Series
Hate of origin: Inside football’s most intense rivalry
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from some old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach the Bombers’ captain.
‘You’re Essendon scum’: Inside the origins of footy’s most intense hatred
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach Bombers’ captain Zach Merrett. In a three-part series ahead of Friday night’s grudge match between the clubs at the MCG, key people on both sides have their say.
- Peter Ryan
Snipers and lines in the sand: How Lloyd’s bone-crunching bump got the wrong man
Brad Sewell dressed up as Matthew Lloyd for his buck’s night after the star Bomber decked him. But that was a rare moment of levity in a 40-year feud between Essendon and Hawthorn. We go inside the grudge matches.
- Peter Ryan
Steak with Scott, Japanese with Mitchell: Inside Merrett’s bid to defect to Hawthorn
Zach Merrett and his manager drew up a shortlist of three clubs. Hawthorn were keen. Here’s how his bid to join Essendon’s most hated rival escalated, and why it collapsed.
- Michael Gleeson
The biggest moments from the Bombers and Hawks rivalry over the years
The Bombers and the Hawks share a spiteful rivalry that dates back decades. These are some of the flashpoints.
How footy's most intense rivalry started
Crime writer, and Hawthorn tragic, John Silvester explains how the most intense rivalry in footy started.
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