The arrival of … I believe they’ll eventually get there — which will obviously ramp up the longstanding historical rivalry. We're labelling this rivalry dormant,for now.The clash that turned Anzac Day into the biggest home-and-away match of the season. While those clashes brought the rivalry into the 21st century, the three consecutive grand final meetings in the 80s were where this one was forged.Alive or dead? Which team do you want your team to beat more than any other?Some can be explained by geography, others by history, while some headline footy's biggest days.But not all rivalries are built equal; with time, some wounds heal and the animosity dies down, while new chapters can always be written to take a feud to the next level.We've taken a look at the the AFL's biggest rivalries, declaring some more spiteful than ever and others dead in the water.Without getting too much into the backstory about the Port Adelaide Magpies and the introduction of the first South Australian team into the comp, there's plenty of legitimate reasons for these two not to like each other.When the Power came into the AFL in 1997, there was already plenty of bad blood, with the first ever 'Showdown' going the way of the new boys, though the Crows had the last laugh, winning the flag that year and defending it in '98.High point of rivalry: Round 5, 2002. Home / The NFL's 10 Greatest Rivalries ; By Rob Doster, 11/16/12, 10:15 AM EST . They brought out the best of each other. We've taken a look at the the AFL's biggest rivalries, declaring some more spiteful than ever and others dead in the water. : We're calling this rivalry dead.
No matter when or where they’re played, these matchups just mean more to Chiefs fans.Rivalries in professional football come about under a variety of circumstances. An old AFL rivalry, the Dolphins won just three of their first eight matchups against the Bills before Don Shula arrived in Miami in 1970. "Head-to-head record: The Bombers hold the upper hand with a 98-65 lead.High point of the rivalry: While the 2004 'line in the sand game' was brutal, Essendon won by 12 goals. Read on to find out. While the battle between all-time great head coaches Andy Reid and Bill Belichick will continue, the Patriots’ loss of quarterback Tom Brady will take a lot of the juice out of this seemingly-annual matchup; in recent years, Mahomes challenging Brady as the league’s best quarterback has been the driving factor in this rivalry. Of all Kevin Sheedy's contributions to footy, this may be his finest work.It started with an unbelievable draw in 1995 and has grown into one of the biggest days on the football calendar.Head-to-head record: The Magpies hold a 132-103 lead, with four draws played out (Anzac Day record: Collingwood leads 15-9-1).High point of the rivalry: While David Zaharakis' last-gasp 2009 match-winner will live long in the memory, the inaugural draw, headlined by Sav Rocca's nine-goal effort, is what made this rivalry what it is.A pair of teams with vastly different stories but more than 100 years worth of meetings to find something to dislike about each other.They've met in seven grand finals over the years, the Dees walking away winners on six occasions.More recently, the clash is centred around another annual home-and-away blockbuster on the Queen's Birthday public holiday.Head-to-head record: Despite the grand final record, Collingwood lead overall 150-83, with five draws.High point of the rivalry: The Pies prevented Melbourne's dominant team winning four straight flags with a three-goal win in the 1958 decider.If you're after something fresher in the memory, a fairly poor Collingwood side knocking over the Dees in the final round of the 2017 home-and-away season, preventing them playing finals by the barest of margins was about as heartbreaking as it gets for Melbourne faithful.Alive or dead? "I thought Essendon were such a great adversary during our halcyon days, that they bring out the best in you. What a game.Alive or dead? Every fan, however, has an opinion of the greatest rivalry. You feel like your biggest nemesis, you owe them the most because they bring out the best in you. : This has looked more like a big brother-little brother situation in recent times, but hopefully puberty will strike soon to make things interesting. There's no real animosity and since 2011only one of the Queen's Birthday games have been decided by less than four goals.Sometimes you get along with your next door neighbours and sometimes you cant stand the sight of each other.When it comes to two of the biggest clubs in the land, it's the latter.Fueled by five grand final meetings in 10 years in the early part of the 20th century, the rivalry exploded into life with an all-out recruiting war through the '70s and '80s.Head-to-head record: Collingwood hold a handy 119-91 lead, while they've played out one draw.High point of the rivalry: The recruiting war between the clubs left the Tigers in financial ruin which hamstrung them for decades. : Alive and GWS are in a position to stake a claim as Sydney's best footy club, something the Swans aren't going to take lying down.By far the most random inclusion on this list but the recent history between the Dogs and the Giants gives it plenty of merit.Callan Ward, Ryan Griffen and Tom Boyd all switched clubs, while the on-field battles have been even tastier.That titanic 2016 prelim was followed up by a couple of spiteful, one-sided games towards the back end of 2019.Head-to-head record: The points are split with six wins each.High point of the rivalry: In the 2019 elimination final, GWS, led by Toby Greene, went after Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli in retaliation to a heavy bump he'd laid on Nick Haynes a few weeks earlier. While the Chiefs have dominated the series recently, Rivers has still managed to come into Arrowhead and ruin a few games. The Bombers also won the final round clash in 2009 which saw Matthew Lloyd's hit on Brad Sewell spark an all-in brawl. The Top 20 AFL Rivalries By contrast to almost everything else on this blog, to work out the top 20 AFL rivalries, I have not constructed any explicit weighting system. The NFL's 10 Greatest Rivalries. More recently, the 2018 preliminary final, featuring a Mason Cox cameo for the ages, was as big a game as we've seen for years.Alive or dead? : Deep in rugby league heartland, expect these two to bicker between themselves for a long time yet.Two Melbourne clubs, sharing the record for most VFL/AFL flags, sharing the spoils in six grand finals against each other - the tale of the tape on this rivalry is unmatched.While neither club has been where they'd like to be for around two decades, no amount of water under the bridge will see this subside.Head-to-head record: Carlton lead 124-118, with six draws.High point of the rivalry: The 'Baby Bombers' knocking off the more fancied Blues is 1993 was big but Carlton's one-point win in the 1999 prelim is hard to go by.