23. Round 14. The coach of which AFL team was tragically killed in his home in the early hours of 3rd July 2015?
From Quiz AFL Season 2015
Answer:
Adelaide Crows & Adelaide & Crows
Phil Walsh, in his first year as head coach, was stabbed to death at home. He was aged fifty five. His son was charged in relation to his death. With a career spanning thirty three years, first as a player, then in coaching roles, he had finally achieved his dream of head coach. In his career he had been involved with seven of the leagues clubs.
The football world was in shock and mourning. The match between Adelaide and Geelong was cancelled, the first time in AFL/VFL history that had match was cancelled rather than postponed or rescheduled and the points split between the two. For the remaining matches on the weekend, all pre-game and post game ceremonies were scrapped, so too the playing of club songs and the banners the players run through. A video tribute to Walsh was played before the game and there was a minute of silence. Players wore black arms. At the end of each match both teams and coaches came together and stood arm in arm around the centre circle, alternating colours. Starting times of other matches were changed so that the memorial from Adelaide Oval could be shown across other arenas.
On social media tributes flew with the hashtags We Fly As One (the club motto) and Put Out Your Scarves trending. Memes were created along the lines of "I support (team name), but this weekend We Fly As One."
A makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and team memorabilia was set up by fans at Adelaide Oval. On the day the match was supposed to have been played, the gates were thrown open. A crowd of more than 15,000 representing fans of various AFL teams, had marched silently to the stadium. At 2.50pm local time, when the match was scheduled to start, the siren sounded. After a minutes silence the siren sounded again, the crowd clapped and cheered and shouted "Carn crows!" and then the tears flowed.
Tribute was paid to him in the opposing football code, the NRL, with a minutes silence being observed at all matches there as well.
Their first match back, in the following round, took place in Perth against the West Coast Eagles, where Walsh had been an assistant coach for five years. The team was given a standing ovation by the crowd. Adelaide were in the lead at the end of the first quarter but went on to lose the match. The players walked off the field in tears through an honour guard of family and friends flown in from interstate for the match to a heartfelt round of applause.
Their Round 16 match was the Showdown, held between the two Adelaide clubs. Walsh had been an assistant coach for Port Power in the preceding season. Both teams ran onto the field together, through a single banner with the words "Vale Phil Walsh". Adelaide won the Showdown. A one time only medal, named in his honour, was created for the match. Awarded to the fairest and best on field that day, it was presented by Walsh's daughter to Crows midfielder Scott Thompson.
A second tragic event, though not as widely felt came during Round 20 when the son of Hawthorn assistant coach Brett Ratten was killed in a car accident.