Surely the Bulldogs win is the greatest ever triumph in AFL/VFL history

[Davo23]

I would put us a number 2. Leicester was clear number 1. Sharks should be fifth.

Donald Trump is No 1!

In more ways than ONE.

 

[SCRAY72]

Greatest win in 2016, except for:

1. Leicester City - EPL
2. Cronulla Sharks - NRL
3. Chicago Cubs - MLB
4. Cleveland Cavs - NBA
5. Andy Murray - ATP


and

6. Donald Trump - USA


2016 - the year of the underdog.

Ireland beating the All Blacks was also a massive effort

 

[bullish23]

Ireland beating the All Blacks was also a massive effort

TBF they've come pretty close the last few years (incl a draw) before finally cracking it in 2016

 

[domus]

Winning it from 7th spot knocking over who they did including two away trips has got to be the greatest ever feat in AFL/VFL history. Id say that tops the lions/hawks 3 peat too.

Winning 4 finals from 7th spot speaks for itself.

Lucky to be playing in a year where there were no standout teams. The bye helped too. Hard to be impressed with a team which we should have beaten twice in what was a shocking year for us. Good luck to them though.

 

[ManOfClay]

Lucky to be playing in a year where there were no standout teams. The bye helped too. Hard to be impressed with a team which we should have beaten twice in what was a shocking year for us. Good luck to them though.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda, didn't

 

[Bulldog1954]

Lucky to be playing in a year where there were no standout teams. The bye helped too. Hard to be impressed with a team which we should have beaten twice in what was a shocking year for us. Good luck to them though.

Hahaha, we were very lucky that no one could beat us when it mattered. There was a stand out team, the one that won the premiership

 

[Davo23]

Ireland beating the All Blacks was also a massive effort

Good get, mate.

Ireland hadn't beaten the All Blacks, ever.

 

[domus]

Shoulda, woulda, coulda, didn't

You know we had four players on the bench for much of the second half when we were running all over you and the Etihad game went down to the last seconds-and we had a very depleted team that night.

 

[Golden_6]

Lucky to be playing in a year where there were no standout teams. The bye helped too. Hard to be impressed with a team which we should have beaten twice in what was a shocking year for us. Good luck to them though.

Better put an asterisk next to our flag then? We are just not worthy of being a premiership team...right?

 

[domus]

Better put an asterisk next to our flag then? We are just not worthy of being a premiership team...right?

Nonsense. It was a very good effort. It's just hard for me to be blown away when the Dogs were so unimpressive on the two occasions I watched them live.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Hahaha, we were very lucky that no one could beat us when it mattered. There was a stand out team, the one that won the premiership

I predicted (on this site) correctly both qualifying final winners would lose their prelims, you got lucky, very, very lucky in fact.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

I predicted (on this site) correctly both qualifying final winners would lose their prelims, you got lucky, very, very lucky in fact.

Yeah its all luck ... with a bye any team could flog the Eagles in Perth, knock out the 3 time Premiers, beat the Giants in Sydney and the top of the ladder Swans (who I'd swear were in the same boat as us)

 

[Bulldog1954]

I predicted (on this site) correctly both qualifying final winners would lose their prelims, you got lucky, very, very lucky in fact.

I find it interesting that Geelong and GWS both lost their preliminary finals purely because of the bye, despite the two preliminary finals bearing no similarities to each other. It seems the bye is to blame for Geelong starting terribly before improving as the game wore on and for GSW starting reasonably well but finishing poorly.

When you predicted both Geelong and GSW would lose, was it because they would be get smashed early like Geelong were? Or was it because they would get overran late like GWS were? Or was it just a blanket rule that both would lose because of the bye? Both games were played out completely differently suggesting that either the bye actually impacted GWS and Geelong in completely different ways, or dare I say it they lost largely because their opponents were just better on the day?

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I find it interesting that Geelong and GWS both lost their preliminary finals purely because of the bye, despite the two preliminary finals bearing no similarities to each other. It seems the bye is to blame for Geelong starting terribly before improving as the game wore on and for GSW starting reasonably well but finishing poorly.

When you predicted both Geelong and GSW would lose, was it because they would be get smashed early like Geelong were? Or was it because they would get overran late like GWS were? Or was it just a blanket rule that both would lose because of the bye? Both games were played out completely differently suggesting that either the bye actually impacted GWS and Geelong in completely different ways, or dare I say it they lost largely because their opponents were just better on the day?

TBH I thought they'd get smashed early, no one's perfect.

But I did predict both qualifying winners would lose the prelims based on the extra bye.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I find it interesting that Geelong and GWS both lost their preliminary finals purely because of the bye, despite the two preliminary finals bearing no similarities to each other. It seems the bye is to blame for Geelong starting terribly before improving as the game wore on and for GSW starting reasonably well but finishing poorly.

When you predicted both Geelong and GSW would lose, was it because they would be get smashed early like Geelong were? Or was it because they would get overran late like GWS were? Or was it just a blanket rule that both would lose because of the bye? Both games were played out completely differently suggesting that either the bye actually impacted GWS and Geelong in completely different ways, or dare I say it they lost largely because their opponents were just better on the day?

I thought early TBH, not trying to be a smartass here, but I did predict it, and I won a fair bit of money on it, our 1990 flag was the same FWIW.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I'm not saying the Doggies wouldn't have won it under traditional means, TBH I tipped the WBD to win a fair way out, I wasn't confident enough to back em that early though.

 

[MagpieJo]

One this for sure, baiting bulldog fans is the easiest bet in town right now!

Just enjoy it guys, who gives a * what anyone else thinks! You ain't going to change their minds! But you sure are adding to their enjoyment with your responses!

 

[ManOfClay]

One this for sure, baiting bulldog fans is the easiest bet in town right now!

Just enjoy it guys, who gives a **** what anyone else thinks! You ain't going to change their minds! But you sure are adding to their enjoyment with your responses!

I actually enjoy the arguments against the dogs flag's legitimacy.

Gives great ammunition to know so many Sydney, crows, Saints and other fans have taken it to heart

 

[_Mike_]

You know we had four players on the bench for much of the second half when we were running all over you and the Etihad game went down to the last seconds-and we had a very depleted team that night.

We were pretty ordinary in patches through the year and not the best side going around. For that Id have Sydney as the most consistent team through the season.

But come finals, season form becomes irrelevant and it's always the case of who plays the best footy when it matters. Traditionaly we've seen top3 teams win the flag but this year and finishing places was more of an anomaly.

Teams below 4th in this 8 structure aren't meant to win flags for a reason

 

[Saint]

Surely Fitzroy coming from last in the war years to win the flag in the finals was a greater comeback than any of the current underdog stories?

 

[Mofra]

We were pretty ordinary in patches through the year and not the best side going around. For that Id have Sydney as the most consistent team through the season.

But come finals, season form becomes irrelevant and it's always the case of who plays the best footy when it matters. Traditionaly we've seen top3 teams win the flag but this year and finishing places was more of an anomaly.

Teams below 4th in this 8 structure aren't meant to win flags for a reason

This.
The Swans were clearly the best team during the H&A season, we clearly weren't, fortunately we were the best team during the finals.

 

[_Mike_]

Surely Fitzroy coming from last in the war years to win the flag in the finals was a greater comeback than any of the current underdog stories?

1916 - Winning the flag in a 4 team competition is a great comeback?

 

[darthbards]

Lucky to be playing in a year where there were no standout teams. The bye helped too. Hard to be impressed with a team which we should have beaten twice in what was a shocking year for us. Good luck to them though.

The bye thing is being a bit rewritten as I thought we were the least favoured by the bye going into week one at least. We were last to play during the home and away on the Sunday and then first to play finals on the Thursday night. Easily forgotten I know but it needs to be remembered correctly. Big effort from the medical team to freshen up the players with such a disadvantage.

 

[TGFC]

haven't bothered to read all the pages, however from the little snipets i have seen, alot of our beloved bulldog friends are a bunch of defensive little things. reminds me of alot hawks supporters actually

 

[Saint]

The OP was about winning it from 7th spot winning 4 games on the trot as being an achievement (they lost their last round match). But the way the finals are shaped is such that 7th is the same as 5th. Plus, the dogs only finished two games off top spot with a 15-7 record, hardly miles back.

They also never beat Geelong at all for the season and were lucky to avoid them in finals.

Fitzroy finished with 2 wins for the season, 8 matches behind Carlton, beat them twice in finals and beat every team that season. All this during war-time.

If we're talking all-time, the Liions did better.