Long and short mates fight for AFL flag

When the long and the short of this grand final met, there was uncertainty.

Back then, at the end of the 1987 AFL season, the long – John Longmire – was a lump of a 16-year-old lad invited on North Melbourne’s trip to London for an exhibition game.

The short – Alastair Clarkson – was three years older and fresh from his first season with the Kangaroos when the pair were introduced at Melbourne airport.

They didn’t instantly bond on the flight to London before playing in what became known as The Battle of Britain – a slugfest of a footy match.

Clarkson was a central villain in the violence: he clocked Carlton’s Ian Aitken with a king-hit which broke the Blues player’s jaw. The brutal act shocked the teenaged Longmire.

“My first thoughts were ‘who the hell is this Clarkson bloke?'” Longmire has said.

Longmire soon got his answer: Clarkson was a competitive beast of a bloke, who Aitken has described as a “very angry small man – he always has been, and a leopard is not going to change its spots”.

Longmire, now Sydney’s coach, and Clarkson, his Hawthorn counterpart, soon became firm friends during their playing careers at North.

Clarkson, a kid from the small country town of Kaniva in Victoria’s Wimmera district, played 93 games for North from 1987-95 before joining Melbourne, where he added another 41 matches in the next two years.

Longmire, hailing from Corowa on the NSW side of the Murray River, played 200 games for North from 1988-99.

They were an odd couple.

Clarkson, 177cm tall, not overly blessed with natural skill; Longmire, 194cm tall, precociously talented and nicknamed Horse – the politically correct version is because of his strapping build.

But their mateship endures today. And both say it will endure tomorrow – no matter which of them wins the AFL premiership.

Longmire’s Swans and Clarkson’s Hawthorn are teams crafted in fashions far different to their playing characters.

Longmire the player was a champion goalkicker who won the Coleman Medal in 1999 when he slotted 98 goals – he booted 2.8 in the final match to miss the century milestone. But as a coach, his Swans are the AFL’s best defence.

Clarkson the player was a spare-parts utility – a defensively-minded midfielder or half-forward. But as a coach, his Hawks are the AFL’s best attack.

Longmire the coach is a measured man with monotone delivery, prone to understatement and no rash emotion – when he does lose his block in the coaches box, he politely covers his mouth.

Clarkson the coach is far from measured, his heart on his sleeve and fiery temper leading to a long rap sheet.

He’s had to apologise for abusing two opposition players; called a journalist a “cockhead”; taken another reporter to task with an expletive-filled rant.

In 2009, Clarkson was fined $15,000 for confronting and threatening Matthew Lloyd after the Essendon player thumped Hawthorn’s Brad Sewell.

In 2012, Clarkson infamously punched a hole in the wall of the MCG coaching box.

The very next day, acting as a runner for his son’s under nine footy team, he teed off at a junior umpires’ adviser. He was banned by the junior league for four matches and admitted anger issues.

“I’m no angel,” he said at the time, saying his persona was built by two things – family and football.

“They are the only things in my life that get me going. If there is anything to threaten either one of those, then I will fight to the death.”

Longmire and Clarkson coached against each other in the 2012 grand final, when the former took the prize. But their friendship remained.

“Nothing has changed too much, hey Horse?” Clarkson said on Friday.

Longmire agreed, saying Saturday’s grand final result won’t affect their mateship.

“We have known each other for a long time,” Longmire said on Friday.

“We are both reasonably competitive and we both try and do the best for our club.

“But ultimately tomorrow it’s not as much about Alastair and I. It’s more about the 22 (players) that run out … it’s about each club.

“I’m sure we’re both looking forward to it but we know that there is going to be disappointment. And I just hope that it’s not myself.”

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