E. J. Whitten Legends Game

Victoria
Sport	Australian rules football
Type	Charity event
Teams	VictoriaAll Stars
First meeting	1996
Latest meeting	2025
Broadcasters	Nine Network (1996–2015) Seven Network (2016–present)
Statistics
Most wins	Victoria (12)
Largest victory	All-Stars – 24 points (2015)
Largest goal scoring	Victoria, All-Stars – 275 points (2019)
Longest win streak	Victoria – 3 games (2012–2014)
Current win streak	All Stars – 1 game (2025)

TheLegends Game for Prostate Cancer, previously known as theE. J. Whitten Legends Game, and currently known as theFour 'N Twenty Legends Game for Prostate Cancer for sponsorship reasons, is acharityall-starAustralian rules football match played in Australia. Retired star players were reunited, along with selected non-footballing celebrities, in aState of Origin interstate game betweenVictoria and a composite side known as theAll-Stars. The game was contested annually from 1996 to 2019 and played underSuperules.

Originally a sporting contest attracting interest from spectators, in later years it became a form ofsports entertainment, including increased celebrity appearances, scripting andmanipulated outcomes. The match was cancelled during theCOVID-19 pandemic, but it made its return in 2025.

E. J. "Ted" Whitten, a formerFootscray Football Club player who died ofprostate cancer in 1995, was regarded as one of the greatest-ever players of the game. He was also passionate aboutState of Origin football. With his enthusiasm and ability to keep in the media spotlight, Ted had kept State of Origin going for many years, and his emotional farewell at theVictoria vsSouth Australia game at the MCG in 1995 has persisted as an enduring symbol of not only State of Origin passion but Australian rules football in general. Soon after his death, the popularity of interstate football waned, and the last such game was played in 1999.

When he died, his son,Ted Whitten Jr., launched a foundation for research into prostate cancer, and the Legends Game raises money for the foundation.

The first-ever Legends Match was played at theWestern Oval, home of theFootscray/Western Bulldogs, EJ Whitten's club. Most of the games have beentelevised free-to-air in Victoria and South Australia. Due to popularity of the event, later games were moved to bigger venues. Since 2003, the game has been held atDocklands Stadium.

In 2007, the organisers included female participants for the first time:Daisy Pearce andShannon McFerran of theVictorian Women's Football League. Since then, it has become one of few high-profile mixed-gender-friendly events.^[1]

On average, the event was raising A$1.2 million revenue per year for the five years prior to 2016, with in the order of $100,000 profit for the foundation.^[2][3] In 2016, theSeven Network secured the rights to televise the match from 2016 to 2020, and the match was moved to the football-free weekend between the final round of the premiership season and the first week of the finals series.^[4][5]

In 2018, the match was played atAdelaide Oval. This was the first game played in Adelaide since 1999.^[6]

In 2019, the match was contested under theAFLX format—a high-scoring format played on a rugby-sized field—and was played atAAMI Park in Melbourne.^[7]

The match was not held in 2020–2021 due to theimpacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic, and from 2022 to 2024, there was no indication that the match would return in the future.^[8]

In July 2025, it was announced that the game would return as theFour 'N Twenty Legends Game for Prostate Cancer in a similar format to previous years.^[9] The game saw a series-record attendance of 31,320 and led to the hospitalisation of comedianDave Hughes after he was physically targeted by other players and was given broken ribs and a punctured lung.^[10]

The game itself is atongue-in-cheek affair, with games often involving non-football-related celebrities such as the comedy duoHamish & Andy; the comedianRussell Gilbert, known in the games for his comical on-field antics; and the fictional characterBryan "Strauchanie" Strauchan, played byPeter Helliar. The game is frequentlymanipulated by the players, timekeepers, and field umpires in order to make for an exciting conclusion. Because of this, the average winning margin is only 7 points, including 5 draws, and official betting is disallowed.

The series has featured many memorable highlights over the years, including Strauchanie's various antics, usually involvingstaging for a free kick;^[11] a 75-metrebarrel fromJimmy Bartel that resulted in a 10-pointsuper goal;^[12]Jonathan Brown kicking a difficult pocket goal after the siren due to the umpire "not hearing the siren" (possibly a reference tosirengate);^[13]Anthony Rocca turning back the clock with a massive torpedo goal from inside the centre square;^[14] Russell Gilbert changing hisguernsey to the opposite team's late in the game to score a goal for the other team (which became arunning gag);^[15]Derek Kickett kicking the ball over his head from the right forward pocket for an unlikely goal;^[16] andCraig Hutchison's so-called "greatest goal in AFL history" in 2011 that involvedselling candy to amooningRyan Fitzgerald before kicking a banana goal from nearly 40 metres out, which has since garnered more than 1.9 million views onYouTube alone.^[17]

Wins: All-Stars: 11, Victoria: 13, Draws: 1 (4 drawn at the final siren, of which kick-offs decided 3)

Biggest Win: All-Stars by 24 points in 2015.

Highest Score: All-Stars and Victoria (275), both in 2019.

Lowest Score: All-Stars and Victoria (38), both in the drawn 2000 match.

Most Man of the Matches:John Platten 2 (All-Stars),Matthew Lloyd 2 (Victoria)

• Legends Game for Prostate Cancer official website

• Cancer fundraisers
• All-star games
• Australian rules football matches
• Annual sporting events in Australia
• Australian rules football competitions in Australia
• Seven Sport

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