Winmar, War & Footy In Times of Crisis

The People's Game

There is still a footy shaped hole in our hearts, so the boys from "The People's Game" are back to try and fill it with a retrospective look at our great game! On the agenda this week: "THE UNWATCHABLES" - The 1916 VFL Season Our Unwatchables segment this week is built not on a round, but on an entire season. The VFL competition had continued without change in 1914 and 1915, but by 1916 Australia's Gallipoli moment had happened, and lengthy campaigns in the Middle East and Europe were underway. The VFA and the South Australian Football League both cancelled their season, and in the VFL, Essendon refused to play unless the competition was amateur. That request was denied, and the Dons eventually pulled out on patriotic grounds, alongside Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda. That left the four working class, inner-city clubs - Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood, and Fitzroy - to play each other four times across twelve rounds, with all four making the finals... The boys explore this unique VFL season and discuss: •Should footy have gone ahead in 1916? •Was 1916 the ultimate "asterisk" premiership? •Does the 1916 season teach us anything about how to approach footy during the COVID crisis? FOOTY BOOK CLUB: Footy In Times Of Crisis The Guardian recently published two conflicting pieces about how to approach sport during the Coronavirus shutdown. Geoff Lemon in "Sport in Australia will survive Covid-19 but its importance will be diminished", writes that footy is not as important as we thought it was, while Jonathan Howcroft in "Fear of missing out becomes a reality in sport during COVID-19 crisis", reflects on all the sporting moments we're missing out on in 2020. With these pieces as background, the boys tackle this winter's big question: "Does sport "matter" right now? "THE REWATCHABLES" - The Winmar Moment This week is a special edition of the Rewatchables, looking back at Round 4, 1993, when St Kilda clashed with Collingwood at Victoria Park. Nick Place wrote about Nicky Winmar's famous post-game stand against racial vilification for the following day's edition of the Sunday Age, and he joins the boys to relive the day, explain how the story made it to print and to reflect on footy from the 90s.