WHEN WE WERE KINGS (LET'S RUMBLE) by Whispering Jack

The death last week of the great boxer Muhammad Ali brought to mind the documentary film about the "Rumble in the Jungle", the famous world heavyweight championship match between Ali and George Foreman. Although that fight, held in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) took place in 1974, I have often associated the title of the movie with another set of champions from an entirely different sport and in a slightly different time frame: one that began two decades earlier right here in Melbourne.

I refer to the champion football team that dominated this nation's leading sporting competition and won six premierships in the decade to 1964. When the Demons were kings, like Ali they tormented and dominated their adversaries and their main rival during that period was Collingwood.

The football world was in awe of the Demons of the time. They were admired for the way they pulled themselves off the mat in the early 1950s and rose rapidly with a young team to make the grand final in 1954 (the year in which Cassius Clay, as Ali was then known, made his amateur boxing debut) which they lost to Footscray before going on to win five of the next six flags, beating the Magpies in three of those season deciders. Like Muhammad Ali however, they were not infallible - they lost the grand final of 1958 (at about the time when Cassius Clay was graduating from high school) to Collingwood who thereby prevented them from equalling the Magpies' record of four premierships in a row.

Clay won the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics and in that year the Demons destroyed the Magpies on a wet grand final day, keeping them down to a record low two goals on that one day in September. It took them another four years to win their next premiership - the 1964 flag came in the same year that the "Louisville Lip" won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in an upset. An Australian lip, the great Magpie Lou Richards, compared the champion boxer with Melbourne's own champion skipper Ron Barassi, once dubbing him "Cassius Barassius".

But after 1964, everything changed. Clay converted to Islam and officially took on the name, Muhammad Ali. Here in Australia, Barassi accepted an offer to coach Carlton and soon after ... the Demons stopped being kings. Their reign was over. By 1966, they were close to rock bottom.

Ali's career also went into decline at that stage but not because he had lost his power. In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, he antagonized the establishment by refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military on the basis of his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. Ali was eventually arrested and in June of that year (in a week or so, it will be exactly 50 years ago) he was found guilty of draft evasion charges, sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his boxing titles. 

Years later, he was exonerated on appeal to the US Supreme Court and it took another three years before he would regain his title in the "Rumble in the Jungle". Ali boxed on until he finally did lose his power and he retired in 1980. 

Meanwhile, the Melbourne Football Club languished, the hard times continued and despite some better days and an intermittent return to finals football, its fortunes again spiralled downwards for the past decade - perhaps, in line with Ali's declining health as he struggled with the effects of Parkinson's Disease?

The Demons are slowly showing signs of recovery but sadly for Ali, it's all over now.

In a few days’ time, he will be laid to his final resting place in his home town of Louisville and fittingly a few days after that, the old football rivalry will continue on the other side of the world. Like Melbourne, Collingwood has also been struggling of late. Times have changed since the glory days of the fifties and sixties when we were kings. Having grown from twelve clubs to eighteen, the competition is intense. It's a jungle out there.

Let's rumble!

THE GAME

Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 13 June 2016 at 3.20pm (AEST)

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 81 wins Collingwood 146 wins 5 drawn

At the MCG Melbourne 61 wins Collingwood 79 wins 3 drawn

Last Five Meetings Melbourne 2 wins Collingwood 3 wins 

The Coaches: Roos 2 wins Buckley 2 wins

MEDIA

TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm)

Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand

THE BETTING

Melbourne $1.59 to win Collingwood $2.35 to win

LAST TIME THEY MET

Melbourne 16.6.102 defeated Collingwood 9.13.67 at MCG in Round 4, 2016 

The Demons, inspired by the great ruck/roving partnership of Max Gawn and Jack Viney, shot out to a five goal lead with a pulsating opening quarter and were never really troubled. They went on to win by 35 points.

TEAMS

MELBOURNE 

B: Jayden Hunt, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta

HB: Billy Stretch, Oscar McDonald, Josh Wagner

C: Tomas Bugg, Christian Petracca, Bernie Vince

HF: Jack Trengove, Jack Watts, Aaron vandenBerg

F: Sam Frost, Jesse Hogan, Chris Dawes

FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson

I/C: Ben Kennedy, Dean Kent, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney 

EMG: Jack Grimes, James Harmes, Viv Michie 

IN: Ben Kennedy, Jack Viney

OUT: Jeff Garlett (omitted), James Harmes (omitted)

COLLINGWOOD 

B: Brayden Maynard, Ben Reid, Jeremy Howe

HB: Marley Williams, Jack Frost, Josh Smith

C: Tom Phillips, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom 

HF: Jordan deGoey, Jesse White, Travis Varcoe

F: Ben Crocker, Mason Cox, Jarryd Blair

FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp

I/C: Levi Greenwood, Jonathon Marsh, Ben Sinclair, Jarrod Witts

EMG: Nathan Brown, Matt Goodyear, Alan Toovey

IN: Jonathon Marsh, Tom Phillips, Marley Williams, Jarrod Witts

OUT: Travis Cloke (omitted), Matt Goodyear (omitted), Adam Oxley (omitted), Alan Toovey (omitted)

We're gonna whup them Pies

with the sting of the Bees

and the speed of the Butterflies 

I hope we don't get sucked into rope a dope. When was the last time we won a big game when we had favourite status? 

4 minutes ago, america de cali said:

I hope we don't get sucked into rope a dope. When was the last time we won a big game when we had favourite status? 

1964

1 hour ago, america de cali said:

I hope we don't get sucked into rope a dope. When was the last time we won a big game when we had favourite status? 

Three weeks ago when we beat Brisbane.

1 hour ago, ManDee said:

1964

I was there on both occasions. My God I am old!

1 hour ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Three weeks ago when we beat Brisbane.

I wouldn't call that a big game.  Only the consequences if we lost would have been big.

Edited June 8, 20169 yr by america de cali

1 hour ago, america de cali said:

I wouldn't call that a big game.  Only the consequences if we lost would have been big.

I wouldn't call 11th v 12th a big game either.

1 minute ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I wouldn't call 11th v 12th a big game either.

Every game is a big deal if you are a dees supporter WJ.

However to the Footy world in general it is one poor side playing another.

We win this by minimum 60 points.  

5 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Three weeks ago when we beat Brisbane.

Ok Stan, but apart from beating the Lions what did the Romans ever do for us...

4 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I wouldn't call 11th v 12th a big game either.

QB is our big game of the year since we haven't seen finals action for a while and not likely this season. Doesn't matter where are pies are at. All other so called big games this season when we had a chance to get out feet into finals contention we have blown.

Edited June 8, 20169 yr by america de cali

we need to start winning or we will be 14th very soon.

pies will have a few back and will be fired up after last weekend.  

Dees by 2 points.

Let's not forget Neale Daniher and the battle against mnd? It's a huge game - the whole community getting together for a worthy cause. 

We need to dig in and fight as hard as Neale. CARN dees! 

Edited June 8, 20169 yr by JackoTheMuss
Spelling

3 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

We win this by minimum 60 points.  

lol hope so

 

2 hours ago, america de cali said:

QB is our big game of the year ....

it's now theirs TOO   Like  a GF ........

Just now, binman said:

Ok Stan, but apart from beating the Lions what did the Romans ever do for us...

"Peace?"

"Oh peace... SHUT UP!"

Kind of feeling a bit emotionless for this game at the moment.  Yeah, we'll make a couple of changes but none that makes me feel like it will swing the game any further in our favour.  I think the addition of Kennedy will be good, if he's picked that is, but anything else is a little 'meh' for me at the minute.  Might just be mid-season blues.

2 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

"Peace?"

"Oh peace... SHUT UP!"

Kind of feeling a bit emotionless for this game at the moment.  Yeah, we'll make a couple of changes but none that makes me feel like it will swing the game any further in our favour.  I think the addition of Kennedy will be good, if he's picked that is, but anything else is a little 'meh' for me at the minute.  Might just be mid-season blues.

Emotional burnout after Trenners last week maybe?

Just now, stuie said:

Emotional burnout after Trenners last week maybe?

Possibly, although I'm not sure.  I just know that for this entire season I've been pretty excited for each game, but this week?  Not so much.  I believe we're a huge chance of a win and going 6-6, but I just can't find that 'fire in the belly' so to speak.

It's gonna be a chiller and a thriller when we smash these gorillas in........................Jolimont.

I love that for once this game is their grand final not ours. Let's end their season.

21 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

We win this by minimum 60 points.  

Get very worried when you say this. Pretty sure you've said something pretty similar for all of the Port, Saints, and Bombers game.

Danger Danger Danger by no means is this a certainty!

PS  I want so much to beat this mob

Edited June 8, 20169 yr by jackaub

11 hours ago, Moneider96 said:

Get very worried when you say this. Pretty sure you've said something pretty similar for all of the Port, Saints, and Bombers game.

He says it for every game...

SEN have just quoted Roos as saying that Viney will be in the squad of 25 for QB.  Apparently is 50/50.

Miraculous recovery!

Or is it Roos messing with Buckley's currently vulnerable mind!

Hope he plays!!!