Definitely not cricket as Melbourne rivals clash

DERBY DAYS/AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL/Carlton Blues v Collingwood Magpies:IMAGINE IF, on one weekend each year, the GAA fixed it so that in championship football, Cork played Kerry, Dublin met Meath, Galway met Mayo and Tyrone played Derry, and in hurling Kilkenny and Wexford did battle while Cork faced Tipperary.

All on a single weekend. Rivalry overload.

In typical Australian fashion, while the rest of the world worries about local rivalries and tries to keep a lid on them, the Australian Football League has been so keen to stoke such fires they even have a designated "Rivalry Round".

This Friday, the Melbourne clubs Western Bulldogs and St Kilda Saints will play at the Telstra Dome, which is also venue for the meeting of two more Melbourne clubs, the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Hawthorn Hawks, the following day.

Also on Saturday, Perth's West Coast Eagles face the Fremantle Dockers - Fremantle being a port city just southwest of Perth.

The Brisbane Lions meet the Sydney Swans, and the Essendon Bombers (another club from a Melbourne suburb) meet yet another Melbourne side, the Carlton Blues.

Then, on Sunday, Geelong Cats (from a city 50 miles southwest of Melbourne) meet the Melbourne Demons, while, in yet another Melbourne derby, the Richmond Tigers meet the Collingwood Magpies. Finally, the Adelaide Crows will play Port Adelaide.

It makes for a bumper round in the AFL Premiership. Attendances will sky-rocket.

There are several ties that stand out, particularly Collingwood's meeting with Richmond - these are teams that developed their rivalry when they were both particularly strong in the 1920s and 1930s.

And for those teams and their supporters far removed from the power base that is Melbourne - we are thinking of the games between the two Adelaide clubs not to mention Fremantle's meeting with West Coast - the local derbies also represent huge days out.

But there is one glaring omission from the "Rivalry Round" - it does not actually include a meeting of the two fiercest rivals in Australian Rules.

That seismic clash does not happen until the next round, on Sunday week, when Carlton and Collingwood meet at the MCG.

The rivalry was in full flow when the working-class Collingwood met the middle-class Carlton in the 1910 Grand Final.

During the fighting that ensued, a football match broke out sporadically. In fact, on more than one occasion, the referee decided to ignore the mass brawls and carry on with the game regardless.

But the most famous game between the sides - and probably in AFL history - occurred when the teams met in the 1970 Grand Final in front of an all-time record 121,696 spectators at the MCG.

Collingwood's season had rendered them hot favourites to win the title and they had already beaten Carlton twice during the regular season - the second game ending in a 77-point annihilation.

And Collingwood began in a way that suggested they were going to dismiss Carlton easily again, claiming the first quarter 4-8 (32) to 0-3 (3).

By half-time, Collingwood had added another six goals to stretch their lead to a huge 44 points.

The game is known as the "handball, handball, handball game", echoing what the Carlton coach, Ron Barassi, is reputed to have told his players at half-time, the idea being to increase the pressure on their opponents.

Whatever he said, Carlton came screaming out of the blocks at the start of the third quarter and entered the final quarter just 17 points behind.

With five minutes left, Carlton took the lead for the first time, and eventually won by 10 points - 17-9 (111) to 14-17 (101).

In all, the teams have met in six Grand Finals, with Carlton winning five of the meetings, but it's unlikely Carlton and Collingwood will meet in the decider again any time soon - mainly because Carlton have been far from their best form in recent years.

Regardless, though, the meeting on Sunday week will bring out the fans in huge numbers in a city where Australian Rules is more a religion than a sport.