NBates
Brownlow Medallist
Hope you're working in the club's marketing dept
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 3
- Thread starter Metal
- Start date
- Tagged users None
- Status
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
NBates
Brownlow Medallist
Thanks. You're right. It's always fluff.
Damo was probably shitting himself that Bont was given a lift in by Bevo who was lurking somewhere with his 2 Thor hammers, lol! Aaah, one can only fantasize
☻Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Hope you're working in the club's marketing dept
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Nah just a Marvel fanatic who sees possibilities in having a Marvel A lister and apparently a board member with Marvel ties in house. I think we have opportunities we can exploit if aligned with a massive media empire that we have missed out on in the past because of our small club status. Silly guernseys or not, I think we should embrace it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Dogs_R_Us
Space Traveller
Can’t remember which of the commentators thought the AFL should get A-listers Hemsworth and co to come to the Anzac Day or a Friday night game (which would obviously be far more worthwhile than our non-event game), completely missing the point that Hemsworth is actually a REAL Bulldogs supporter, not just an AFL fan.
NBates
Brownlow Medallist
Footy show ex Nth president. Richard Cranium. Darc tried to set him straight.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
thank god he doesnt support Richard Craniums Team - it would be all doom and gloom in that freo superbox.....
No hifive for u matt damon.
No hifive for u matt damon.
Bont2Bruce
At the Destination Club
- Mar 15, 2012
- 10,897
- 25,734
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Footscray, Melbourne City
The Western Bulldogs always showed grit in the face of football adversity
Jamie Duncan, Herald Sun
For most of the club’s history, the Western Bulldogs have struggled to keep pace with the bigger teams. The club almost ceased to exist in 1989, when the VFL tried to force a merger with Fitzroy, but supporters reflected the fight their favourite footballers have always shown on the field to save the club, preserving it for a new era in which it won its second VFL/AFL grand final in 2016.
ORIGINS
The first footy games in the Footscray area in the mid-1870s, at first on a paddock bounded by Hyde, Napier and Bunbury streets. It competed in local competitions and scratch matches in Geelong-style navy and white hoops (and, from 1883 in a red cap).
The team was still in its infancy and not considered for inclusion in Victoria’s new premier Australian rules competition, the Victorian Football Association, when it formed in 1877. In 1880, the Footscray team became known briefly as the Prince Imperials after Prince Eugene Louis Napoleon, who was killed in battle during the Anglo-Zulu War in southern Africa the previous year. The Footscray name was restored in 1882.
By 1886, the team merged with the Footscray Cricket Club and was admitted to the VFA. It shifted also from its adopted home, on what was later the site of Footscray Girls’ School, to the Western Reserve, later known as the Western Oval and Whitten Oval, which was the cricket team’s home ground, and added red to its blue and white hoops. It switched to red, white and blue vertical stripes the following year.
VFL FORMS
The formation of the Victorian Football League in 1897 shook the VFA to the core and, with the departure of eight teams to the VFL, Footscray went from also-ran to a dominant team. It won its first premiership in 1898, with North Melbourne runner-up. Stars of the day included captain Dave de Coite, Billy Kruse, Billy Robinson, William “Ching” Harris and Arthur “Nance” Williams.
Between 1894 and 1900, it played in dark blue or red guernseys with a variety of sashes before adopting in 1901 the earliest form of the royal blue jumper with single red and white hoops we know today,
1904: A VFA match between Richmond and Footscray at the Punt Rd Oval. Picture: Supplied
Between 1898 and 1924, the team featured in 14 out of 27 premierships, winning nine and losing five. This streak included three in a row from 1898 to 1900 and back-to-back flags in 1919 to ‘20 and 1923 to ‘24, the latter two led by captain-coach Con McCarthy, who had been recruited from Collingwood.
In 1924, Footscray also took on VFL team Essendon in a charity match dubbed the Championship of Victoria, coming away with a surprise win, its controversial “flick pass” technique (later banned by the VFL) proving decisive.
1924: The line-ups for the Victorian Football Championship between Footscray and Essendon,Sun News-Pictorial, October 4, 1924. Picture: Rob Leeson.
1924: The Sun News-Pictorial celebrates Victorian Football Championship win, October 6, 1924. Picture: Rob Leeson.
Footscray captain Con McCarthy. Picture: HWT
When the VFL decided to expand from nine to 12 teams, Footscray was at the top of the recruiting list from the VFA, along with North Melbourne and Hawthorn.
GOLDEN YEARS
Footscray lost its first VFL match to Fitzroy by just nine points on May 2, 1925. Former Tiger George Bayliss kicked Footscray’s first VFL goal, and future Brownlow medallist Allan Hopkins put in a best-on-ground performance. The newcomers just missed the finals in 1928 and 1931 but spent most of the ‘30s well down in the VFL competition.
1928: Footscray captain Paddy Scanlon (left) transferred from South Melbourne and his brother Joe (right) became the Swans’ captain. Picture: HWT
An early football swap card featuring Allan Hopkins. Picture: HWT
Allan Hopkins. Picture: HWT
Hopkins became captain-coach in 1930 and that year lost the Brownlow on a countback to Collingwood’s Harry Collier. The medal was awarded to Hopkins retrospectively in 1989. The arrival of Collingwood legend Syd Coventry as coach in 1935 coincided with the team’s worst ever season.
By 1938, Footscray made its first finals series, under coach Joe Kelly and captain Roy Evans. Joe Ryan, Jim Thoms, Arthur Olliver, Norm Ware, Harry Hickey and Alby Morrison were among the better players that season. A strong Collingwood side defeated the Doggies in the semi-finals.
Arthur Olliver. Picture: HWT
1946. Norm Ware takes a screamer in the Footscray v Melbourne semi-final. Picture: HWT
World War II left Footscray depleted but captain-coach Norm Ware won the Brownlow Medal in 1941, the same year the great Charlie Sutton was signed to the club from Spotswood. Morrison and Ware retired in 1946, but not before another finals appearance in which Melbourne bundled out the Dogs in the first semi, and the team suffered the same fate at the hands of Collingwood in 1948, but Footscray was on the cusp of greatness.
THE FABULOUS ‘50s
Footscray was beginning to build an impressive list as the 1950s began. Sutton replaced Olliver as captain-coach in 1950, and was regarded as the heart and soul of the team, imploring his charges to win for the club and for the district rather than just for themselves.
1951: Len Kent (left) and Ted Whitten. Picture: HWT
Ted Whitten and Jack Collins joined the team’s ranks along with Jim Gallagher, Arthur Edwards, Herb Henderson, Peter Box, Doug Reynolds, Roger Duffy, Harvey Stevens (the son of Arthur), Ron McCarthy, Ron Stockman, John Kerr, Alan Martin, Jack Nutttall and Don Ross, matched with the solid experience of Alby Linton, George McLaren Angus Abbey and Wally Donald.
It took a while for the refreshed line-up to bear fruit, but it did in 1953 when Footscray won its first final, a semi against Essendon, but fell to Geelong in the prelim. The loss of Jack Collins to suspension at the end of the home-and-away season proved disastrous for Footscray.
Footscray finished the home-and-away season in second and defeated Geelong on the way to meeting Melbourne, the dominant VFL side of the 1950s, in the 1954 grand final. The Doggies had a day out, winning by 51 points thanks to seven goals from Collins, three to Sutton and singles to Kerr, Duffy, Stockman, Stevens and Reynolds. Kerr had an impressive 32 disposals for the match.
Charlie Sutton leads Footscray onto the field for the 1954 grand final. Picture: HWT
1954: Jack Collins kicks forward as Ken Christie tries to intercept him during the 1954 VFL grand final. Picture: HWT
WEG’s grand final poster celebrates Footscray’s maiden victory. Picture: HWT
The Herald’s front page following the grand final. Picture: HWT
The maiden grand final victory earned the team a civic reception at the Footscray Town Hall.
But Footscray’s form plummeted after ‘54. It missed the finals in 1955 and was bundled out of the finals early in 1956, the year Peter Box won his Brownlow. The club sacked Sutton midway through 1957, elevating captain Whitten to captain-coach, and the Bulldogs won the wooden spoon in 1959.
Ruckman John Schultz won the Brownlow in 1960, an otherwise ordinary year for the club, but Footscray made the 1961 grand final, only to lose to Hawthorn. This was the first grand final in which two of the “new” VFL sides from the 1925 league expansion played off in the grand final. Whitten, Schultz and Merv Hobbs were among the standout players for the Doggies that day, but Hawthorn won its maiden premiership by 43 points.
Footscray was marginally ahead at half time but Hawthorn piled on six goals in the third quarter to break the game wide open, while the Bulldogs succumbed to the warm conditions and brutally physical play by Hawthorn. This was the club’s last grand final appearance until 2016.
1956. VFL president Kenneth Luke presents the Brownlow Medal to centreman Peter Box. Picture: HWT
1961: John Schultz wins a tap-out over Terry Gleeson during Footscray’s preliminary final loss to Melbourne as Merv Hobbs looks on. Picture: HWT
The team won the end-of-season consolation night premiership (held for the teams that missed the final four) in 1963, 1964 and 1967, but its time in the sun was over.
By the end of the ‘60s, a new breed of players including Bernie Quinlan, Gary Dempsey, Barry Round, Stephen Power and Laurie Sandilands.
Dempsey was badly burnt at his family’s Truganina in the January 1969 bushfires, and it was feared his career might be over, but he returned to the field in the last two rounds that year and was runner-up in the Brownlow count in 1970. The team also won another night premiership.
Jamie Duncan, Herald Sun
For most of the club’s history, the Western Bulldogs have struggled to keep pace with the bigger teams. The club almost ceased to exist in 1989, when the VFL tried to force a merger with Fitzroy, but supporters reflected the fight their favourite footballers have always shown on the field to save the club, preserving it for a new era in which it won its second VFL/AFL grand final in 2016.
ORIGINS
The first footy games in the Footscray area in the mid-1870s, at first on a paddock bounded by Hyde, Napier and Bunbury streets. It competed in local competitions and scratch matches in Geelong-style navy and white hoops (and, from 1883 in a red cap).
The team was still in its infancy and not considered for inclusion in Victoria’s new premier Australian rules competition, the Victorian Football Association, when it formed in 1877. In 1880, the Footscray team became known briefly as the Prince Imperials after Prince Eugene Louis Napoleon, who was killed in battle during the Anglo-Zulu War in southern Africa the previous year. The Footscray name was restored in 1882.
By 1886, the team merged with the Footscray Cricket Club and was admitted to the VFA. It shifted also from its adopted home, on what was later the site of Footscray Girls’ School, to the Western Reserve, later known as the Western Oval and Whitten Oval, which was the cricket team’s home ground, and added red to its blue and white hoops. It switched to red, white and blue vertical stripes the following year.
VFL FORMS
The formation of the Victorian Football League in 1897 shook the VFA to the core and, with the departure of eight teams to the VFL, Footscray went from also-ran to a dominant team. It won its first premiership in 1898, with North Melbourne runner-up. Stars of the day included captain Dave de Coite, Billy Kruse, Billy Robinson, William “Ching” Harris and Arthur “Nance” Williams.
Between 1894 and 1900, it played in dark blue or red guernseys with a variety of sashes before adopting in 1901 the earliest form of the royal blue jumper with single red and white hoops we know today,
Between 1898 and 1924, the team featured in 14 out of 27 premierships, winning nine and losing five. This streak included three in a row from 1898 to 1900 and back-to-back flags in 1919 to ‘20 and 1923 to ‘24, the latter two led by captain-coach Con McCarthy, who had been recruited from Collingwood.
In 1924, Footscray also took on VFL team Essendon in a charity match dubbed the Championship of Victoria, coming away with a surprise win, its controversial “flick pass” technique (later banned by the VFL) proving decisive.
1924: The line-ups for the Victorian Football Championship between Footscray and Essendon,Sun News-Pictorial, October 4, 1924. Picture: Rob Leeson.
1924: The Sun News-Pictorial celebrates Victorian Football Championship win, October 6, 1924. Picture: Rob Leeson.
When the VFL decided to expand from nine to 12 teams, Footscray was at the top of the recruiting list from the VFA, along with North Melbourne and Hawthorn.
GOLDEN YEARS
Footscray lost its first VFL match to Fitzroy by just nine points on May 2, 1925. Former Tiger George Bayliss kicked Footscray’s first VFL goal, and future Brownlow medallist Allan Hopkins put in a best-on-ground performance. The newcomers just missed the finals in 1928 and 1931 but spent most of the ‘30s well down in the VFL competition.
An early football swap card featuring Allan Hopkins. Picture: HWT
Allan Hopkins. Picture: HWT
Hopkins became captain-coach in 1930 and that year lost the Brownlow on a countback to Collingwood’s Harry Collier. The medal was awarded to Hopkins retrospectively in 1989. The arrival of Collingwood legend Syd Coventry as coach in 1935 coincided with the team’s worst ever season.
By 1938, Footscray made its first finals series, under coach Joe Kelly and captain Roy Evans. Joe Ryan, Jim Thoms, Arthur Olliver, Norm Ware, Harry Hickey and Alby Morrison were among the better players that season. A strong Collingwood side defeated the Doggies in the semi-finals.
Arthur Olliver. Picture: HWT
1946. Norm Ware takes a screamer in the Footscray v Melbourne semi-final. Picture: HWT
World War II left Footscray depleted but captain-coach Norm Ware won the Brownlow Medal in 1941, the same year the great Charlie Sutton was signed to the club from Spotswood. Morrison and Ware retired in 1946, but not before another finals appearance in which Melbourne bundled out the Dogs in the first semi, and the team suffered the same fate at the hands of Collingwood in 1948, but Footscray was on the cusp of greatness.
THE FABULOUS ‘50s
Footscray was beginning to build an impressive list as the 1950s began. Sutton replaced Olliver as captain-coach in 1950, and was regarded as the heart and soul of the team, imploring his charges to win for the club and for the district rather than just for themselves.
Ted Whitten and Jack Collins joined the team’s ranks along with Jim Gallagher, Arthur Edwards, Herb Henderson, Peter Box, Doug Reynolds, Roger Duffy, Harvey Stevens (the son of Arthur), Ron McCarthy, Ron Stockman, John Kerr, Alan Martin, Jack Nutttall and Don Ross, matched with the solid experience of Alby Linton, George McLaren Angus Abbey and Wally Donald.
It took a while for the refreshed line-up to bear fruit, but it did in 1953 when Footscray won its first final, a semi against Essendon, but fell to Geelong in the prelim. The loss of Jack Collins to suspension at the end of the home-and-away season proved disastrous for Footscray.
Footscray finished the home-and-away season in second and defeated Geelong on the way to meeting Melbourne, the dominant VFL side of the 1950s, in the 1954 grand final. The Doggies had a day out, winning by 51 points thanks to seven goals from Collins, three to Sutton and singles to Kerr, Duffy, Stockman, Stevens and Reynolds. Kerr had an impressive 32 disposals for the match.
Charlie Sutton leads Footscray onto the field for the 1954 grand final. Picture: HWT
1954: Jack Collins kicks forward as Ken Christie tries to intercept him during the 1954 VFL grand final. Picture: HWT
WEG’s grand final poster celebrates Footscray’s maiden victory. Picture: HWT
The Herald’s front page following the grand final. Picture: HWT
The maiden grand final victory earned the team a civic reception at the Footscray Town Hall.
But Footscray’s form plummeted after ‘54. It missed the finals in 1955 and was bundled out of the finals early in 1956, the year Peter Box won his Brownlow. The club sacked Sutton midway through 1957, elevating captain Whitten to captain-coach, and the Bulldogs won the wooden spoon in 1959.
Ruckman John Schultz won the Brownlow in 1960, an otherwise ordinary year for the club, but Footscray made the 1961 grand final, only to lose to Hawthorn. This was the first grand final in which two of the “new” VFL sides from the 1925 league expansion played off in the grand final. Whitten, Schultz and Merv Hobbs were among the standout players for the Doggies that day, but Hawthorn won its maiden premiership by 43 points.
Footscray was marginally ahead at half time but Hawthorn piled on six goals in the third quarter to break the game wide open, while the Bulldogs succumbed to the warm conditions and brutally physical play by Hawthorn. This was the club’s last grand final appearance until 2016.
1956. VFL president Kenneth Luke presents the Brownlow Medal to centreman Peter Box. Picture: HWT
1961: John Schultz wins a tap-out over Terry Gleeson during Footscray’s preliminary final loss to Melbourne as Merv Hobbs looks on. Picture: HWT
The team won the end-of-season consolation night premiership (held for the teams that missed the final four) in 1963, 1964 and 1967, but its time in the sun was over.
By the end of the ‘60s, a new breed of players including Bernie Quinlan, Gary Dempsey, Barry Round, Stephen Power and Laurie Sandilands.
Dempsey was badly burnt at his family’s Truganina in the January 1969 bushfires, and it was feared his career might be over, but he returned to the field in the last two rounds that year and was runner-up in the Brownlow count in 1970. The team also won another night premiership.
Last edited:
Bont2Bruce
At the Destination Club
- Mar 15, 2012
- 10,897
- 25,734
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Footscray, Melbourne City
(Part 2)
WHITTEN ERA ENDS
Whitten managed four more games in 1970 before retiring after a then-club and league record 321 matches, then stood down as coach in 1971.
Ted Whitten coaching late in his career. Picture: HWT
1970: Ted Whitten after his last game. Picture: HWT
1972: Bernie Quinlan in full flight. Picture: HWT
The ‘70s saw the debut of goalkicking gun Kelvin Templeton and club legend Doug Hawkins but the gradual sale of champions including Quinlan, Dempsey and captain Laurie Sandilands to other clubs in an effort to bail the club out of financial trouble., a factor that led coach Bill Goggin to quit suddenly after round one in 1978.
The 1975 season was tinged with tragedy when South Australian recruit Neil Sachse, in only his second VFL match, broke his neck in a collision with a Fitzroy opponent and became a quadriplegic, but Gary Dempsey triumphed in the Brownlow Medal.
Footscray made it to the finals in 1974, losing to Collingwood in the elimination final, and again in 1976, defeated in the same final by Geelong.
1974: Three players from Traralgon don the red, white and blue — (from left) Geoff Jennings, Kelvin Templeton and Bernie Quinlan. Picture: HWT
1976: Reigning Brownlow medallist Gary Dempsey dives for the ball. Picture: HWT
Kelvin Templeton. Picture: HWT
1978. Kelvin Templeton was the league’s leading goal-kicker. Picture: HWT
Templeton kicked a club record 15.9 for a 101-point win over St Kilda 33.15 (213) to St Kilda’s 16.10 (106), then a VFL record score, in 1978. He booted a league-leading 118 goals for the season, but Footscray finished 11th.
Templeton, the 1980 Brownlow medallist, went to Melbourne after 1982, the same year recruit Simon Beasley became the side’s leading goal-kicker.
Mick Malthouse, in his coaching debut, and Beasley helped Footscray to second on the ladder and a brief finals showing in 1985, while Brad Hardie secured the Brownlow.
1985. Brad Hardie.
1985: Coach Mick Malthouse embraces Brownlow winner Hardie. Picture: HWT
1987: Tony Liberatore on the attack
1987: Simon Beasley marks over the Eagles’ Michael O'Connell. Picture: HWT
1989: Diehard fans rally to save the Bulldogs from merging with Fitzroy. Picture: HWT
But the player sell-offs continued, with Hardie traded to the Brisbane Bears and captain Jim Edmonds transferred to Sydney.
By the end of the VFL days, Footscray was in deep trouble and almost forced into a merger with equally hapless Fitzroy. The Doggies were saved only after a mammoth fundraising effort led by lawyer Peter Gordon and the Save the Dogs Committee to clear debts.
WHITTEN ERA ENDS
Whitten managed four more games in 1970 before retiring after a then-club and league record 321 matches, then stood down as coach in 1971.
Ted Whitten coaching late in his career. Picture: HWT
1970: Ted Whitten after his last game. Picture: HWT
The ‘70s saw the debut of goalkicking gun Kelvin Templeton and club legend Doug Hawkins but the gradual sale of champions including Quinlan, Dempsey and captain Laurie Sandilands to other clubs in an effort to bail the club out of financial trouble., a factor that led coach Bill Goggin to quit suddenly after round one in 1978.
The 1975 season was tinged with tragedy when South Australian recruit Neil Sachse, in only his second VFL match, broke his neck in a collision with a Fitzroy opponent and became a quadriplegic, but Gary Dempsey triumphed in the Brownlow Medal.
Footscray made it to the finals in 1974, losing to Collingwood in the elimination final, and again in 1976, defeated in the same final by Geelong.
Kelvin Templeton. Picture: HWT
1978. Kelvin Templeton was the league’s leading goal-kicker. Picture: HWT
Templeton kicked a club record 15.9 for a 101-point win over St Kilda 33.15 (213) to St Kilda’s 16.10 (106), then a VFL record score, in 1978. He booted a league-leading 118 goals for the season, but Footscray finished 11th.
Templeton, the 1980 Brownlow medallist, went to Melbourne after 1982, the same year recruit Simon Beasley became the side’s leading goal-kicker.
Mick Malthouse, in his coaching debut, and Beasley helped Footscray to second on the ladder and a brief finals showing in 1985, while Brad Hardie secured the Brownlow.
1985. Brad Hardie.
1985: Coach Mick Malthouse embraces Brownlow winner Hardie. Picture: HWT
1987: Tony Liberatore on the attack
1987: Simon Beasley marks over the Eagles’ Michael O'Connell. Picture: HWT
But the player sell-offs continued, with Hardie traded to the Brisbane Bears and captain Jim Edmonds transferred to Sydney.
By the end of the VFL days, Footscray was in deep trouble and almost forced into a merger with equally hapless Fitzroy. The Doggies were saved only after a mammoth fundraising effort led by lawyer Peter Gordon and the Save the Dogs Committee to clear debts.
Last edited:
Bont2Bruce
At the Destination Club
- Mar 15, 2012
- 10,897
- 25,734
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Footscray, Melbourne City
(Part 3)
THE AFL ERA
The Bulldogs showed promise through the 1990s.
New coach Terry Wheeler led a young side that included 1990 Brownlow medallist Tony Liberatore, 1992 Brownlow winner Scott Wynd, Chris Grant, Bryan Royal, Simon Atkins and Hawkins, by now captain.
1990: Doug Hawkins and Chris Grant celebrate a win over Carlton. Picture: HWT
1992. Scott Wynd went on to win the Brownlow Medal. Picture: HWT
1992. Footscray’s Tony Liberatore chases Melbourne’s Luke Beveridge, who went on to coach the Bulldogs. Picture: HWT
The team made the 1991 finals, only to be toppled by Geelong in the preliminary final. Scott West debuted in 1993 and Brad Johnson followed in 1994. Under Alan Joyce, the Doggies failed to progress in the 1994 and 1995 finals races too. In late 1996, Footscray became known as the Western Bulldogs. The next season, ex-Hawthorn champion Terry Wallace.
1993. All seven Footscray Brownlow medallists (from left) Kelvin Templeton, Gary Dempsey, Tony Liberatore, Scott Wynd, Brad Hardie, John Schultz and Allan Hopkins. Picture: Lucy Swinstead
Wallace helped get the Dogs to the finals in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, again missing out on the ultimate goal — a grand final berth. Chris Grant gained the most Brownlow votes in 1997 but had been suspended and was ineligible to win. The Bulldogs left Whitten Oval for Docklands in 2000.
1997: Terry Wallace addresses his charges at quarter time during the Bulldogs-Crows preliminary final. Picture: HWT
1997: A dejected Chris Grant after the Brownlow Medal count. He was ineligible to win despite polling the most votes. Picture: HWT
2010: The Bulldogs celebrate their NAB Cup victory over St Kilda. Picture: HWT
Wallace stepped down in 2002 after the side missed finals action two years running, but the Bulldogs lost form and got a wooden spoon in 2003.
With Rodney Eade as coach, the Bulldogs finished third after the home-and-away season in 2008 and 2009 and fourth in 2010, and defeated St Kilda in the 2010 NAB Cup, but finals eluded the team until 2015.
Luke Beveridge, who played 31-games for the Bulldogs during his career, took up the coaching role in 2014, lifting the side. The Bulldogs’ fighting qualities showed through in 2016, in a season punctuated by injuries. The Western Bulldogs won 15 matches and lost seven, scraping into the finals in seventh place, before powering through to the grand final past West Coast, Hawthorn and GWS.
Inspirational captain Bob Murphy famously missed the game, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament forcing him to sit out most of the season.
2016: Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen celebrates. Picture: Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images
2016: Coach Luke Beveridge presents his premiership medal to injured captain Bob Murphy as Easton Wood looks on. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
2016: Bob Murphy (left) and Easton Wood hold the premiership cup aloft, and a 62-year premiership drought is broken. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
None of the 22 Bulldogs who played in the grand final had any experience on football’s biggest stage, but they held on in a close contest all day with four goals to two in the final term to beat Sydney by 22 points.
Tom Boyd, Liam Picken and Tory Dickson booted three goals each. Defender Jason Johannisen was named Norm Smith medallist and Matthew and Tom Boyd, Picken, Jackson Macrae and Luke Dahlhaus among the Bulldogs’ best.
A premiership hangover has dogged the Dogs since that historic win.
THE AFL ERA
The Bulldogs showed promise through the 1990s.
New coach Terry Wheeler led a young side that included 1990 Brownlow medallist Tony Liberatore, 1992 Brownlow winner Scott Wynd, Chris Grant, Bryan Royal, Simon Atkins and Hawkins, by now captain.
1990: Doug Hawkins and Chris Grant celebrate a win over Carlton. Picture: HWT
1992. Scott Wynd went on to win the Brownlow Medal. Picture: HWT
The team made the 1991 finals, only to be toppled by Geelong in the preliminary final. Scott West debuted in 1993 and Brad Johnson followed in 1994. Under Alan Joyce, the Doggies failed to progress in the 1994 and 1995 finals races too. In late 1996, Footscray became known as the Western Bulldogs. The next season, ex-Hawthorn champion Terry Wallace.
Wallace helped get the Dogs to the finals in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, again missing out on the ultimate goal — a grand final berth. Chris Grant gained the most Brownlow votes in 1997 but had been suspended and was ineligible to win. The Bulldogs left Whitten Oval for Docklands in 2000.
Wallace stepped down in 2002 after the side missed finals action two years running, but the Bulldogs lost form and got a wooden spoon in 2003.
With Rodney Eade as coach, the Bulldogs finished third after the home-and-away season in 2008 and 2009 and fourth in 2010, and defeated St Kilda in the 2010 NAB Cup, but finals eluded the team until 2015.
Luke Beveridge, who played 31-games for the Bulldogs during his career, took up the coaching role in 2014, lifting the side. The Bulldogs’ fighting qualities showed through in 2016, in a season punctuated by injuries. The Western Bulldogs won 15 matches and lost seven, scraping into the finals in seventh place, before powering through to the grand final past West Coast, Hawthorn and GWS.
Inspirational captain Bob Murphy famously missed the game, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament forcing him to sit out most of the season.
None of the 22 Bulldogs who played in the grand final had any experience on football’s biggest stage, but they held on in a close contest all day with four goals to two in the final term to beat Sydney by 22 points.
Tom Boyd, Liam Picken and Tory Dickson booted three goals each. Defender Jason Johannisen was named Norm Smith medallist and Matthew and Tom Boyd, Picken, Jackson Macrae and Luke Dahlhaus among the Bulldogs’ best.
A premiership hangover has dogged the Dogs since that historic win.
Last edited:
fronkalicious
Brownlow Medallist
Jimmy bartel says we’re back to our 2016 best around the clearances, where bont, Libba and Wallis won us a flag.
Attention to detail in the media is embarrassing.
Attention to detail in the media is embarrassing.
- Mar 24, 2018
- 3,863
- 8,604
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
The hyperbole is off the charts. They can’t go 5 minutes without saying something completely outlandish. I remember hearing a commentator a couple of years ago saying Billings will be a contender for a Brownlow. Decent player, but totally over the top.
It’s the same 20 morons regurgitating the same tripe on TV, on radio and in print. They are so over-indulged that it seems almost inevitable that eventually they come out with some laughable pile of garbage.
A special mention must go out to Danny Frawley who, among a mass of twats, somehow manages to tower over everyone. A more objectionable, unfunny man I cannot imagine. How on earth did this monstrous bollock ever get the green light to go on TV?
- Mar 24, 2018
- 3,863
- 8,604
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
Sorry, just re-read that and you’re obviously alluding to Wallis being mentioned there. Oh well, I’ll stand by my rant even if it completely missed your point.
100action
Norm Smith Medallist
Sutton has Wood like quads, natural 32 inchers
Fossie 32
Community Leader
Western Bulldogs - Bailey Dale Player Sponsor 2024
Western Bulldogs - Ed Richards Player Sponsor 2024
Veteran
Sweet F.A Sikh Volunteers Charity Match
Western Bulldogs - Ed Richards Player Sponsor 2023
Western Bulldogs - Bailey Dale Player Sponsor 2023
10k Posts
Western Bulldogs - Bailey Dale Player Sponsor 2022
- Oct 6, 2002
- 28,307
- 20,737
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Melbourne..VICTORY, Leeds
- Moderator
- #390
Richo went a bit early after Sydney's first goal, praising their set up
stevieg1969
Team Captain
- Aug 26, 2013
- 399
- 1,066
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere but The Bont was on RSN’s Breakfast Club yesterday morning. I’m not sure how to upload this but there is a podcast available. A great listen.
Great work above B2B. 
Just posting a rant here that I've added to the AFL Fourth Estate board, as it's been bugging me for months but today's example tipped me over the edge:
Robert Moran (SMH/The Age/etc) reporting today on an article about Amy Shark playing before the AFLW Grand Final:
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/en...to-play-aflw-grand-final-20190327-p51850.html
"She'll be taking that attitude to the pitch on Sunday..."
FFS, I'm sick of these fcuking twats being given the responsibility of discussing a subject they know nothing about.
Add him to the list of:
Georgie Tunny (ABC Sydney-based sports reporter) - how many times has she referred to AFL players returning from injury/suspension/whatever as "returning to first grade..."
And Catherine Murphy (ABC Melbourne) who has no understanding of the sport whatsoever, has never followed it, and for at least 12 months now has made ridiculous suggestions and pronouncements on it like she has some sort of clue.
FFS ABC, you have Kelli Underwood, who lives and breathes AFL, why the hell wouldn't you use an expert resource to report on the game for ABC Breakfast, and do the reports on Raf Epstein's (ABC Radio 774 Melbourne) show, instead of complete novices who wouldn't recognise an AFL footballer (man or woman) even if they were wearing their gameday gear.
Just posting a rant here that I've added to the AFL Fourth Estate board, as it's been bugging me for months but today's example tipped me over the edge:
Robert Moran (SMH/The Age/etc) reporting today on an article about Amy Shark playing before the AFLW Grand Final:
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/en...to-play-aflw-grand-final-20190327-p51850.html
"She'll be taking that attitude to the pitch on Sunday..."
FFS, I'm sick of these fcuking twats being given the responsibility of discussing a subject they know nothing about.
Add him to the list of:
Georgie Tunny (ABC Sydney-based sports reporter) - how many times has she referred to AFL players returning from injury/suspension/whatever as "returning to first grade..."
And Catherine Murphy (ABC Melbourne) who has no understanding of the sport whatsoever, has never followed it, and for at least 12 months now has made ridiculous suggestions and pronouncements on it like she has some sort of clue.
FFS ABC, you have Kelli Underwood, who lives and breathes AFL, why the hell wouldn't you use an expert resource to report on the game for ABC Breakfast, and do the reports on Raf Epstein's (ABC Radio 774 Melbourne) show, instead of complete novices who wouldn't recognise an AFL footballer (man or woman) even if they were wearing their gameday gear.
Frawley was interviewed on radio by Raf Epstein a few years back about some important issue, can't remember what it was. Raf introduced himself upfront, but for the rest of the interview, Frawley referred to him as "mate", Raf even subtly threw in a few times "you're on 774 with Raf Epstein speaking to Danny Frawley" to give a few more hints. Frawley seemed to think he was being interviewed by some unknown, and came across as a total knob, and Raf had to dumb down and repeat his questions slowly so Frawley didn't get confused by questions an Auskicker could have answered with aplomb. And this guy was an AFL coach?! FMD, Tigers were really scraping the barrel when they appointed him.
Footscray captain Con McCarthy. Picture: HWT
Just a short history lesson for anyone that's interested...
If you look at the photo of Con McCarthy above, the jumper and shorts have been touched up. That's because McCarthy had been a Collingwood champion (captained their 1919 flag side and the 1921 Vic side), before crossing to our VFA team on big $$$ in 1922 as captain-coach.
The original photo the one above is taken from was taken in late 1919/early 1920, and was the source for this 1920 cigarette collector card:
(The Magpie Cigarettes brand had nothing to do with Collingwood, just a popular brand of the era that produced some great collector card sets in their products.)
- Apr 4, 2006
- 4,772
- 9,222
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
Great work 73. I love how whoever painted the original black shorts to white, also painted the grass in between his legs white too, as well as the skin above his left sock! And there's only one band on the back of his 'Footscray' jumper. Photoshop obviously in its infancy in the early 1920s...
- Jan 17, 2013
- 4,715
- 9,464
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
Garry Lyon almost had a stroke on SEN just now when Mike Sheahan said he thought we’d beat the Hawks this weekend.
Mrs Brownless got the morning off? Lyon is a flog (pardon the pun) of the highest order. Seriously expecting Jono Brown to belt the living crap out of him one day on On The Couch
Dahlhaus’ channel 7 interview - saying he was hoping he wouldn’t pull up from injuries so he wouldn’t have to play.
100action
Norm Smith Medallist
whats the context of this, back when he was at the dogs?
Yeah. Pretty disappointing to be honest
- Status
