Essendon vs Collingwood LIVE: All the latest Anzac Day match updates from the AFL

Essendon fans couldn’t have asked for a better start. Their team moves the ball with ease, consistently getting more numbers than the Pies, and this time it’s Darcy Parish with the sausage roll.

Another quick drive into the end zone brings rewards for the Bombers as Harrison Jones collects the loose ball and heads home from another acute angle.

They just played the ball from deep in their own half to Jake Stringer in the front pocket with three precise kicks. He makes a long shot from a very difficult angle. To say he’s happy with it would be an understatement.

The Pies boss is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve and that’s exactly what he did moments before the game began.

The Bombers win the first rebound through Sam Draper, who gets both hands on the ball but can’t make good use of it and there’s a quick ball before Essendon quickly brings it forward and Kyle Langford flicks of true foot. First blood for Brad Scott’s men.

The crowd observed the traditional period of silence, the Last Post and the national anthems of New Zealand and Australia were played, with a flyover at the Advance Australia Fair, and we are all ready for the blockbuster .

We’re about 10 minutes from kickoff and the veterans are waving to the crowd as they complete a circuit around soccer’s most famous field.

Some of them will be old enough to remember Anzac Day in 1959, which fell on a Saturday when all VFL matches were played that weekday afternoon.

Instead of playing the tour, all matches were postponed for a week due to restrictions in place at the time. They were lifted in 1960, when the first VFL clashes took place on one of the most sacred days in the Australian calendar.

Radio host Greg Martin called for the highly controversial change which, if it became reality, would almost certainly make fans more furious.

Here’s why he wants the tradition removed…

The Essendon boss said today was a “day of reflection” for him and his family.

“Dad did several tours in Vietnam as an Army helicopter pilot and he came back from Vietnam and ultimately passed away at age 41 from injuries sustained,” he said before the game.

Anzac matches always attract a huge turnout – and this year is no different, as you can see in the photo below.

However, it was not taken this afternoon. Surprisingly, the photographer took the image around nine o’clock this morning.

Talk about wanting to make sure you don’t miss anything…

Please join us for our coverage of today’s highly anticipated Bombers vs Magpies Anzac Day clash from the MCG.

Stay with us for all the latest updates, scores and drama from one of the first days of the AFL calendar.