Tomorrow night Nine screen the 20th EJ Whitten Legends Game.
Football fans will be well entertained as both teams are full of AFL heavy hitters, some heavier than others since hanging up their boots.
The lineups for the two teams are set to impress, with Sam Kekovich coaching the Victorian team and Matthew Lloyd the captain. Mark Williams will coach the All Stars side, with Brownlow Medallist Shane Crawfordcaptaining for the second year.
He has been a part of some of the most memorable moments from the past 20 EJ Whitten Legends Games and now, in what is set to be a spectacular display of speed, agility and skill, Billy Brownless will make his big footy comeback. After announcing the news on The Footy Show last week, Brownless has been training hard to bring himself back to his former match glory.
Brendan Fevola, Michael O’Loughlin, Luke Ball and David Rodan are just some of the former AFL stars suiting up for a great cause.
Brothers Anthony and Sav Rocca will play for the Vics alongside Paul Licuria, Scott West and “rookie” David Wirrpanda who will be making his EJ debut.
Last year’s gun recruit for the All Stars, Abbey Holmes, is back to help the boys out alongside Jeff Farmer, Lenny Hayes, Tadgh Kennelly, Andrew Embley, and Legends veterans Mal Michael and Peter Burgoyne, who will all be adding another game to their belt.
After a less than impressive debut last year, Karl Stefanovic has somehow managed to make his way back into the All Stars lineup. According to his team captain Shane Crawford, it was a crucial decision by Stefanovic that lost them the game in 2014, so the host of Today is looking to make amends with a win this time around.
His co-host, Today sports presenter Tim Gilbert, will be making his Legends Game debut. In fact, he will be making his AFL debut, but he’s confident that a long career covering sport will give him the grounding he needs to make an impact on the ground.
The Block Foreboy, Dan Reilly, will return to Etihad Stadium for his second run in the Victoria side. He will be swapping his work shirt for the Big V alongside comedian Russell Gilbert.
And in celebration of the 20-year milestone, we will be counting down the Top 10 greatest moments from EJ Whitten Legends Games of past years as voted by the public.
Played in memory of the AFL’s “Mr Football”, Teddy Whitten, who lost his life to prostate cancer, theRay White EJ Whitten Legends Game raises money for prostate cancer research and brings men’s health issues to the fore.
Each year in Australia 20,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and close to 3,300 will die, which equals the number of women who die from breast cancer annually.
Since Mr Football’s death in 1995, the EJ Whitten Foundation has worked to increase national awareness and promote early detection of prostate cancer, as well as contributing to a range of research programs throughout Australia.
EJ Whitten Legends Game will air at 9.00pm on Tuesday, June 30 in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and 11:30pm on GEM in Sydney and Brisbane.
