The AFL has spectacularly commemorated Anzac Day with lone bugler John Mansfield playing The Last Post at an empty Melbourne Cricket Ground.
With coronavirus restrictions having halted sporting leagues around the globe, the annual April 25th game between Collingwood and Essendon, one which generally attracts in excess of 90,000 fans, would not be played in 2020.
But instead of scrapping the tradition altogether, the AFL had Mansfield step onto the hallowed MCG turf, recite the Ode of Remembrance and perform a spine-tingling rendition of The Last Post.
"It was a bit eerie [but] it felt great. It felt like a bucket list thing, if I could use that expression," Mansfield told AFL Media. "It's something that I've always wanted to do and never had the opportunity to do it. It was fantastic to be able to do it.
"I was in the Army Reserve for 20 years ... and it was one thing that I always wanted to do, play at the Anzac Day commemoration service at the MCG."
On Friday, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he will be announcing the league's resumption date no later than May 11th.