Discussion An Uncomfortable But Exceedingly Proud Express History of the Mercurial Baghdad Bombers (warts and all!)

[Kilroy]

Over alcohol and smokes a few of the boys connect the dots …

• 2003 highly illegal ‘Gulf War’ begins
• 2004 Season 4 in the SweetFA saw the BigFooty Bombers join the competition with many AFL Bombers supporters as players
• 2007 Season 7 Bombers win their 1st Premiership against the Fighting Furies by 6 points
• 2008 Season 9 saw the Bombers change their name to the Baghdad Bombers and win their 2nd Premiership against the East Side Hawks by 38 points
• 2011 Season 13 the ‘Gulf War’ ends
• 2012 Season 14 and the Baghdad Bombers get their 3rd flag by 21 points playing the Mt Buller Demons

• Later that year (Season 15) saw the AFL Bombers implement a secretive “supplements program”
• 2015 Season 19, the Baghdad Bombers sought to distance themselves from the ‘Gulf War’ and re-branded to the Baghdad Bandits
• 2016 Season 22 and the party was over for the Bandits as they went into exile with the return of the Baghdad Bombers, around the time the AFL Bombers were found to have been in breach of ASADA’s policies (back in 2012), incurring severe penalties for BTGID
• 2017 was confirmation that the subsequent return to being the Baghdad Bombers was the right move as the team won back-to-back Premierships in Seasons 23 & 24 beating the Furies by 48 and the Hawks by 53
• 2022 Season 34 and the Baghdad Bombers get their 6th flag against the Roys by 45 (with one very loyal AFL Bombers supporter still remaining from Season 6)

You do the math!

#nightshift

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

Ahhhhh view attachment, welcome back, how we've missd ye.

 

[big_icky]

You do the math!

Nuh uh you do it

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

Congratulations Kilroy on fixing the links. Well done.

 

[Kilroy]

Congratulations Kilroy on fixing the links. Well done.

 

[dogs105]

You're welcome Bombers

 

[Kilroy]

View attachment 1905297

You're welcome Bombers

Not genital warts you fool.

Anyway, hydrogen peroxide should suffice, thanks.

 

[Kilroy]

Spare a thought for those before us who thought Baghdad was a great place to start a fantasy football team.

Ambitious?



Probably.

 

[iDon]

I am here. what do we need to know?

 

[Kilroy]

Nuh uh you do it

It’s an expression. There’s not really much maths involved at all.

I am here. what do we need to know?

Out of the S4 Bombers how many % barracked for the Dons?

 

[iDon]

It’s an expression. There’s not really much maths involved at all.

Out of the S4 Bombers how many % barracked for the Dons?

safe to say it would be greater then 80%. Complete passion

 

[Kilroy]

safe to say it would be greater then 80%. Complete passion

Five seasons after starting as the BigFooty Bombers - and despite the Gulf War looking like a wild goose chase - the team changed it’s name to the Baghdad Bombers.

Was there much anti-war sentiment within the team?

 

[Kilroy]

Reading List:
ClarkeM having a crack at the Bombers for their s**t name change to the Baghdad Bandits

Media - ClarkeMedia presents: Baghdad Bandits s**t all over tradition

Many would be aware of the recent name-change that was self-inflicted by the current leaders at the Baghdad Bombers which has seen them dissuade the assumption that they were an Essendon fantasy club. This did cause some controversy and it has recently been handed to the attention of ClarkeMedia...

www.bigfooty.com

HaroLad takes a victory lap after the Bombers smashed the Wonders in the S24 preliminary final.

Media - 958 Days in the Making

958 days ago I was delisted from the West Coast Wonders. And now, 958 days later, I am about to guide the best posting club in the league to back-to-back premierships as captain. As much I'd hate for this to be about me, this thread writes itself. Haydo doesn't recruit posters from other...

www.bigfooty.com

The peak of my life

Good times, hey HaroLad ?

 

[Frederico_WA]

Never heard of em!

 

[KohPhi]

Great timeline Kilroy.. you forgot to add

Season 27 - KohPhi releases chicken video.

 

[Kilroy]

Never heard of em!

Still in lockdown over there, Frederico_WA ?

Great timeline Kilroy.. you forgot to add

Season 27 - KohPhi releases chicken video.

Season 30 - MITS releases cat video

 

[Frederico_WA]

Still in lockdown over there, Frederico_WA ?

Celebrating the new found freedom by locking myself inside to be within 5m of an airconditioner at all times.

 

[Kilroy]

Celebrating the new found freedom by locking myself inside to be within 5m of an airconditioner at all times.

Bit cooler?

Quick, while the borders are open …

 

[Kilroy]

sausageroll

Thanks for the week Bombers. Hope you get a win soon

I never had any doubt that we'd lose. I'm still not convinced we actually won yet.

As a veteran of both the Demons and the Bombers, and a Premiership player with the Baghdad Bombers in S14, it must be bittersweet to see the Bombers “bombing out” this season?

Unexpected results given how well Baghdad has gone the last 3 or so years.

Any thoughts on …

• where the Bombers are at in “the cycle”?
• who represented the club at its essence?
• whether you preferred being the Bombers or the Bandits?

 

[sausageroll]

sausageroll

As a veteran of both the Demons and the Bombers, and a Premiership player with the Baghdad Bombers in S14, it must be bittersweet to see the Bombers “bombing out” this season?

You're right. Of course I want to win against any team I play against, but I still feel an attachment to the Bombers so there is definitely a bittersweet feeling to see things not work out on the field.

Any thoughts on …

• where the Bombers are at in “the cycle”?

On-field, anything can happen. Demons had a similar start last season (1 win in the first 5 rounds) and ended up playing in a Preliminary Final.
But posting, I think it's on an upward stage. I actually liked the Bombers during the HaroLad reign and was considering a return at that point in time. But the club lost the plot when haro was banned. Usually, I admire a club's loyalty but several Bombers I'd previously thought were smart posters who generally posted to a high quality completely lost the plot. The club went downhill fast and has taken a while to recover. The club still has a bit of a chip on its shoulder and things have still turned ugly from time to time over the past few seasons but there's a good core there now. I'm not sure if it's because of my connection to the club or not, but I (mostly) enjoy posting against the Bombers and am generally in the top two or three for posting numbers everytime we match up.

• who represented the club at its essence?

There were two stages (before and after I joined the RAAF) with different people I'd consider to be the essence in esch stage during my time at the club.

In the first stage there were plenty of good team mates but I'd say loopy_cam and doggiesin08 were the essence of the club although it's the period where both of their activity levels started to drop off.

When I joined the RAAF I was moving around a lot and didn't have time to post a lot. It included 10 weeks where I had no internet access at all and another 12 months where the internet I had was very slow so I didn't really log on much.
When I finally got settled and could get back into it the team had changed. beez and Gee Dub had become the essence of the club and iBeng was pumping out posting numbers not seen before in the SFA. Thankfully I was in the situation where I was active again for the S14 premiership and generally increased my activity levels again over the next few seasons.

There are two other players that I have always held in very high regard from my time at the Bombers. Neither of them were prolific SFA posters while I was there but to me they always had an aura whenever the posted that made me feel that they were really important Bomber players. I still love seeing activity from iDon and ant555

• whether you preferred being the Bombers or the Bandits?

I hated the change to the Bandits from the start. I never felt at home after the change. During my last season at the club I asked the captain not to select me and stopped posting. Then, next season I moved to the Furies. Let that sink in... the Furies. That's how much I hated the change. If the club had never changed to the Bandits I might never have left.

 

[Kilroy]

I hated the change to the Bandits from the start. I never felt at home after the change. During my last season at the club I asked the captain not to select me and stopped posting. Then, next season I moved to the Furies. Let that sink in... the Furies. That's how much I hated the change. If the club had never changed to the Bandits I might never have left.

How much in hindsight do you think you were persuaded by your allegiance to the AFL Bombers here?

Did the Gulf War connection have any part in your thinking? I believe it was a factor in the move away from being “bombers”.

 

[Kilroy]

But posting, I think it's on an upward stage. I actually liked the Bombers during the HaroLad reign and was considering a return at that point in time. But the club lost the plot when haro was banned. Usually, I admire a club's loyalty but several Bombers I'd previously thought were smart posters who generally posted to a high quality completely lost the plot. The club went downhill fast and has taken a while to recover. The club still has a bit of a chip on its shoulder and things have still turned ugly from time to time over the past few seasons but there's a good core there now.

One person’s “lost the plot” is another person’s “heart and soul”, I guess.

What was it about miggs and Dawn to Dark that made them miss so many games?

 

[sausageroll]

How much in hindsight do you think you were persuaded by your allegiance to the AFL Bombers here?

Persuaded to move? Maybe a bit. But if I'd been playing for the Hawks it would have been the same when they changed to the Phoenix, and Hawthorn have been big AFL rivals of Essendon since I've been following AFL/VFL.
The Bombers had been trying to get me to move across for a couple of seasons before I moved but I was happy where I was at the Dragons because a lot of my team mates were people I knew well from another site. But the majority of my favourite players went inactive so I eventually decided to move. The AFL connection was there but wasn't the reason I moved.

I would never have joined the Bandits if that had been the club's emblem at the time. I just never liked it.

Did the Gulf War connection have any part in your thinking? I believe it was a factor in the move away from being “bombers”.

The reason they changed to the Bandits was because they felt that they were having trouble recruiting players because of the Essendon drug scandal. At least, that's the reason those pushing for change gave when they approached the club veterans with the proposal. I was open to change but didn't like the Bandits at all. There were other options thrown around that I thought were better but can't remember what they were.

 

[sausageroll]

One person’s “lost the plot” is another person’s “heart and soul”, I guess.

They lost the plot. As I said, I was strongly considering a return but the club became a nightmare to post against. It's not like that anymore. Just how it was at the time.

What was it about miggs and Dawn to Dark that made them miss so many games?

I have no idea what you're talking about. Why did they miss games?

 

[Kilroy]

They lost the plot. As I said, I was strongly considering a return but the club became a nightmare to post against. It's not like that anymore. Just how it was at the time.

Yes, I can imagine you got some backchat for leaving.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Why did they miss games?

Wrong season, sorry.