I have no doubt that Collingwood versus Carlton is still the biggest rivalry in AFL football. ANZAC Day may be the biggest build up and the interstate derbies may be the most brutal, but the Collingwood v Carlton rivalry is the most traditional contest. The battle between these 2 sides has never relied on ladder position, nor has it relied on gimmicks or promotion. Without fail, this game will always draw a big crowd and the atmosphere will always be electric.

However, clashes over the last 15 years have counted for very little. Collingwood was not a contender towards the latter part of the 90’s, whilst Carlton was at its worst throughout the 2000’s. Thankfully, we are now at a stage where both the Magpies and the Blues are finals contenders, and victory carries even more weight.

To label age old rivalries such as Carlton v Collingwood as meaningless in the modern era is to label similar historic bitter rivalries from other codes such as Celtic v Rangers, Liverpool v Everton, Barcelona v Real Madrid, Aust v NZ (Rugby), Aust v Eng (Cricket) as meanignless...
This just isnt the case... Unless you're a part of it, either as a player or as a supporter, its hard to understand the extent of what these games mean...