Opinion Are you invested in this team?

Since the middle of last year, things haven’t been right. You could feel it. You could see it.

There were murmurs. Then the stringer trade. The maybe Dahl, clay and libba trades. Then the 2 key architects of the premiership list bolted.

But before they did, they splashed $2mill on a big bodied key defender to fill the gaping hole at the back. And dropped most of our stringer compensation on a blue chip 19 year old key forward to fill another gaping hole up front. Neither are being played in the positions they were invested in so heavily to play.

Our premiership captain and all Australian has been reduced to a park footballer. Zero clue, zero tackles and even more alarmingly, zero effort.

Teams have picked holes effortlessly in our once vaunted defensive zone.

We are structureless. We are directionless. We are clueless.

There is no alignment. No plan. No sense of passion or purpose.

Since mid season in 2017, I’ve felt dispassionate towards the club for the first time in 35 years. I watched today’s game and didn’t care.

Without unity, a defined direction and a road map forward, we are a completely soulless and lost football club.

I wonder if it’s just me, so I ask, are you invested in this football team??
 
I stopped watching today at half time which is something I normally never do. I'll watch next week, but desperately hoping for a strong win. In the meantime, we're on the bottom of the ladder which totally sucks :'(
 
Oct 7, 2007
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Na. You've got to stick with in the bad times or the good times will never be as good.

I think we're all suffering from
a. That massive itch bring scratched at the end of 2016 (let's face it, it never will be quite the same again)
b. Anxiety that our club will do a norf and not capitalise on our grand final success

But we've still got a team to support and go and cheer on, some great players to enjoy watching, and the anticipation as this list builds to challenge again, as they surely will over the next few seasons, if not this year.
 

#1 Dogs Fan

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 6, 2006
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For me personally I spent my life wishing we would win a flag even thoigh I really felt deep down inside we are a battler clib and a club that would never win one however i still loved them and supported them

We eventually won the flag and I was very happy. However me personnely after winning the flag it was like I really didnt care anymore about 2017 season. It felt like clocking a video game than having nothing to look forwsrd to after that.

I am extremely disappointed after todays performance however I really dont care as muxh as I eould have 3 years ago onwards.

Had we not won the bloody flag in 2016 The club and myself probebly would have been abit hungrier but atm as it stands. Im just emotionless
 

dergert

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Jun 17, 2014
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Must admit, I felt this. I've felt disconnected from the club this off season. 0 supporter engagement nor any attempt of explaining why we fell so far.
Losing Dal bloody simmers in the back of my mind. How did it get that bad?
The injuries to moz and Adams bit us hard, but that was something the club could not control.
Even today, I felt it wsd strange that Tom Boyd chose to be at the horse races yesterday rather than support our women's team. This is just small in the grand scheme of things.

What really hurt me today was seeing easton wood, our captain, running around with his head looking down devoid of confidence.
At least with the BMac era we went down swinging in every loss, we just gave up today.
 

TheFool

Cancelled
May 19, 2009
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Tons more invested in the women than the men. In the AFLW the passion for the sport is right at the surface and the teamwork and camaraderie shines through. Watching a long-overdue competition finally getting a chance to exist and grow is something that really feels like it matters. I had kind of a mini culture shock watching round 1 of the AFLM after having being totally immersed in the AFLW season. Not just for Dogs games but every team. Professionalism does wonders for a sport, but it also dilutes it, I think, and the AFLW really brings out what the AFLM lacks.

I mean, it doesn't help either that 2016 felt like a definitive answer to the, "Will we ever win one?" question, and I've never quite worked out what the next question for the men is supposed to be.
 

dergert

Brownlow Medallist
Jun 17, 2014
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Must admit, I felt this. I've felt disconnected from the club this off season. 0 supporter engagement nor any attempt of explaining why we fell so far.
Losing Dal bloody simmers in the back of my mind. How did it get that bad?
The injuries to moz and Adams bit us hard, but that was something the club could not control.
Even today, I felt it wsd strange that Tom Boyd chose to be at the horse races yesterday rather than support our women's team. This is just small in the grand scheme of things.

What really hurt me today was seeing easton wood, our captain, running around with his head looking down devoid of confidence.
At least with the BMac era we went down swinging in every loss, we just gave up today.
I just expect to hear nothing from Peter Gordon now or Bains. We as a supporter base deserve answers after all we fund the club and they actually work for us.
 

Astro_

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 14, 2006
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The club just needs to be better than this. Really poor from many involved since our flag.

As for your question, Im not as invested in this team right now and the reason for that is the 2016 flag, and also becuase i have a 3 and 1 yr old children.
 

Bemoreboyddog

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 4, 2014
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I felt disinterested early last year. Said so on here. Was much more invested in the VFL team. Got a feeling it’ll be similar this year.

Today’s loss didn’t hurt me like it should. That says a lot. It used to eat away at me a lot. Whether that’s me being disinterested or placing less importance on my football team winning on the weekend I’m not sure.

The worst part is I’m not sure what can be done to fix all of this. Is it as simple as playing players in their normal positions? Or do we have to try and turn the premiership list totally over so that those who won the flag stop resting on their laurels? Do we change assistant coaches? Do we change the head coach? Or does it start at the top with Peter Gordon?

I’ve got no idea but it’ll be a long year for our AFL team.
 
That GWS game has done a number on me and wanting to go to future games.

I've watched getting smashed by the eagles by 125 in 2011 that ended Rodney Eade and I think that had they had way more effort and soul than this GWS game did. No one was played out of position either.
 
Mar 15, 2012
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I am invested in this team. But I lost faith in the coach and his game plan (because I couldn't even describe what it was) today. I changed my avatar from "In Bevo We Trust" which I've run with for 2 years. I don't have blind faith that the coach and his assistants can turn this around in the short-medium term.

The worst part is I’m not sure what can be done to fix all of this. Is it as simple as playing players in their normal positions? Or do we have to try and turn the premiership list totally over so that those who won the flag stop resting on their laurels? Do we change assistant coaches? Do we change the head coach? Or does it start at the top with Peter Gordon?

I’ve got no idea but it’ll be a long year for our AFL team.
Today was that bad that something has to change. But it might take perhaps as many as 3 more bad losses before the pitchforks come out.
 
I feel a lack of interest after winning the big one. It's not only that but I think after having followed the club forever I finally felt that it was going places and that I didn't have to go to keep it alive (scarring since '89). I saw our support grow and the expansion into the wider West (Ballarat). I thought everything was going to be ok. I didn't have to worry so much about doing my bit any more and that the AFL had finally resigned themselves to keeping the 'Dogs in Melbourne. Last year was a massive let down, but half expected. I still thought we'd come back. But today's game has really had me question the whole Club. All the shite off field crap. Talking about both staff turn over and political stuff (Alberti). You'd think the leaders (e.g. Gordon etc) would have done everything to ensure that we get back to the unity that was there in 2016, but it's gone backward to the old days where this sort of shite went on year after year. Really annoying and sad. I've seen the flag I thought I'd never see, so I'm a bit "been there, done that - next". If they'd gone onto continuing success as a powerhouse club for a few years I would have been more interested as I've never experienced that before either. But the same old stuff I used to see year after year? Na. Don't think I'll bother next week.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Martyn_30_

Club Legend
Sep 14, 2007
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At least with the BMac era we went down swinging in every loss, we just gave up today.

In 2012 the team lost the last 11, getting belted most weeks against rubbish teams.

There’s certainly been a lack of spark about the team since last year. It shouldn’t be forgotten but it always is that Hawthorn after their disastrous 9 win premiership hangover year in 2009 started 2010 1-6, their second win of the season was a 3 point win against the winless worst team since Fitzroy Richmond. The talents still there but without a spark your not going to get anywhere.



On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Randomthoughts

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May 1, 2014
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I loath the closed shop policy applied by the club particularly over the last 16 months . Bev and others have tried so hard to protect there environment it become a horribly negative environment . The Alberti situation made me feel sick .
The dogs have become so tight and boring from the top and it’s filtered down to the playing group . What happened to the Salty Dogs ?
I will be at every home game , standing right behind our cheer squad as per usual . If I had one wish for the club is just to open up to us the supporters and to the footy world and bring some light back to the Whitten Oval .
 
Aug 16, 2009
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Since the dream came true, football hasn't been as important to me. I care but I don't care about the result especially when the game plan and players are nothing like that dream month.

Maybe that time was an aberration but how good was it?

Will be there next Sunday and following weeks, it is only round 1 but bevo needs to get the team on track as the supporters are getting restless.
 
Apr 22, 2004
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I'm bitterly disappointed in today's loss - so, yes...I think I am as invested in the club as I ever was. Otherwise, it wouldn't feel like such a kick in the guts.

The 2016 premiership was unbelievable, but I want more. So much more. I want my team to have sustained success, and to be respected as a powerhouse of the competition - not just a flash in the pan.

I love the Dogs, and don't think that I could ever lose my passion for the club that has been a part of my life for over 40 years.
 
Sep 2, 2013
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Unfortunately we have lost a lot of important experience in our side from the one that one the premiership compared to the one we played on the weekend.

Also some of our other important players in that year have either been hamstrunged by injuries or are fighting to find form/are cooked.

We need to trade and draft well over the next few years, especially for forwards and mids.
 
Oct 19, 2012
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Yes mine has wained. I was so desperate to see that breakthrough success that once it came my intense passion for winning eased somewhat having seen the greatest prize be won.

Unrelated topic but for the huge emphasis we put on versatility is their any other player apart from Bontempelli who anyone would consider good in multiple positions.

Our 2016 team I could name 15 players who played one role and did it well and weren’t shuffled around the field. Nowadays we have so many who are masters of nothing but can play multiple positions simply because the coach tells them too.
 
Interesting post Fronk. I think i’m in a similar position to most. The premiership has put an end to the constant feeling of being an inferior club where every loss ate at your core. I watched some awful losses last year with mild annoyance and little more. The GWS game is exactly the same. Just got flogged by 80 points and just feel m’eh. I also think that in my mind i had prepared for a loss of that magnitude when the team was announced.

This being said...i dont think it will take long for the Dogs to fall back into irrelevance and that burning feeling after a loss to return.

I wonder how other successful clubs (Hawks, Swans, Cats) supporters feel after short term failure. My feeling is that it stings and is unacceptable. Maybe this is a cultural feature of the Bulldogs and our supporters to be unsure of how to deal with success and build for more.

Time will tell with this. Hope we don’t have to get crap again to re-energise the supporter base and playing group.
 

Golden_6

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Aug 15, 2014
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Winning the premiership was like trying a new drug for first time. The high was just absolutely incredible but the reality is that high of a feeling will probably never be experienced again.

We’ve certainly lost our identity since 2016, and it doesn’t look like appearing any time soon.
 

TMoney22

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Sep 15, 2010
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This off season i've been a lot less active on bigfooty and footy news in general. I couldn't see where improvement would come from so the interest level was definitely lower.
 
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