The theme for the 26th Reclink Community Cup, held at Victoria Park in Melbourne on Sunday, was “let love rule”, in honour of the Gunditjmara and Bundjalung singer-songwriter Archie Roach.
And rule it did. Love was in the air, palpable among the many thousands of punters in attendance, for whom an event of this scale and conviviality (still) seems a social luxury after the last two years.
It was present in the cash registers and Eftpos touchpads as valuable money piled up for Reclink, the indefatigable organisation that rebuilds the lives of battling Australians through programs in art and sport.
It was, however, nowhere to be seen on the field.
The Rockdogs, made to wait three years to avenge their 2019 one-point loss in the annual amateur music industry charity football match, came out firing. They led by two goals at the end of the third quarter, but the Megahertz – representing independent radio – came storming back to take the game 7-6-48 to 7-4-46.
The match itself remained a basket case as one outrageous sequence of play followed another. The level of skill ranged wildly, although flair and bravery were never short in supply – not least in the wearing of short-shorts that seem to get shorter every year.
Felix Riebl of the Cat Empire and Liam McGorrie of Dorsal Fins/Ex-Olympian were among the biggest musical names to join the Rockdogs, who were undergoing a changing of the guard after regulars Tim Rogers and Kram of Spiderbait hung up the boots.
The Steve Connolly Medal for best on ground deservedly went to Megahertz’ Jarrod Kennedy, host of the late-night Saturday night shift on Triple R, whose red and white helmet provided station-branding as well as safety.
Music on the day came from Parsnip, Ausecuma Beats, Izy, Cash Savage and the Last Drinks, and Private Function.
If the day were a Venn diagram, then pretty much everybody – hipsters and footy diehards, well-doers and battlers, the old and the young – would all be grouped together in the middle section. All subgroups could be seen with their pants around their ankles as Ross Wilson from Daddy Cool made a surprise appearance off the interchange bench to help Private Function deliver his time-honoured sermon, Eagle Rock.
Jacob Kagan, of Melbourne band Carousel, was impressive before falling to a shoulder injury, and could be seen sporting a sling at the end of the match.
“I was having a great time until I fell over,” he said.
“I was pretty sore after the game in 2019, but I had three years to recover. Now I’ve got this and I’ve only got a year until the next one.”