AFL clubs Hawthorn and Collingwood have joined forces to create the 'Emergency Services Match' to help improve support and appreciation of Victoria's emergency workers.
The round-16 clash between the Hawks and Magpies this season, a Friday night encounter at the MCG, will be the inaugural match.
"Our emergency services men and women don their uniforms every day with little fanfare, but with an incredible amount at stake, and the Emergency Services Match is our opportunity to thank them for this work," Hawks president Jeff Kennett said.
"It is a very worthwhile cause.
"We as a society can't live without our first responders and we need (them) to be in the best health possible.
"What they are put through on a daily basis often affects a lot of them mentally, not only while they're serving but afterwards.
"... We should invest in the good health of those who do work that most of us would never, ever, want to do."
Funds raised will go to the Emergency Services Foundation, which supports emergency workers and their families in times of need.
Each club pledged to donate $25,000 at the game's launch at the MCG on Wednesday, with the state government to chip in $100,000.
"On the community's worst day we need our emergency services workers to be having their best day," Pies president Eddie McGuire said.
"We have to look after the people who do turn up like the superheroes that they are, but they are flesh and blood too.
"... We want to impact the people who are involved and to help people in the community understand what they do on a daily basis."
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