the better ‘one’ out of the two. It’s the bragging rights that twins all around the world have. Everyone wants to be the better twin, and everyone wants to be the better club.
The more similar to someone or something you are, the more you want to be better than them because the more you have in common, there are more things to have bragging rights about. This is particularly why, with all due respect, no one cares, or has a rivalry with Melbourne. A club that personifies the upper-class, and the poshness that this country was partially built on. Very few clubs were born and have been bread the same way, so there isn’t as much, if any, animosity there.
There is a true, real, deep hatred that is present between these two clubs. This isn’t football based, like the Western Bulldogs and GWS Giants, this is cultural. The Carlton Football haven’t moved from their home, Princes Park, since they arrived in 1897. Essendon, however, sold their sold and moved from Windy Hill to the airport, for what reason? Well, we are still trying to figure that out.
Like when siblings fight, when in the heat of battle, there is no one on planet earth that you want to see fall more than your sibling. It’s the same on the Footy field. Carlton and Essendon are heated beyond any spectrum, and just like with siblings, there is nothing you want to see more than to see the other fall.
However, like siblings, when it’s all said and done, when you cross back over that white line, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Carlton wants to verse Essendon, and Essendon wants to verse Carlton. Because without this, sport is meaningless. Without rivalry, without hatred, without animosity, sport is pointless. This is why, no one, would have it any other way.
However, beyond all of this, there is football hatred behind this. From the 1993 Grand Final to the 2011 Elimination Final, these two clubs have had glorious games against each other. While from a Carlton perspective, the 99 Prelim would be hard to top, there is no doubting that these two sides have had classic matches go for, and against them.
And that moves forward till today, where both clubs are in a near opposite position to each other. Carlton is sitting pretty in the top 8 with a record of 8-3, Patrick Cripps is in Brownlow Medal form and Charlie Curnow is a real chance at taking the Coleman home. Whereas the Dons, well. After making finals last year, they sit rooted to the bottom 4, only winning two games this season and in the midst of mid-season review.
It’s a dark time at Bomber land, however, this doesn’t mean Carlton will win this at a canter. The Bombers last win came against the Hawks. A game where the emotions were high and the pure adrenaline and rush of the game was able to get the Dons over the line.
If there’s any game where the Dons will be fired up and willing to do anything to win, it will be Friday night. There will be no taking this game lightly, despite the inclusions the Blues have had, despite the buzz around the club, Carlton will need to be fully focused this week, otherwise, the Bombers will make them pay big time.
