Watch the big men fly as the interests rates go up and up...

I look back with great fondness to a time when the preseason competition was not just a series of meaningless practice matches but a hotly contested competition played mid-week under lights at VFL Park.

Not only were the games hard fought contests but the competition was sponsored by caring and community minded companies such as WD & HO Wills the tobacco manufacturing subsidiary of Amatil in the guise of the Escort and Sterling Cup.

Who can forget the fantastic jingle “The Big men go up for the great Sterling Cup?”

I can clearly remember the excitement I felt watching the 1981 Escort Cup final between Essendon and Carlton. The family was huddled around the 20 inch television set watching in amazement as Timmy Watson jumped over a pack of 15 bewildered Carlton players to kick a match defining goal, even by mother cheered.

The night series held between the years 1977 to 1987 was played with passion and vigor. Who can forget the calm and poise shown by Kerry Good in the 1980 Escort Cup Grand Final to slot home the winning goal after the siren had sounded. Not only did Kerry have the pressure of winning the game on his shoulders but he also had a throng of Collingwood supporters charging at him yelling and screaming. I don’t know any person in Australia or for that matter the world who would not turn and run at the sight of a rabid pack of Collingwood fans. I know I get scared just looking at Joffa.

But what do the children of this generation get? They get the NAB cup, an insipid and meaningless competition which, only benefits the National Australia Bank to boast about how it has bled middle class Australians dry through excessive fees and charges.

The preseason competition has now sunk to such an appealing depth that coaches are now telling players to not kick a goal. Who in their right mind could imagine David Parkin ever telling Robert Klomp to go forward but not to kick a goal?

How do we fix the preseason competition? Well that is simple. We start by inviting teams such as Glenelg, Norwood, Claremont and Peel Thunder to play. We use the same rules as those in the Premiership season and all games are played under lights at the historic ruins of VFL Park in Waverly. Who cares if VFL Park is now in the middle of overpriced housing development? There would still be more atmosphere and passion in a crowd of 400 at Waverly than in the drunken crowd of 5,000 expats who sat and watched Collingwood and Adelaide in Dubai last month.