Little River Band - Playing To Win (VFL Football version)

Released December 1984, this was the only chart single off the Playing To Win album - reaching No.59 on the Australian Top 100.
Channel 7 used this single as it's football promo for its VFL coverage in early 1985

[@JCStorm76]

Can’t believe this song only got to 59. It’s a classic and goes really well with this video

[@59771006]

This song was was recorded when John Farnham was the lead singer of the Little River Band

[@BrendanMacsMusic]

That song + that content = kick arse. Very very Aussie.

[@zenmasterfu]

tight shorts, mullets and synthesizers ... awesome!

[@quincywagstaff1243]

My favourite footy music clip; loved it as a kid and love it now.

[@melissarichardson8930]

This awesome! If footy was still like this I’d be watching every game, now it’s just so PC and if there’s a little bump people just sook! Man up! You get paid bucket loads to play these days!

[@aussie80s]

It was taped off TV in 1985.

[@dhenderson1810]

Footy and Farnsy- they just go together!

[@andrewskinner8560]

That's because Aussie Rules and John Farnham are awesome.

[@macgyverrda]

Still come back to that for a bit of hype. Fantastic song with perfect editing to bring the package together. What a blast from the past.

[@wilks6]

Brilliant. The greatest footy/music clip there ever was. Every player/fan under 30 should be sat down and made to watch this. The golden era of footy, action, flair, characters, Jacko...., tough , uncompromised footy the way it should always have been played. Anyone got Demetriou's email address? He REALLY needs to see this. Thank you for posting this.

[@garygroundwork]

this was when footy was worth watching. so sad what has happened tot he game...

[@croweater75]

garygroundwork nailed it!!

[@newdiggszweiundsiebzig]

Has gotten far worse than when you posted this comment!

[@scotthowe4677]

Wow!

[@dhenderson1810]

I wish I had seen this intro to the footy in 1985, but I was living in Brisbane, QLD, at the time, and was lucky if we got to see one game of footy a week.

[@tikadolla]

Mate, I'm a rugby league man north of the Murray, but this is just pure gold. Love the 80's. Thanks for the post!

[@croweater75]

As a lad that grew up playing this sport but ended up playing all 3 codes very unsuccessfully this era of what I used to call FOOTY but I now call Aussie rules was as good as it gets

[@Hurricane32]

That would be Robbie Muir. They called him Mad Dog for a reason

[@oztopgun]

Thanks Aussie, another good one, Pity the don't play footy like they used to anymore. For all the slick marketing, big money and spin doctoring, a game in name only!

[@MRHenHen]

I can see why they called Mickey Conlan the tank 😊

[@hawksfreak]

Is it me or do the 70's and 80's AFL players look a lot tougher than the players now days even though back then they looked like they didn't have much muscle.

[@croweater75]

Carla Kosky no carla sport in general was much greater and less forgiving on all levels

[@KetchaWill]

Also 7’s ATCC opening in 1996.

[@williamg2826]

Absolute Gold!🤟🤪🤟

[@onoyoudont]

This has been on KZbin for 13 years and only has this many views? Come on all you middle aged men, share the s..t out of this.

[@stephenfitzpatrick1770]

Would love to see 2019 MRP give their decisions on some of those incidents. When footy was footy

[@alfies1girl]

Was thinking exactly the same thing as I watched...pfft...I love football but geez it's such a different game nowadays.

[@MatthewCaligari]

AFL is the best sport on the planet ! So cannot wait to rock the G this Saturday as the Hawks win the flag !

[@tonylynch9061]

Matthew Caligari It was a great deal better back then.

[@braidy64]

I left OZ 6 years ago, I miss the aussie rules.

[@bensmizz]

80'S!!!!!!!!!!! MATE. gold.

[@Yutubetopteensingers]

couldnt agree with you more, that video sent a chill through me for about 2 minutes solid... what a highlight package of champions....

[@croweater75]

this IS THE GAME I GREW UP WITH

[@kdmoccd]

one of my earliest memmories of football is this clip in 85, brilliant. the person who put this here is a legend. carn the hawks

[@jerrylehky3472]

Aaah! Classic Jacko,Crackers,MadDog et-al from Footy's G(l)ory Day(z). Nice 2C South's John Roberts, (in Pratts old #10),among the other great footage! Gone are the days.🏉🏉🏉. 🍒 BloodRed.🍒

[@krazynite]

The way football should be played now....basketball now!!

[@subatomic10]

Mark ' Jacko ' Jackson was grouse !

[@rda51]

So great!

[@kdmoccd]

the days when footy was exactly that, not a business like these days

[@krazynite]

Well said!! Yeah it lost me a while ago. No more bumps or characters anymore.

[@williamg2826]

Back when the rules were the rules, this is how the game was played in all states. With passion, guts and glory. Money changed the game and the way it's played. These days you can't even afford to watch it on the T.V.

[@Davez621]

00:45 - It's Jacko!! Oi!

[@jamesperkins191]

RIP HOLDEN :, (

[@BradHabits]

ripper track, ripper clip

[@dancinghobo6395]

330 games 900+ goals onballer.... lethal Leigh Matthews is the GOAT hands down

[@adriandevil7232]

Gary Ablett has entered the chat

[@jonburrows9816]

Aussie version of Dire Straits "Walk Of Life" also from 1985.

[@59771006]

I love my footy

[@nick-gfy]

127 free kicks in 2018

[@croweater75]

And a few lawsuits

[@stephenfitzpatrick1770]

@@croweater75 Definetly quite a few suspensions and MRP deliberations in there. Ah, the good old days

[@aussie80s]

Trevor Barker of St.Kilda. Paul Van Der Haar appears at 1:56

[@d9mxh1]

aussieaussieaussie, oioioi....pretty impressive. I, along with my brother, have been looking for this type of stuff for years. Channel 7 tell us they haven't got it anymore. I too have a large collection of both tv footage and memorabilia. I have only just started converting to DVD, and have no intention of loading on to this. But, would like to discuss....

[@footyobsessed]

wow

[@nickhanlon9331]

18 teams now. 12 teams then,.33.3% of the players wouldn't got a game back them. FACT.

[@BradiatorG]

Remember the video, FOOTY BRAWLS? I have that here somewhere on VHS, That and Seven's Magic Moments.

[@aussie80s]

Hello Brad, I have around 1,000 hours of VFL footage from the 1980's. This includes a number of Channel 7 promos from Up There Cazaly (1979) onwards. I intend to dig them all out at some stage and upload them. I can make a copy on DVD but as I am always looking to get more VFL footage I would prefer to trade rather than sell. If you have any VFL footage for trade please contact me via messages and I will get in touch.

[@croweater75]

Let's have it brother

[@BradiatorG]

Awesome Footy Flashback...!!! Any chance of getting a copy on DVD? Let me know! I Lllllllove it! Brad.

[@tonylynch9061]

when Aussie rules was real and real men playing it, unlike now with it being so PC.

[@BrendanMacsMusic]

YES!!!!

[@hereticNick]

Blonde hair Mark Harvey @ 1:11

[@paulgough9874]

can't stop watching this ahead of the tigers v cats prelim on friday night. go tigers.

[@xj6001991]

Lost Melbourne brought me here

[@danhemming6624]

Ahhhhhhh Holden, Australia's.......errrr.....ummmm.....Holden? what's that?

[@jonburrows9816]

2:50 Kevin Ablett.

[@artieziff1732]

Ah yes! I remember Aussie rules. Not whatever game it is they play today 🤔

[@kingbrude]

Great vid, gotta love footy in the 80's, couldve done without the Leon Baker celebration tho. (It didnt hapen, It didnt hapen, It didnt hapen)

[@hakkenadventure]

@2:45 get out of me waaaay! back when AFL was a tough sport :'(

[@mikepumpkin]

Anyone know the blonde guy taking a screamer at 2.19? van der haar? agree the 70's and early 80's was a golden age

[@newdiggszweiundsiebzig]

2:19 is Trevor Barker of the Saints. Died of cancer several years ago... Paul van der Haar (Essendon) at 1:54

[@croweater75]

Goodnight timmy watson

[@1979RayDay]

I miss State of origin :(

[@croweater75]

So do i ray...SA for the win

[@croweater75]

Ohhhh sweet baby jesus that is football....it was ok when i left what the fuck happened???

[@dhenderson1810]

I know who likes today's football better than the 70's and 80's.St, Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Sydney fans. That's who.At least nowadays, they have a chance of finals, GFs and flags. Back in the 70's and 80's, chequebook recruitment ruled, and only the richest teams made finals. If you didn't go for Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon, Richmond or North Melbourne, footy was pretty bleak for you. St. Kilda were collecting wooden spoons in the 80's. They were playing in GFs in the late '00s.Sydney Swans and the Bulldogs actually made Grand Finals and won them, unheard of in the 70's and 80's. Ask those teams supporters how they enjoyed the 70's and 80's.However, from 1999 to today, every single AFL side (bar Gold Coast) has played in at least one Grand Final, and GWS add to that number tomorrow. So, with more sides than back then, more teams have played on the Big Day than back in the 70's and 80's, where there were twelve teams and only four or five teams every made it. Football back then may have been less congested, and tougher, but today's football is more competitive, and you build a team by good recruiting, not by who has more money. Also, a lot of the thuggery that pervaded the 70's and 80's has been stamped out of footy, and that is a good thing.

[@newdiggszweiundsiebzig]

This is a reasonably good précis of what has happened, but I think the sentiment of the majority of people commenting here is about the actual SPECTACLE of the game these days... it has become too refined, totally dominated by negative tactics (especially implemented by a handful of coaches - Roos, Clarkson, Malthouse and Lyon) and a determination to not allow any type of creative spark or instinctive play, but rather a win-at-all-cost, dour, “stick to the structure” type of play which makes for an awful spectacle. The players are also extremely fit these days and that has made it much easier for them to get to more contests - thus making the congestion problem worse. I would like to see a balance between what used to be seen (in this video, for instance) and the “equalised” modern conditions. Of course, we have to contend with the AFL - which is essentially a corrupt organisation - whose sole interest is to make money.

[@dhenderson1810]

@@newdiggszweiundsiebzig I feel that the "win-at-all-costs" dour football has happened for three reasons:- -The media scruitinize everything these days, and criticise teams, coaches and players who lose. So there is more focus on the result, rather than the spectacle of the game. -West Coast won flags in the '90's with dour defenses, and Sydney won in 2005 by flooding. If extreme defense didn't win flags, teams would go back to attacking football, but often the flag is won by the team who has had the least amount of points kicked against it during the year, whereas exciting teams like Geelong in the '90s, didn't win Grand Finals with that type of football. - Coaches are obsessed with winning, because their future depends on it. They aren't employed to provide a spectacle, but to win "at all costs", or it is them on the chopping block. If clubs were banned from sacking a coach until the end of their contract, it would give the coach more security, and they may be freed up to allow the team to play more creative football.

[@aussie80s]

Wayne Johnson

[@qqq2211]

sad whats happen to the V.F.L A.F.L but who's the blame for the changes ?? the A.F.L or us ?? us we should of turned out back on the game not rock up to the games without us there is no a.f.l

[@mikepumpkin]

oh yeah, think he passed away some time ago

[@EasytargetSchuey]

LOL - saw at least 4 different 50m penalties that should have been given then...yet they still kept on playing! Thats how the game should be played!!

[@janinemurphy3214]

Anyone have the vfl clip with bonnie tyler i need a hero..that rocked

[@ryanbasilio9548]

1:40... That guy looks peed off.😜

[@johnd2709]

Cyril > Little River Band

[@TheBane89]

I've seen some junior games where they play harder then the AFL. Its a bloody joke! Its getting as bad as soccer. Well, maybe not THAT bad...