A Grand Final football jumper weighs about five times more than any other.
When you put it on you are not only carrying the expectations of your team, but the hopes and dreams of every person who has ever supported your club.
In the case of the success starved Western Bulldogs, that weight must feel enormous.
The whole week so far reminds me of when the Saints broke their 26-year drought and made it into the 1997 Grand Final.
Like the Bulldogs, the Saints were everyone’s second team primarily because we were seen as harmless.
Most felt sorry for us because we hadn’t achieved anything of note for a very long time and weren’t a threat to the big boys.
We decided a few years prior to ’97 to eradicate the underdog tag and turn ourselves into a feared outfit. The only way to do that would be to win, not just a lot of games but a Grand Final.
I get the sense that the Bulldogs made the same pact not so long ago.
The Dogs in many ways resemble the Saints of ’97.
The majority of the football world will now be like my family who sat on the couch last Saturday willing the Bulldogs on.
When I asked why they were cheering on the Dogs, the answer was simply because Western Bulldogs never win anything. They weren’t being derogatory; it is just human nature to want the underdog to win.
In 1997 the Saints had the vast majority of the football world riding along with us. Certainly we had the Victorian football public in our corner.
All week we had supporters of rival teams telling us how much they hoped we would beat those evil Adelaide Crows. They implored us to win and not let the state down by allowing Adelaide to win their first flag.
As if carrying the hopes of the long-suffering Saints supporters wasn’t enough, we were now carrying the hopes of the whole state!
But thinking back the added weight of representing your state didn’t really play a role when you consider who else we were playing for. The feelings of rival supporters paled into insignificance when we looked into the eyes of our own fans.
It is almost impossible to describe the emotions of the supporters. It is an odd mix of immense excitement coupled with immense trepidation.
At some point in the game the enormity of winning and losing will start to weigh on them.
They aren’t sure whether to dream of the elation that comes with winning or to stay calm for fear that the fall may be too great if they happen to lose. A Grand Final is not just a special game of football; it is a life-changing event.
When people tell you they could die happily when you win, the pressure builds.
The Bulldogs players will try as hard as they can to focus on the game, and Luke Beveridge will remove as many distractions as possible.
He’s a sensational coach and will control as much of the week as is humanly possible. But what he will be unable to control is the passion of the Bulldogs faithful.
As players you get to build relationships with the peripheral people at football clubs. These can include the trainers and volunteers who typically have been around the place for a long time. It also includes the key supporters such as the cheer squad members and those who come to training rain, hail or shine.
I’m not talking about the ones who work at the club to earn a living; I’m talking about those who live to be a part of the club. For some, the Western Bulldogs is their identity; it is the place where they find like-minded people and where they have a sense of belonging.
They can dress up, paint their faces, yell and scream and be completely one-eyed without repercussions.
It is from these loyal people where the added pressure to win comes. Winning could well be the greatest moment of many of their lives and if you lose it could be the worst day of their lives.
I know that I wanted to win more for our head trainer, the late great Ken Whiffen, than I did for myself.
He had worked at the Saints since the early 60s and to give him another memory like ’66 would be a moment I, and the team, would treasure forever.
Every club has these people and when you have not won a Grand Final since 1954, the desire to reward their loyalty is profound and can even be consuming. Compare it to the Hawks of late. Do you think they were playing for their fans in the last few years or more to create a legacy for themselves as a team?
Of course the fans play a part, but do you think the passion in the Hawthorn fans’ eyes would match that of Bulldogs this week?
Beveridge is a good man and he would undoubtedly teach his players to be good men as well as footballers. On Saturday these men will be the first to represent the Bulldogs in a Grand Final for 55 years. That’s a lot of years, a lot of supporters, a lot of ex-players and a lot of weight to carry.
The players will not easily be able to block out the expectations. At some point in the game the enormity of winning and losing will start to weigh on them.
If it comes early they will be blown out of the water; if it comes late they may hang on.
The only way to avoid it is be eight goals up in the last quarter. While the Swans may not have the weight of the fans on them, they do have concerns of their own.
Last time they were in the big one, they lost by 10 goals. A repeat of that would not be good.
Let’s hope for the sake of football, for teams that have to do things the hard way—for fans of the underdog—that the Bulldogs can carry that extra weight.
This week in SEN Inside Football…
- Nathan Burke was a member of the St Kilda Grand Final side of ’97, and explains why the Bulldogs will shoulder the enormous burden of supporter sentiment.
- At a club on the rise like the Dogs, there is an art to retaining star players. We detail just how its done.
- And our Toe-to-Toe interviews have revealed all kinds of Grand Final secrets over the years. We look back some of the best of them.
- Leigh Brown explains why the off season is the best time for coaches addressing the glaring deficiencies in their players’ games.
- Former Bulldog and Tiger Nathan Brown had an injury-interrupted career, but is thankful for his opportunities. He chats to David Rhys-Jones.
- The season has come to a premature end for Geelong and GWS. We rank their lists and look ahead to what their dream line-ups look like heading into 2017.
- We review all of the preliminary final action and have the most comprehensive preview at this week’s decider.
- Have some fun at your Grand Final day BBQ with our Prop Bets sheet!
- Crackers Keenan provides you with whispers from the corridors of power that you are yet to hear.
- Titus O’Reily takes his weekly satirical look at some of the biggest stories in the world of footy in the past seven days.
- Plus we cover the VFL, SANFL, WAFL, NEAFL, TAC Cup and local league Grand Finals in a bumper edition!
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