What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 2

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conrad_437

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I'm sure I saw them together on my wife's snapchat late in the season. She even travelled to Perth for the game against Freo in which he didn't play.

I did post at the time that I thought something personal was going on with him, I thought perhaps depression or something along those lines, so while I'm. glad it's not, it's going to be a tough year or two. particularly given he has the two kids he more than likely won't be seeing everyday.

The shoulder injury was unrelated to form, I'll always maintain that.
I met both of them at the pub around the middle of August, which is only four months ago. I feel like they were trying to find that 'spark' again, so that everything would be normal for themselves and most importantly their kids.
 

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JJHunter

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They went to Bali together in the off season, so nobody suspected. He may have moved in with JJ who lives nearby but that's just a guess.

All those who bagged him for being "selfish", including commentators and "experts", can GTFO.
If fairness just cause you are seprating from your partner doesn't mean you aren't playing selfish footy.

I believe it was Luke beveridge himself who said he needed to go back to the twos to play the right way, prepare right and do the team things. He would have known about the seperation and he still saw fit to mention his training standards and elude to selfishness within games.

So let's not suggest everyone saying it about his footy was wrong based on this news alone.

He was obviously dealing with a huge amount of crap at the time but still he was playing selfish footy.

I thought that all changed when he come back into the side. While he didn't dominate gee he did a lot of very important team things
 

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Hard Ball Get

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Who has the best defence? We rank every club
Ashley Browne, Ben Collins and Lee Gaskin
December 29, 2016 7:00 AM


IT'S LITTLE surprise the two teams that faced off in the biggest game of last season possess the best backlines in the competition.

But we believe Sydney has the edge over the premiers when it comes to the players called on to shut down the opposition forwards.

Aliir Aliir will become a regular in the side after a breakthrough season in 2016, while NAB AFL Rising Star Callum Mills is destined for great things.

The return of beloved skipper Bob Murphy will strengthen what was already a damaging and explosive Bulldogs' backline, featuring Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen.

Run and carry is the feature of Greater Western Sydney, with Nick Haynes and Zac Williams transitioning the ball quickly from defence into attack.

At the bottom end of the ladder, it's clear the Brisbane Lions will need to be patient with their young crop of defenders and allow them to reach their full potential.

1. SYDNEY
B: Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe
HB: Callum Mills, Aliir Aliir, Jarrad McVeigh
C: Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker, Jake Lloyd
HF: Kieren Jack, Sam Reid, Gary Rohan
F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Callum Sinclair
Foll: Kurt Tippett, Josh Kennedy, Isaac Heeney
I/C: Zak Jones, Daniel Robinson, Dean Towers, Oliver Florent

Depth
Midfield:
Harry Cunningham, Shaun Edwards, Robbie Fox, Jordan Foote, Brandon Jack, Tyrone Leonardis, Sam Naismith, Ben Ronke
Forwards: Darcy Cameron, Jordan Dawson, Sam Fisher, Will Hayward, George Hewett, Sam Murray, Toby Pink, James Rose
Defenders: Alex Johnson, Jeremy Laidler, Jack Maibaum, Harrison Marsh, Lewis Melican, Nic Newman, Colin O’Riordan, Michael Talia

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Our projection is that the Swans still have the best defence in the competition. They conceded the fewest points last season (1469) and boast the right mix of experience, hardness and excitement. Smith is one of the premier lockdown defenders in the AFL and Rampe's rapid improvement to All Australian selection is a credit to him and the club. Aliir was a revelation in 2016, keeping Ted Richards out of the side, and the Swans missed him in the Grand Final. We can't squeeze Jeremy Laidler into this side and he is a more than handy mid-sized defender, so this group must be going well.

2. WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Dale Morris, Marcus Adams, Matthew Boyd
HB: Robert Murphy, Easton Wood, Jason Johannisen
C: Lachie Hunter, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae
HF: Caleb Daniel, Travis Cloke, Stewart Crameri
F: Jake Stringer, Tom Boyd, Tory Dickson
Foll: Jordan Roughead, Tom Liberatore, Luke Dahlhaus
I/C: Liam Picken, Clay Smith, Shane Biggs, Bailey Williams

Depth
Midfield:
Tom Campbell, Bailey Dale, Tim English, Declan Hamilton, Lin Jong, Matthew Suckling, Mitch Wallis
Forwards: Josh Dunkley, Fergus Greene, Mitch Honeychurch, Patrick Lipinski, Toby McLean, Nathan Mullenger-McHugh, Jack Redpath, Tristan Tweedie, Lewis Young
Defenders: Kieren Collins, Zaine Cordy, Bradley Lynch, Josh Prudden, Fletcher Roberts, Roarke Smith, Lukas Webb

No other defensive unit in the competition boasts the versatility, dash, depth and extraordinary resilience of the one that provided the backbone to last year's premiership team. And the Bulldogs backline will be further strengthened by the return of skipper Bob Murphy and powerful full-back Marcus 'The Specimen' Adams, the latter being a revelation before being sidelined in his debut season. Both Dale Morris and Easton Wood can play tall or small, while the entire back six generates irrepressible run and flair. Their adaptability, selflessness and cohesion – instilled by the visionary Luke Beveridge and his coaching panel – was shown repeatedly last year when they overcame a series of crippling injuries to backmen, and the belief they gained from their stratospheric journey should sustain them for some time.

Can't disagree with that. The Swans have the best defence by far and I'd say we are second easily. There's a big gap to the rest.
 
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What impressed me the most from that article is our overall depth all over the park. They have premiership players Dunkley, Suckling, Cordy and Roberts as depth. Meanwhile I agree that Suckling and Roberts aren't in our best 22.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
And McLean.in before Williams on the bench for mine.

And that is some seriously good depth we got listed there.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

BRWB

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You'd have to be a ******* cùnt to take the piss out of that.

That video took far more effort than anything we dribble out on this forum and is more sincere than 99% of anything we come out with.
Genuine question, are they people with special needs who made this clip?

If so good on them.
 

TempletonTheRat

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Who has the best defence? We rank every club
Ashley Browne, Ben Collins and Lee Gaskin
December 29, 2016 7:00 AM


IT'S LITTLE surprise the two teams that faced off in the biggest game of last season possess the best backlines in the competition.

But we believe Sydney has the edge over the premiers when it comes to the players called on to shut down the opposition forwards.

Aliir Aliir will become a regular in the side after a breakthrough season in 2016, while NAB AFL Rising Star Callum Mills is destined for great things.

The return of beloved skipper Bob Murphy will strengthen what was already a damaging and explosive Bulldogs' backline, featuring Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen.

Run and carry is the feature of Greater Western Sydney, with Nick Haynes and Zac Williams transitioning the ball quickly from defence into attack.

At the bottom end of the ladder, it's clear the Brisbane Lions will need to be patient with their young crop of defenders and allow them to reach their full potential.

1. SYDNEY
B: Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe
HB: Callum Mills, Aliir Aliir, Jarrad McVeigh
C:
Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker, Jake Lloyd
HF: Kieren Jack, Sam Reid, Gary Rohan
F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Callum Sinclair
Foll: Kurt Tippett, Josh Kennedy, Isaac Heeney
I/C: Zak Jones, Daniel Robinson, Dean Towers, Oliver Florent

Depth
Midfield:
Harry Cunningham, Shaun Edwards, Robbie Fox, Jordan Foote, Brandon Jack, Tyrone Leonardis, Sam Naismith, Ben Ronke
Forwards: Darcy Cameron, Jordan Dawson, Sam Fisher, Will Hayward, George Hewett, Sam Murray, Toby Pink, James Rose
Defenders: Alex Johnson, Jeremy Laidler, Jack Maibaum, Harrison Marsh, Lewis Melican, Nic Newman, Colin O’Riordan, Michael Talia

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Our projection is that the Swans still have the best defence in the competition. They conceded the fewest points last season (1469) and boast the right mix of experience, hardness and excitement. Smith is one of the premier lockdown defenders in the AFL and Rampe's rapid improvement to All Australian selection is a credit to him and the club. Aliir was a revelation in 2016, keeping Ted Richards out of the side, and the Swans missed him in the Grand Final. We can't squeeze Jeremy Laidler into this side and he is a more than handy mid-sized defender, so this group must be going well.

2. WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Dale Morris, Marcus Adams, Matthew Boyd
HB: Robert Murphy, Easton Wood, Jason Johannisen
C:
Lachie Hunter, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae
HF: Caleb Daniel, Travis Cloke, Stewart Crameri
F: Jake Stringer, Tom Boyd, Tory Dickson
Foll: Jordan Roughead, Tom Liberatore, Luke Dahlhaus
I/C: Liam Picken, Clay Smith, Shane Biggs, Bailey Williams

Depth
Midfield:
Tom Campbell, Bailey Dale, Tim English, Declan Hamilton, Lin Jong, Matthew Suckling, Mitch Wallis
Forwards: Josh Dunkley, Fergus Greene, Mitch Honeychurch, Patrick Lipinski, Toby McLean, Nathan Mullenger-McHugh, Jack Redpath, Tristan Tweedie, Lewis Young
Defenders: Kieren Collins, Zaine Cordy, Bradley Lynch, Josh Prudden, Fletcher Roberts, Roarke Smith, Lukas Webb

No other defensive unit in the competition boasts the versatility, dash, depth and extraordinary resilience of the one that provided the backbone to last year's premiership team. And the Bulldogs backline will be further strengthened by the return of skipper Bob Murphy and powerful full-back Marcus 'The Specimen' Adams, the latter being a revelation before being sidelined in his debut season. Both Dale Morris and Easton Wood can play tall or small, while the entire back six generates irrepressible run and flair. Their adaptability, selflessness and cohesion – instilled by the visionary Luke Beveridge and his coaching panel – was shown repeatedly last year when they overcame a series of crippling injuries to backmen, and the belief they gained from their stratospheric journey should sustain them for some time.

Can't disagree with that. The Swans have the best defence by far and I'd say we are second easily. There's a big gap to the rest.
agree with this also but found the whole article somewhat laughable - they ranked the Cats 4th with players like Bews, Thurlow and J Kolo... and then for the Tigers they have McIntosh as a back pocket when he played mainly on the wing. Zac Dawson has only been listed as depth for Freo
:huh:

as usual they are hard up for something to write about
 

Hard Ball Get

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agree with this also but found the whole article somewhat laughable - they ranked the Cats 4th with players like Bews, Thurlow and J Kolo... and then for the Tigers they have McIntosh as a back pocket when he played mainly on the wing. Zac Dawson has only been listed as depth for Freo
:huh:

as usual they are hard up for something to write about
To be honest I didn't read past us.
 

X_box_X

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Yeah, I didn't read past us either.

That back six they have listed is the popular back six most here would probably have. There is some serious talent there. Morris and Wood are genuine A graders, while Murphy, Boyd and JJ are at least B+. Considering one was All Australian in 2015, another All Australian in 2016, while the other is the 2016 Norm Smith Medalist who led the Brownlow after two rounds this year - I say we are doing very bloody well if those three are rated behind Morris and Wood (IMO, anyway).

With Hamling gone, the KPD depth has fallen away slightly. Hopefully Roberts continues to improve, Adams stays on the park and Collins comes on sooner than we expect him to. You also have Cordy who in all seriousness is a very good chance of playing most of 2017 in the back line.

I can't remember the last time our defence rated this highly.

I'm going on memory here, but I reckon it is better than it was when we made three consecutive Prelim Finals with this back six:

Hargrave, Lake, Morris
Gilbee, Williams, Murphy

Vs

Johannisen, Morris, Wood
Murphy, Adams, Boyd

There's honestly no difference between Morris of 2008-2010 than there is to Morris now. What he has lost in speed and athleticism (probably very minor despite the broken leg), he has made up for in experience.

The 2015 Murphy version would be breaking even with the Murphy of seven years ago, but you would have to give the slight edge to the younger Murphy given the uncertainty of how he will recover from his second knee reconstruction.

Slight advantage to the former Back Six so far.

JJ has Shaggy covered fairly easily.
Lake has Adams covered easily.

Advantage to the former Back Six.

Wood has Williams have easily.
Boyd and Gilbee are about the same.

That's very close when you compare those lineups. When you throw in the depth players (i.e. Biggs, Cordy, Suckling, Roberts, Webb, etc), that's where the 2016 lineup prevails when you come up against Harbrow, Callan, Tiller, Wight, etc.
 

Hard Ball Get

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'We move on pretty quick', Dogs turn focus to 2017
Nat Edwards
December 30, 2016 1:01 PM


Liam Picken celebrates the 2016 premiership win

THE PROSPECT of achieving back-to-back flags isn't being used as motivation at the Whitten Oval this pre-season.

Just three months after clinching the club's first premiership in 62 years, the Western Bulldogs have already put their historic flag behind them.

In fact, coach Luke Beveridge hasn't even spoken about the Grand Final since the players arrived back at the club for pre-season training.

"We move on pretty quick," premiership hero Liam Picken told AFL.com.au.

"We haven't mentioned going back-to-back because it's a new season with new challenges, we don't look back. We want to look forward and because we've come back later we've just been concentrating on training really well."

Picken is well aware the Bulldogs will be the hunted in 2017, and knows the Dogs will have to raise the bar again.

On an individual note, the 30-year-old also knows he has areas of his game that need improvement.

Picken had a stunning finals series and was instrumental on Grand Final day with 25 disposals and three goals.

He hopes to recapture that form on a more consistent basis next season, but is none the wiser on whether he'll continue to play up forward.

"Our side is going to change a fair bit so I'm not really sure where I'll play or what role I'll have next year," he said.

"All I can do is train in a number of areas in preparation. Ever since Bevo has come in, I've had a few different roles. It helps you and rejuvenates you a little bit.

"I suppose when you play the same role for six or seven years, when you get a new role it's refreshing and exciting."

Picken will be entering his ninth year at the Bulldogs after being drafted in 2009 at the age of 22.

It will also be the final year of his contract following a two-year extension, which was signed in 2015.

Despite turning 30 in August, Picken feels he is still at the peak of his powers.

His body is extremely durable, having missed only three games through injury in the past three years, so it's no surprise he hasn't contemplated retirement.

He has however prepared himself for life after football, whenever that eventuates.

"I think the advantage of starting football late means I haven't been in the system as long compared to guys who were drafted at 18," Picken said.

"Every pre-season I feel good and mentally fresh. I was lucky enough to go to university before I was drafted and then I continued studying while playing footy.

"Your footy career can end in a heartbeat so you need to prepare yourself off the field. But I don't like to look too far ahead. While I'm still able to play football and I want to just enjoy it and try to get the most out of myself."

Picken has a commerce degree under his belt and has also completed further post-graduate studies.
 

hujsh

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Yeah, I didn't read past us either.

That back six they have listed is the popular back six most here would probably have. There is some serious talent there. Morris and Wood are genuine A graders, while Murphy, Boyd and JJ are at least B+. Considering one was All Australian in 2015, another All Australian in 2016, while the other is the 2016 Norm Smith Medalist who led the Brownlow after two rounds this year - I say we are doing very bloody well if those three are rated behind Morris and Wood (IMO, anyway).

With Hamling gone, the KPD depth has fallen away slightly. Hopefully Roberts continues to improve, Adams stays on the park and Collins comes on sooner than we expect him to. You also have Cordy who in all seriousness is a very good chance of playing most of 2017 in the back line.

I can't remember the last time our defence rated this highly.

I'm going on memory here, but I reckon it is better than it was when we made three consecutive Prelim Finals with this back six:

Hargrave, Lake, Morris
Gilbee, Williams, Murphy

Vs

Johannisen, Morris, Wood
Murphy, Adams, Boyd

There's honestly no difference between Morris of 2008-2010 than there is to Morris now. What he has lost in speed and athleticism (probably very minor despite the broken leg), he has made up for in experience.

The 2015 Murphy version would be breaking even with the Murphy of seven years ago, but you would have to give the slight edge to the younger Murphy given the uncertainty of how he will recover from his second knee reconstruction.

Slight advantage to the former Back Six so far.

JJ has Shaggy covered fairly easily.
Lake has Adams covered easily.

Advantage to the former Back Six.

Wood has Williams have easily.
Boyd and Gilbee are about the same.

That's very close when you compare those lineups. When you throw in the depth players (i.e. Biggs, Cordy, Suckling, Roberts, Webb, etc), that's where the 2016 lineup prevails when you come up against Harbrow, Callan, Tiller, Wight, etc.
Pretty sure Murph started to play back permanently in the McCartney years. I'd have Harbrow in instead.

It's worth mentioning that guys like Tim Callan got regular games in that team so outside the first choice team the depth wasn't what we have now
 

Hard Ball Get

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For those that can access it...
Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs premiership run one of the most magical months of football in history

SAM EDMUND, Herald Sun
December 29, 2016 8:47pm

VICTORIA University’s Footscray Park campus boasts a $68 million sport and exercise science facility, but its contribution to the Western Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership will forever be priceless.

It was here, in this building overlooking Flemington Racecourse, that Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore won their improbable late-season race to regain fitness.

Both went down against Geelong in Round 19 - another “not again” moment in a season pot-holed by injuries. Macrae had a hamstring tendon injury and Liberatore needed surgery on a serious ankle syndesmosis injury.

But while the Bulldogs were fighting a losing battle to secure a top-four spot, the two key midfielders were winning theirs on bicycles inside VU’s cutting edge “altitude hotel” and “heat chamber”.

They missed a month.

Meanwhile, stand-in captain Easton Wood needed weekly painkilling injections on an ankle injury suffered in Round 22 to make sure he didn’t follow the same path. Jake Stringer was given the green light to return after a two-week VFL stint that didn’t exactly wow onlookers.


Tom Liberatore injured his ankle in Round 19. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Easton Wood injured his ankle in Round 22.
Jordan Roughead recovered after missing Round 23 with a calf complaint.

All five were back for a cut-throat final against West Coast on the other side of the country.

An advance party of seven players - Liam Picken, Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd, Matt Suckling, Roughead, Wood and Stringer - flew to Perth on Tuesday, September 6.

Their teammates followed the next day, joining them at the Novotel Langley and a light run at the WACA Ground — a new preparation in a city the Bulldogs didn’t have fond memories of.

There may have been an unprecedented pre-finals bye, but the Dogs were heading back to Perth for the second time in 12 days and with an ugly 20-point Round 23 loss to the 16th-placed Dockers still fresh in the minds.

Yet on a sunny, picture-perfect Thursday afternoon in the west, the strongest Western Bulldogs side since the opening month of the season made the 20-minute bus trip to Subiaco Oval.

No one knew it at the time, but the most magical finals campaign in football history was about to unfold.






AFL Premiers 2016
ELIMINATION FINAL v WEST COAST

THE Bulldogs had never won an interstate final and had not saluted at Subiaco since 2010.

West Coast had won nine of its previous 10 matches, including victories over GWS, Hawthorn and Adelaide.

Yet when coach Luke Beveridge looked into his players’ eyes he saw something that said “there was a bit left in us”.

Faced with an Eagles press that had suffocated the best sides in the competition at Subiaco, the Dogs’ ball use was clean, brave and direct — right up the middle of the longest AFL ground in the country.

Expecting slow, long, down-the-line kicks, the Eagles were instead met by a frenzied Bulldog offence that threw caution to the wind.


Liam Picken was inspired in the Bulldogs elimination final win over West Coast.
Beveridge had gambled and come up with a royal flush.

The swarm was on. The Dogs exchanged handballs in the back 50m and then went fast right through the heart of Subiaco Oval to feast on a glut of over-the-back goals via 11 different goalkickers.

Liam Picken set the tone with a huge first quarter that featured goals, contested marks, game-breaking possessions and his teammates quickly followed the lead. Caleb Daniel and Luke Dahlhaus were two-way balls of energy and Tory Dickson caught fire.

The Dogs’ run of seven consecutive first-half goals knocked the stuffing out of the Eagles. The “House of Pain” was hurting and eerily quiet. The press box, full of West Australian media, was just as mute. This wasn’t part of the script.

By the final siren, it was a 47-point belting.

President Peter Gordon punched the air on the bench and Beveridge couldn’t hide his smile in the coach’s box.


Luke Dahlhaus fires off a handball in the elimination final win.
Liberatore jumped on Stringer’s back as the players went into a changeroom low on numbers but big on jubilation.

Down the corridor, West Coast coach Adam Simpson was frank.

“We couldn’t handle it,” he said.

Luke Beveridge said: “We didn’t in our wildest dreams think we were going to play that well.”

The footy world had its heart warmed, but Beveridge’s boys were just getting started.

SEMI-FINAL v HAWTHORN

BACK in Footscray, belief was snowballing. Daniel declared “there is no ceiling”, while Matthew Boyd spoke of “spirit” and “playing for each other”.

That comraderie was proved on Thursday with a hijacked team meeting only 36 hours out from the Dogs’ biggest game of the year, to date — the semi-final against Hawthorn.

Stringer told the team that Stewart Crameri was absent despite his much-anticipated return to the club following a 12-month ASADA ban. But they had prepared a video, Stringer said, which they might as well play.

Someone flicked the lights and the players giggled as they watched Crameri’s head superimposed on a wrestler’s body. But when Crameri entered the room seconds later — arms raised to thumping WWE music — hilarity ensued.

Yet the warm and fuzzy stuff was doing nothing to convince the neutrals they’d go any further. Stopping Hawthorn — winner of the last three premierships — and its kicking game on the expanses of the MCG was deemed a step too far.


Marcus Bontempelli and Lachie Hunter celebrate a goal against Hawthorn.
The Dogs had played only twice on the MCG this season, the most recent way back in Round 10.

Again, the reality bus was supposed to run the Dogs over. Instead, the reality bus was stopped and then put up on blocks.

The Dogs started with intensity, but like the Eagles game, without polish. The Hawks jumped to a 23-point lead half way through the second quarter, having kicked five of their first six goals directly from Bulldogs turnovers.

But like they had done all season, the Dogs fought. Picken was again the one to light a fire underneath his teammates and his inspirational second term, highlighted by a mark in the face of oncoming traffic that saw him poleaxed, urged the Dogs to engineer eight of the last nine scoring shots of the first half to roar back into the game.


Jake Stringer caught fire in the third quarter of the semi-final against Hawthorn.
Then came the Dogs’ withering six-goal third quarter burst that rocked the Hawks to their core. Dominating contested ball and clearances, the Bulldogs’ pressure that crippled West Coast had strangled the best kicking side the game had seen.

In the frenzy, Marcus Bontempelli was a picture of poise and Macrae has 39 touches at 82 per cent efficiency. More than 87,000 had been enthralled by the battle. It was the biggest crowd to ever witness a Bulldogs victory — for now.

“We did hold our nerve ... it gets back to that belief in what they know that they can do,” Beveridge said.

“There’s a big carrot right in front of us.”

The fairytale now had wings.

PRELIMINARY FINAL v GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY

IT was the team given everything against the team given nothing.

The AFL-created, spoonfed Greater Western Sydney in its $65 million redeveloped stadium against the Western Bulldogs — a club with one flag in 91 years, which nearly merged and scrounged each year just to stay in the black.

Then again, the Bulldogs were staying a short walk from Spotless Stadium at the five-star Pullman Hotel. How times had changed.

Such was the size of the Dogs’ travelling band of red, white and blue believers that the Giants were booed on to their own ground. Stunned, GWS coach Leon Cameron approached AFL football operations boss Mark Evans to express his disbelief.

What followed the opening bounce was pure drama.


Clay Smith was on fire in the first half of the preliminary final.
The Dogs’ tortured run of seven consecutive preliminary final defeats was ended by two hours of football that will stay with this club forever.

The Dogs were down by 11 points late in the third term and 14 in the fourth, but again refused to wilt as the Giants’ marking power and superior scoring arsenal threatened to inflict more prelim heartbreak.

Heroes were everywhere.

Clay Smith, playing for a friend who’d died in a car crash a week earlier, kicked four first-half goals. Dickson (four goals) was inspirational opposed to Heath Shaw, Wood was impassible and Dahlhaus was again in everything.

Then there was Tom Boyd, who dug as deep as anyone when he was forced to ruck for nearly three quarters after Jordan Roughead copped a ball to the face from close-range that caused bleeding in his right eye.

The tension was all too much for Gordon, who had taken to listening to the Saving Private Ryan soundtrack by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an attempt to settle his nerves.

But by the end he could not watch and was hiding away in the players’ race.

Someone had to tell him Stringer had squared the ball to Dickson to ice the game.

Behind glass up in the stands, Luke Darcy was more fan than commentator, but who could blame him?

“I’ve been wanting to say this for as long as I can remember, ‘The Bulldogs are into a Grand Final!’” he yelled.


Marcus Bontempelli, Bob Murphy and Peter Gordon celebrate the preliminary final win. Picture: Phil Hillyard
The tears of joy flow from Bob Murphy to David Smorgon. So overjoyed were the players that Liberatore rolled his ankle while celebrating on the ground.

It was an injury that stopped him, along with Roughead, training early in Grand Final week.

The scenes in the Dogs’ rooms were just as frantic as the game.

Players had sung the song, ushered family and friends out, had a meeting, showered (most of them) and were on the bus, all within 30 minutes of the final siren.

An “ecstatic” Beveridge was still telling the media that it had been an “amazing day for our football club” when the players were taking their seats on the bus. They drove to the airport and literally walked straight on to the plane bound for Melbourne.

Football’s greatest fairytale had entered football’s biggest week. There was no time to waste.


Ryan Griffen and Shane Mumford dejected as Toby McLean and Tom Boyd celebrate. Picture: Phil Hillyard
GRAND FINAL v SYDNEY

THE players received the same old advice — enjoy the week — but such was their relaxed state at Monday’s open media session it was obvious they would not be easily overwhelmed.


By the time 10,000 people poured into the Whitten Oval for Thursday’s open training session they had perfected the art of the fashionably late entrance.

But the fans don’t mind — not when they’d been waiting 55 years to see their side return to the Grand Final.

The atmosphere was supercharged.

Even assistant coach Joel Corey, a three-time Geelong premiership player who played in the Cats’ drought-breaking 2007 flag, said he’d never seen anything like it.


Tom Liberatore and Josh Kennedy go toe-to-toe. Picture: Alex Coppel
When Beveridge saw the sea of people lining Wellington Parade at Friday’s Grand Final parade, his mind flashed back to the Southern Cross Hotel and The Beatles’ trip to Melbourne in 1964.

At the last press conference, the coach who had picked a club off its knees was excited, but confident.

“We feel we’ve come to the last game of the year still with a lot left,” Beveridge said.

The next day, in his final address to the players, he went with a musical theme in pursuit of that emotional hook.

Beveridge likened his side to a band and urged them to “use your instruments”.


Jason Johannisen won the Norm Smith Medal. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
The stirring speech reminded the Dogs anything was possible against the more fancied Swans if they combined their individual talents.

They did, almost erasing 62 years of pain with two hours of football ecstasy in a decider that shocked with its brutality and thrilled with its energy.

The Dogs absorbed everything Josh Kennedy and the battle-hardened Swans could throw at them in the first half — and then struck with an irresistible last quarter that had you believing in destiny.

Jason Johannisen’s combination of raw speed and sense of adventure earned him the Norm Smith Medal.

Picken yet again shaped the game with his move from a wing to the forward line and Boyd — the million-dollar kid with a million critics — spectacularly delivered when he was needed most.


Tom Boyd and Toby McLean celebrate his iconic goal. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Liam Picken flies high for a spectacular mark. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
Boyd’s massive third goal in the last term invoked such powerful emotion that commentator Brian Taylor dropped the F-bomb on radio.

“Boyd has kicked a goal from inside the centre square ... f---! I can’t believe that,” he screamed.

It was a victory to make the heart melt, completed by Beveridge giving teary injured captain Bob Murphy his medal on the dais.

And it was a victory that surely sits atop the best premierships in VFL/AFL history.

Seventh on the ladder, underdogs in four finals - two interstate - an injury list that never quit and all of it coming two years after the sudden departure of captain Ryan Griffen and coach Brendan McCartney that had left them in crisis.

The team from Melbourne’s west had become Australia’s team. It wasn’t just a premiership, it was a life-changer.


Bulldogs players and fans celebrate after the Grand Final siren. Picture: Toby Zerna

Luke Beveridge presents his premiership medal to Bob Murphy. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Bob Murphy and Easton Wood hoist the premiership cup as John Schultz and Luke Beveridge watch on. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
 
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