Dingster
Hall of Famer
One of the great treats of changing clubs is getting to know some of the true icons of qooty and as BallaratBulldog comes up to play his 350th tomorrow, I'd still say he's a hidden gem of the league. A chat with him and you'll see he's articulate and passionate about his club and gets the most out of his qooty experience. Elton Johns Wig and I caught up with BallaratBulldog on the eve of his 350th and enjoyed a walk down memory lane.
Ding: How did you get into the SFA and what are your early memories of the league?
BB: I was apart of a list of players the Wonders were recruiting at the time for season 09. I was recruited by doggiesin08. A few clubs prominent players had a bit of a sook at the time claiming we were hogging all the new players. But the Wonders were the ones putting the effort often going outside the new players threads.
Wonders historically are always an active club, the signs were in front of me at the start. It had strong leaders with Kerrby as captian after taking over from Kerr4PM leaving and Rick18 as VC. A developing clarkeM, EKA himself and even other first year players like croweater41 taking out the EKA medal were setting the bar high. Kerrby was a bit of a flog though it must be said.
We finished second on the ladder. Lost the QF to the Bombers, beat the Furies in the semi but ultimately defeated in the prelim in a rematch with the Bombers. Disappointing result but not at all a bad way to experience your very first season of SFA.
Ding: What happened to Kerrby and Rick18? Is there a player from that era that you'd love to bring back?
BB: Kerrby pushed some of his comments a bit far. One time he called Chief ugly and got suspended for three weeks, he was puzzled, claiming it was a joke. Although that's more of the lesser ones. He has his name written with the big red text. Permanently.
Of course very few leave so controversially. Some want to move into new challenges, some completely fall out of love of the league, some want a break and come back, some don't have the time etc. All valid reasons. If a lot of long time players were honest they would have felt some of these statements over time. Players are always welcome back normally of course.
Rick18 would be a worthy choice to bring back. He was a great leader and pushed quality. It would be interesting, as comparing from another era where threads were much different to now.
EJW: So, the last two seasons straight sets is not a new experience for you BB?
BB: If you hang around long enough, you will be presented with a lot of different challenges. You do laugh when it's the other teams that go out in straight sets. Not so much you, although they would relish the return serve. Wonders have always been fortunate to be in finals for a bulk of my time here, but sometimes you get knocked out and in others get a mini run going at the right time. In season 17 we went from elimination final (in fact we had to win last round to make it or risk the bandits overtaking) and stormed home for the flag. You need to take the good with the bad and crack in again next time.
Ding: I started in S3 and the SFA was very much wham bam thank you Mam! Match threads were two pages with very little banter. How would S9 compare from then to where we are now?
BB: A bloke named pacemaker had little tagline he would post in at the start of the thread of certain teams. "Interesting times or posting byes?". There were times where some teams didn't have too much going on, but others that were pushing the numbers out. Finals would natural attract the biggest traffic. Unlikely posting would ever be a problem now, after all we have even expanded further in recent years with Royals and Warriors. The site itself is bigger than ever. And there's easy access through technology in many forms. The thing to remember is to always encourage fun and engaging posting while the numbers are growing.
EJW: Pacemaker, lol.
How do you find keeping abreast of it all these days. As you say, there's a lot more going on, and a lot of the old names are gone. Do you ever look around and think, how the **** did this happen? How did I get here?
Ding: Fun and engaging posting is spot on. The Wonders also have a reputation for being a tad arrogant. Do you think we have the mix right?
EJW: Of course we have the mix right Ding, what a ******* stupid question.
Ask something relevant ffs!!
BB, who is your all time favourite teammate, and has there been one you just didn't click with?
BB: It's hard to go past either of ClarkeM and croweater41. Even though the latter dragging me to the bench during the game in a final when he took over as coach that season. They were always there putting the effort in and making it enjoyable. And who doesn't enjoy ClarkeMedia!?
I don't think I've had someone who I didn't "click" with. Unless you all act differently behind my back! Banter allows a lot of different avenues to get involved. Naturally you don't like every person you meet in life. But in a team environment you should always have a teammates back, even if you felt a bit differently.
EJW: What about opponents? Again, favourites? And any that just s**t you?
Also, thoughts on the modern day qooty poster. In some ways has it gone too far, or is it just as much fun with the natural evolution (some would say devolution) of the game?
BB: boncer34 in his peak was good to watch pawn some n00bs back in their place - I can assure you that was more appropriate to say in the past.
Who can forget coondogs "go demons" "hahahaha" "nah" type posts. It always got frequent responses on his simple style that you wondered early on if he really was genius at baiting people and trolling in general
Fumblers obsession with kebabs and souvlakis and ******os overall antics were pretty amusing over time.
Okeydokey is a good teammate now, but I did used to look at a paragraph or two from him and hitting control F to search for the letter "I" with amazing number of results. In other words how much he talked about himself into a post and call him out on it. This was a real long way back though.
We could be here all day though.
But I think its also worth acknowledging people like Ljp86 always doing the ladder posting weekly on top of their solid contributions and various admins over the journey that not only post but manage everything. From tfula-tiger all the way to Cloud.
The league has plenty of modern day up and coming or players with a few seasons in the belt now. I don't think there's anything wrong with the modern Qooty. Maybe ensuring they understand the banter when they first arrive is the most challenging. It's up to the captains to drive the best content out by getting the best out of a person. You have team threads and PM's to plan attacks if needed.
I do sometimes wonder what it would be like if the last two teams didn't exist. I know one ones from the bay 13 in particular might never been involved otherwise but just as a hypothetical. It would be extra packed team threads.
EJW: So, the captains shouldn't let people just run wild then? They should show some level of control?
BB: To a degree. No one likes it when incidents do occur between posters. They need to know where the line, between the person and the persona is. What are examples of good banter that can further a conversation vs a blanket type of statements. The beauty of it you can use almost anything as ideas to sledge a side or opponent. Just start of by using some form of common sense. Would Mobbs approve? Is this what he wanted from his creation? Okay, make I'm stretching it a bit here.
Ding: You seem to be enjoying your qooty. Which clubs do you enjoy posting against and why?
BB: As a Wonder you value the Foundation Cup vs Demons which always gave meaning behind the thread and let them know we were the club that became successful and they were a failure.
A similar theme by preforming well against the Furies and the mission to be #firsttosix before the Furies. They are always good competitor on and off field which made the threads good.
Swamprats used to to give some of the weirder threads that I have been apart of in the league over the journey. From entire threads of the best chocolate bars and chips and to exploring sexuality. Deserves an honorable mention.
Ding: Thanks for the chat. Here are a few final words.
ClarkeM: BallaratBulldog, I preferred Shallow however, it has been a pleasure playing with you for close to 350 games.
idon: I am bound to have played a few games against BB, but these have neither been remarkable or memorable for both of us. Well done and cheers to many more seasons of games.
Broken: I've been to Ballarat and I've seen a bulldog. Both were alright.
haydo: BallaratBulldog is the ultimate team man. Never had any issues with him during my time in charge at the Wonders. Is highly regarded at the Wonders which saw a club award named after him 2 seasons ago. Best and fairest winner, premiership player and Hall of famer, what more could you want in a team mate! Congrats on your 350th this weekend mate, I'll sure have a beer with you in the Wonders change room if I'm allowed back in
BB: I was apart of a list of players the Wonders were recruiting at the time for season 09. I was recruited by doggiesin08. A few clubs prominent players had a bit of a sook at the time claiming we were hogging all the new players. But the Wonders were the ones putting the effort often going outside the new players threads.
Wonders historically are always an active club, the signs were in front of me at the start. It had strong leaders with Kerrby as captian after taking over from Kerr4PM leaving and Rick18 as VC. A developing clarkeM, EKA himself and even other first year players like croweater41 taking out the EKA medal were setting the bar high. Kerrby was a bit of a flog though it must be said.
We finished second on the ladder. Lost the QF to the Bombers, beat the Furies in the semi but ultimately defeated in the prelim in a rematch with the Bombers. Disappointing result but not at all a bad way to experience your very first season of SFA.
Ding: What happened to Kerrby and Rick18? Is there a player from that era that you'd love to bring back?
BB: Kerrby pushed some of his comments a bit far. One time he called Chief ugly and got suspended for three weeks, he was puzzled, claiming it was a joke. Although that's more of the lesser ones. He has his name written with the big red text. Permanently.
Of course very few leave so controversially. Some want to move into new challenges, some completely fall out of love of the league, some want a break and come back, some don't have the time etc. All valid reasons. If a lot of long time players were honest they would have felt some of these statements over time. Players are always welcome back normally of course.
Rick18 would be a worthy choice to bring back. He was a great leader and pushed quality. It would be interesting, as comparing from another era where threads were much different to now.
EJW: So, the last two seasons straight sets is not a new experience for you BB?
BB: If you hang around long enough, you will be presented with a lot of different challenges. You do laugh when it's the other teams that go out in straight sets. Not so much you, although they would relish the return serve. Wonders have always been fortunate to be in finals for a bulk of my time here, but sometimes you get knocked out and in others get a mini run going at the right time. In season 17 we went from elimination final (in fact we had to win last round to make it or risk the bandits overtaking) and stormed home for the flag. You need to take the good with the bad and crack in again next time.
Ding: I started in S3 and the SFA was very much wham bam thank you Mam! Match threads were two pages with very little banter. How would S9 compare from then to where we are now?
BB: A bloke named pacemaker had little tagline he would post in at the start of the thread of certain teams. "Interesting times or posting byes?". There were times where some teams didn't have too much going on, but others that were pushing the numbers out. Finals would natural attract the biggest traffic. Unlikely posting would ever be a problem now, after all we have even expanded further in recent years with Royals and Warriors. The site itself is bigger than ever. And there's easy access through technology in many forms. The thing to remember is to always encourage fun and engaging posting while the numbers are growing.
EJW: Pacemaker, lol.
How do you find keeping abreast of it all these days. As you say, there's a lot more going on, and a lot of the old names are gone. Do you ever look around and think, how the **** did this happen? How did I get here?
Ding: Fun and engaging posting is spot on. The Wonders also have a reputation for being a tad arrogant. Do you think we have the mix right?
EJW: Of course we have the mix right Ding, what a ******* stupid question.
Ask something relevant ffs!!
BB, who is your all time favourite teammate, and has there been one you just didn't click with?
BB: It's hard to go past either of ClarkeM and croweater41. Even though the latter dragging me to the bench during the game in a final when he took over as coach that season. They were always there putting the effort in and making it enjoyable. And who doesn't enjoy ClarkeMedia!?
I don't think I've had someone who I didn't "click" with. Unless you all act differently behind my back! Banter allows a lot of different avenues to get involved. Naturally you don't like every person you meet in life. But in a team environment you should always have a teammates back, even if you felt a bit differently.
EJW: What about opponents? Again, favourites? And any that just s**t you?
Also, thoughts on the modern day qooty poster. In some ways has it gone too far, or is it just as much fun with the natural evolution (some would say devolution) of the game?
BB: boncer34 in his peak was good to watch pawn some n00bs back in their place - I can assure you that was more appropriate to say in the past.
Who can forget coondogs "go demons" "hahahaha" "nah" type posts. It always got frequent responses on his simple style that you wondered early on if he really was genius at baiting people and trolling in general
Fumblers obsession with kebabs and souvlakis and ******os overall antics were pretty amusing over time.
Okeydokey is a good teammate now, but I did used to look at a paragraph or two from him and hitting control F to search for the letter "I" with amazing number of results. In other words how much he talked about himself into a post and call him out on it. This was a real long way back though.
We could be here all day though.
But I think its also worth acknowledging people like Ljp86 always doing the ladder posting weekly on top of their solid contributions and various admins over the journey that not only post but manage everything. From tfula-tiger all the way to Cloud.
The league has plenty of modern day up and coming or players with a few seasons in the belt now. I don't think there's anything wrong with the modern Qooty. Maybe ensuring they understand the banter when they first arrive is the most challenging. It's up to the captains to drive the best content out by getting the best out of a person. You have team threads and PM's to plan attacks if needed.
I do sometimes wonder what it would be like if the last two teams didn't exist. I know one ones from the bay 13 in particular might never been involved otherwise but just as a hypothetical. It would be extra packed team threads.
EJW: So, the captains shouldn't let people just run wild then? They should show some level of control?
BB: To a degree. No one likes it when incidents do occur between posters. They need to know where the line, between the person and the persona is. What are examples of good banter that can further a conversation vs a blanket type of statements. The beauty of it you can use almost anything as ideas to sledge a side or opponent. Just start of by using some form of common sense. Would Mobbs approve? Is this what he wanted from his creation? Okay, make I'm stretching it a bit here.
Ding: You seem to be enjoying your qooty. Which clubs do you enjoy posting against and why?
BB: As a Wonder you value the Foundation Cup vs Demons which always gave meaning behind the thread and let them know we were the club that became successful and they were a failure.
A similar theme by preforming well against the Furies and the mission to be #firsttosix before the Furies. They are always good competitor on and off field which made the threads good.
Swamprats used to to give some of the weirder threads that I have been apart of in the league over the journey. From entire threads of the best chocolate bars and chips and to exploring sexuality. Deserves an honorable mention.
Ding: Thanks for the chat. Here are a few final words.
ClarkeM: BallaratBulldog, I preferred Shallow however, it has been a pleasure playing with you for close to 350 games.
idon: I am bound to have played a few games against BB, but these have neither been remarkable or memorable for both of us. Well done and cheers to many more seasons of games.
Broken: I've been to Ballarat and I've seen a bulldog. Both were alright.
haydo: BallaratBulldog is the ultimate team man. Never had any issues with him during my time in charge at the Wonders. Is highly regarded at the Wonders which saw a club award named after him 2 seasons ago. Best and fairest winner, premiership player and Hall of famer, what more could you want in a team mate! Congrats on your 350th this weekend mate, I'll sure have a beer with you in the Wonders change room if I'm allowed back in
Ophidian Old Boys
