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

[Fossie 32]

Grand final-bound Bulldogs are more than an AFL club, they're a community
Tim Watts


The Western Bulldogs’ fairytale AFL grand final run is proof that life is better when lived as a part of something bigger than ourselves



The ‘Do it for Bob’ sign on the front window of the offices of federal MP Tim Watts, the local member for Gellibrand. The message references injured Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy, who won’t play in Saturday’s AFL grand final. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Friday 30 September 2016 06.30 AEST

What a glorious time it is to be alive and in Footscray. It’s AFL grand final week and Western Bulldogs fans have been performing the rituals of the lead up to the big game with the enthusiasm of kids experiencing it for the first time.

You only have to look at the #PaintTheTown hashtag on Twitter to see what this means to the community. Houses, fences, pubs, shops, cars, MPs offices and even horses have all been painted red white and blue across the West. After 55 years, seven painful preliminary final losses, too many wooden spoons and one near merger, it’s been joyous.

Long-time Bulldogs fan Mark Seymour said on his Facebook page this week that the thing that makes Footscray special is that “everyone lives there”. You could certainly see what he meant by looking at the mass of red, white and blue who packed Whitten Oval for Thursday’s open training session. The faces of the fans are the faces of our community: diverse, battle scarred and, for today, exuberant.

Ratty woollen Footscray jerseys that looked like they might have gotten a run in the ’61 Grand Final mingled with women who came to the Dogs’ pack via the Horn of Africa and are now wearing red, white and blue Hijabs. Generations of Vietnamese-Australian families crowd the boundary line in front of a hill packed with hirsute hipsters who look like they could have come direct from Laneway Festival on the river’s edge. Men, women, children; they come from a thousand backgrounds, but they share a common belief in the team in front of them.

The usual paranoia and looming terror of being a Bulldogs fan is gone. As First Dog on the Moon has officially proclaimed, The Lid Is Off, and the fans are enjoying it. There’s a universal sense of satisfaction that the Dogs enter the game as underdogs. After three consecutive finals wins against significant odds, the Dogs fans much prefer it this way. Stuff the bookmakers. After what this team has endured this year, we know they can do anything. The Bulldog Tragician summed up the mood perfectly; Why not us?

The consensus is that Luke Beveridge’s boys aren’t just writing their own history, they are writing their own fairytales. The crowd is abuzz at the wonder of it all. There are magical stories everywhere you look on the training track.

Lin Jong, backing up from a best on ground performance for Footscray in last week’s VFL grand final, but just 21 days from a broken collar bone, moves freely. Surely he won’t play? But wouldn’t it be something if he did? Clay Smith is looking indestructible after the psychological torture of three (three!) knee reconstructions. After his performances of the past month he’s a strong chance for the Norm Smith medal.


FacebookTwitterPinterest
Federal MP’s and Bulldogs fans Terri Butler, Tim Watts and Julian Hill getting into the AFL finals spirit at parliament house, Canberra. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
There’s Tom Liberatore, the favourite son with the chance to redeem what was denied to his father. Or Liam Picken and Josh Dunkley, the overlooked sons of greats at other clubs, who have the chance to forge their own greatness with the Dogs. Marcus Bontempelli, the kid who teammates nicknamed “Footch” in promise of future glories just last year, already plays like one of the greats at just 20 years of age. And finally the old firm, Mathew Boyd, Dale Morris and injured Bob Murphy, the backline experience that gives the team its connection with the past and a solidarity that transcends the pups’ raw talent.

This is what makes following Footscray really special. It’s more than a club, it’s a community. Whitten Oval has seen more than a few moments that have transcended footy in recent years. Some in the crowd remember the funeral of local legend and dim sim king, Jimmy Wong, at the ground earlier this year. Thousands from the local community turned out to hear “Sons of the West” played over the loud speakers as his coffin was carried across the ground. Wouldn’t Jimmy have loved to have heard it played at a grand final?

Thousands more turned out to the ground to see Steph Chiocci and the Western Bulldogs’ Womens team win the Hampson-Hardeman Cup – the realisation of club vice-president Susan Alberti’s dream and the birth of a thousand more dreams for the Daughters of the West. After the weekend’s VFL premiership, wouldn’t it be incredible for all three teams at the Bulldogs to be cup holders at the same time? For once, Bulldogs fans are daring to dream.

But my own favourite moments at Whitten Oval are the citizenship ceremonies they’ve held there. The Bulldogs are the only sporting organisation in Australia who deliver settlement services to assist newly-arrived migrants and refugees for the Department of Immigration. You think differently about the role that a football club can play in promoting a sense of belonging in a community after you’ve seen an African refugee, in tears of joy at having just received Australian citizenship, belting out the Bulldogs team song with as much gusto as the national anthem.

There is plenty cynicism about modern professional sports. From the deserved contempt for the international sportocrats to the less admirable snobbery of the “Sportsball” knockers. But this week is a reminder of what we love most about sports. It’s the human experience writ large, a microcosm of the dramas, challenges and successes of life, and a reminder that life is better when lived as a part of something bigger than ourselves. And for this week, there’s nothing better to be a part of than the Western Bulldogs.

'Metal, 54 minutes ago'

Let's hope 16 becomes a famous number for us. Maybe Maclean will show out for us in a big way tomorrow, that would be perfect !

 

[Trugo3013]

A friend used to work with Tim so I'd met him before.

Bumped into him after the dogs hawks game earlier this year at southern cross and chatted with him for ten minutes. Went to the game by himself, was shattered at the result and Bob's injury. A dogs supporter through and through - one of the few pollies who actually support the team in their electorate and a genuinely good bloke. And I'm a greens voter so have no reason to like the bloke!

Yep, Tim Watt's is a genuine Dogs man. I grabbed a photo of him with my mate yesterday.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Western Bulldog Luke Dahlhaus refused to let an ACL injury scare derail his season

LAUREN WOOD, Herald Sun
September 29, 2016 8:00pm
Subscriber only

IT could have been so different for Luke Dahlhaus.

During the first quarter of the Western Bulldogs’ thrilling Round 12 win over Port Adelaide, ruckman Tom Campbell fell over the star midfielder’s legs.

Some club officials, and Dahlhaus himself, feared the three letters that every sportsperson dreads — ACL.

Having seen skipper Bob Murphy go down with exactly that in Round 3, Dahlhaus knew what it meant, but a bit of luck with where his teammate Campbell’s 106-odd kilos landed may have saved his season.

He was part of the Bulldogs’ injury carnage but missed just six weeks with a medial ligament injury, and has been thanking his lucky stars — and the club’s medical team — ever since.

“I actually played another five minutes after doing it and I remember thinking “jeez, this feels wobbly”,” Dahlhaus said.

Luke Dahlhaus after injuring his knee against Port Adelaide. Picture: Getty Images.

Luke Dahlhaus back at training with his knee taped. Picture: Michael Klein
“I said to (club physio) Chris Bell, ‘come and have a look at this’. He moved it and I went ‘oh’. Immediately he’s gone ‘that’s a medial — six weeks’. And he was exactly right. The scans (were spot on) and it was exactly six weeks.

“I’m just thanking the lord that it wasn’t an ACL and that big Tommy Campbell didn’t land on the other side. Thank God.

“We’ve been lucky, even though we’ve had some injuries, to get (Jack) Macrae and Libba (Tom Liberatore) back as well as quick as we did. Jongy (Lin Jong) as well. Medical team … hats off to them. Wow — that’s all I can say.”

Picked up by the Bulldogs as a rookie at the end of 2010, the then-dreadlocked kid from Geelong admits he had doubts about his immediate prospects.

He was coming into a team that had just made a preliminary final, which the Dogs lost to St Kilda, but said he ultimately profited from the difficult period that ultimately saw then-coach Rodney Eade sacked.

Looking back, Dahlhaus said he now sees the “bad year” as his boon.

“There was definitely some tough times,” he said.

“Everyone goes through that building stage, and we, unfortunately when I came in, it was after the prelim and I was thinking ‘I’ve been rookied by a pretty good team here’.

Luke Dahlhaus (right) celebrates his first AFL win with Jayden Schofield and Ed Barlow.
“We ended up having a pretty bad year and that was the year that Rocket went out.

“It sounds bad, but it was sort of good for me in terms of being a rookie — I got that opportunity to play and there was plenty of injuries.

“I played mid-year and have been lucky enough to be playing since. So as bad as it sounds, it was probably good for me in the end. Ever since Bevo has come in, we’ve just been looking up. We’ve made the finals twice and now we’ve made the big dance.”

And what they’ve managed to achieve is indicative of the heart in the sons of the west.

“It is (the ultimate Bulldogs story),” he said.

“It’s that Bulldog spirit. We talk about it a lot. We never give up and we’ve been through a lot. The blokes who have been through those hard times, finishing 12th and 13th and that stuff … it’s going to be good to finally play in the Grand Final.”

At just 24, Dahlhaus said it’s strange to consider himself almost a veteran among the exciting young group, with the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Lachie Hunter and Jack Macrae at times showing him the ropes.

“(Bontempelli) is only 20, by the way,” he laughed.

“You need 44 leaders and he’s one of them. He’s come in and basically shown me what to do and I’ve been here for many more years than him.”

His tenacity and useful 32 touches earned the plaudits of the media’s vote-givers in the weekend’s rampant preliminary final win over Greater Western Sydney, but Dahlhaus hadn’t quite reconciled the feeling of still being in contention this late in the piece this week.

Luke Dahlhaus celebrates with Bob Murphy after beating GWS. Picture: Getty Images
“It’s a weird, weird, weird feeling. I’ve never had anything like this before,” he said.

“Usually at this time of year, I’m on holidays or back home with the family already for a couple of weeks. Now that I’ve had a taste, hopefully we can keep doing it.”


Sudden-death suits him, he said, after three electric finals, and this Saturday — the biggest day of all — will be no different.

“You go out and it’s do-or-die,” Dahlhaus said of finals football.

“You either win or lose and you can’t leave anything out there. That’s my mindset going into the (finals) games. It’s pretty simple, but go out, give it your all, chase, tackle, run hard and do whatever you can to win or otherwise you’re going home.”

 

[SCRAY72]

Minus the casual racism it sounds like everything that rent a quote 'Mr Western Suburbs', Les Twentyman has ever said.

When I went to training on Tuesday, I was standing at the top of the stairs idly waiting for the players to come out onto the ground and was watching the cockroaches from the media scurry around looking for 'colour' for their evening pieces. They of course focused in on the cliched version of the wider public's perception of a Bulldogs supporter (if you have watched any news from the past few days you'd know exactly who I was talking about) and goaded him to perform like a trained seal. Which of course he was only to happy to do. Once the cameraman and reporter got what they wanted they walked away from the rube s******ing "that's ******* gold!" as they went in search of the next stereotype.

As an aside, I'm finding it quite amusing the number of times I'm hearing " Hy heart says....but my head says..." cliche from the sheeple in the media. They do love a collective narrative and this one is a cliche bandwagon much larger than the one currently enveloping our club.

Its the ABC's own version of street talk. It made me cringe watching it. Of course there are disadvantaged people here but the story was a bit lopsided and if the ABC prides itself on balance they should have interviewed people who live in the area who aren't threatened and are comfortable living here.

Go Dogs!!!!

 

[Gollo]

http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/09/30/old-dog-mccartney-deserves-recognition/

By Chris Tetaz

Former Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney deserves credit for the team’s impressive run of success.

McCartney left the kennel after he coached the club to 20 wins in three years. But what he did in those three years is a part of the reason the Bulldogs are breathing down the barrel of a premiership.

He was a big believer that the senior players needed tough love, whilst the younger players needed to be nurtured, and if any one player is bigger than the club and its goals, then they shouldn’t be there.

Former President Peter Gordon confirmed his support in McCartney’s beliefs that no man is bigger than the club itself.

“Our players do not run this club, we do,” he said.

Ryan Griffen and Shaun Higgins then decided their time at the club was up. At the time, the departure of captain Griffen and Higgins seemed like the end for the Dogs and that the club was in turmoil.

McCartney resigned soon after.

At the time, it was easy to blame McCartney for leaving the club in chaos. But what he actually did was set a foundation that is now a part of the Bulldogs’ winning culture.

The culture included a team-based, honest-attacking-running style of footy, a style of footy that has been respected and loved by all AFL supporters.

Since he started until the day he left, McCartney had been honest about where the club and players were at. For some, it was a reality check that was needed.

His concluding words were for the loyal supporters to hold on too.

“What I would like to reinforce to you is that your club is in good hands,” he said.

Two years later, the Bulldogs find themselves playing in the grand final.

Young gun Jason Johannisen also believes that McCartney is a key reason for his side’s spectacular grand final run.

“Macca had a big influence on the young players because he did have a good game-style and he taught us a lot about contested ball, which we pride ourselves on,” Johannisen said.

“He had a big impact on that. The foundation was there and Bevo (Luke Beveridge) has put that extra touch and extra belief into the players that we can play some good footy.”

McCartney is a man who should hold his head high. He should watch the game on Saturday and be proud that his hard work and commitment has helped the Bulldogs get to where they are today.



A nice piece from a mate of mine. McCartney's developmental influence is often overlooked due to his lack of on-field success, however players like Macrae, Johannisen, Bontempelli and Liberatore would not be the successes they are today without his mentorship in their emerging years.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Year of the dogs is on channel 73 now.

 

[Mutt]

How good was Will Anderson on AFL360?!? Now that's passion. Sensational!

 

[Substance]

Anyone watching ch7 right now?

 

[Sharkey66]

Anyone watching ch7 right now?

yep just finished year of the dogs , now Murph and Darce

 

[BRWB]

Anyone watching ch7 right now?

Road to glory??

Premature much??

 

[More Bulldog]

Anyone watching ch7 right now?

Yeah, dont like it at all! This is a good idea for after we win it, not the night before.

 

[Sharkey66]

Yeah, dont like it at all! This is a good idea for after we win it, not the night before.

the show is must see vision. The title is wrong

 

[DexterTan]

Yeah, dont like it at all! This is a good idea for after we win it, not the night before.

And this kind of thinking is also wrong. Enjoy it for those who are not alive to witness this great moment! Embrace it I say.

 

[NoName]

Adam Cooney on Western Bulldogs’ AFL Grand Final: Bring it home for Eddie

ADAM COONEY, Bulldogs player 2004-2014, Herald Sun
8 minutes ago
Subscriber only

WALK through the main door at Whitten Oval, take a quick right turn and you’ll enter a corridor which holds treasured Bulldogs memorabilia: EJ’s guernsey, Libba’s Brownlow, posters of successful games and players.

And then there it is, the 1954 premiership cup.

It’s the first thing you hear about when you are drafted into the club. Supporters speak about the lack of success over so many years, so much heartbreak of previous occasions where the Dogs have come so close but just fallen short.

The 1954 premiership cup and Charlie Sutton’s famous number 6 jumper.

1990 Brownlow Medal winner Tony Liberatore relaxing at home the day after winning the medal.
Today, as the Dogs play off in their first GF in 55 years, the people of the west will be united in praying that these bold, brave and exciting boys can bring home their first flag in 62 years.

This Grand Final, like most, has had its fair share of heartbreak for Mitch Wallace, Jack Redpath, Matt Suckling and Lin Jong, but none bigger than skipper Bob Murphy.

The public heart-and-soul figure of the clubs’ swift turnaround, Murph ruptured his ACL earlier in the year but has continued to show passion and leadership to his young pups.

No doubt he’ll have mixed emotions about the game, but there will be no happier a man if they finally break the longest drought in premiership history.

This week the west has lit up.

Pubs houses and fences have been painted red, white and blue.

There’s a great feeling around, and a buzz that has been missing since 1961.

WEG’s Bulldogs 1954 premiership poster.
I usually don’t subscribe to the notion about sport being life, but this game feels just that.

I’ve met so many elderly Dogs fans over my playing days who have said to me that all they want to see before they go is a Bulldogs premiership.

One man in particular I’ve been thinking about this week is club legend Eddie Walsh.

Eddie was a club volunteer at Western Oval for a mammoth 71 years of his 89-year life.

He was property steward when I first arrived and was a gentleman who lived his whole life for the club.

It would have been magical if Eddie was still with us to witness this moment, but unfortunately he passed away in 2011.

No doubt he will be looking down and hopefully helping the ball bounce the Dogs’ way on the day.

Another is a good friend of the Cooneys and our favourite babysitter, Chelsea Heath.

Chelsea can be seen (and heard) front and centre every Bulldogs game as the head of the cheer squad.

She lives and breathes Bulldogs.

Footballer Ted Whitten in full flight, showing his classic kicking form.

Memorabilia football card of Ted Whitten.
The only time she has a break from footy is when she’s got her hands full looking after my kids.

She is fiercely loyal to her team but what I admire most about Chelsea is that she is never negative about Bulldogs players past and present; she never boos the Cal Wards and Ryan Griffens of the world.

She appreciates every player who has pulled on the red, white and blue jumper.

I’m sure there are thousands of other similar stories out there.

I was at the AFL live site at the MCG yesterday to witness a sea of red, white and blue that had to have been at least 50,000-60,000 strong.

The feeling was just incredible. It’s one I think the Bulldogs players have embraced all week and will feed off today.

Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd and Liam Picken will be feeling the weight of the west on their shoulders the most.

Being the mature players who have been around the club for years, they understand the magnitude of the situation.

Ted Whitten watches Footscray defeat Melbourne from the bench in a preliminary final at the MCG.
They know that this moment could change the lives of thousands of Bulldogs supporters, and has the ability to transform the whole western suburbs from battlers who have had to scrap and scrape to get by, to being the home of the AFL Premiers.

The situation could also be a blessing for the young, inexperienced Bulldogs, Caleb Daniel, Josh Dunkley, Clay Smith, Zaine Cordy and Toby McLean, who wouldn’t have heard all the tales of woe over the years so the expectation on them will not be overbearing.

This will hopefully allow them to just go out there and play with the freedom and instinct that they have all year.

I can’t wait to watch this game.

I believe the Dogs will win today.

The football they have played this finals series has been tough, ruthless and spirited — exactly like the working-class people of the western suburbs.

But what I’m really looking forward to is, if the Dogs do get up and win, hearing everyone’s stories of elation and relief that the long-suffering Bulldogs’ supporters are finally vindicated and get the success and happiness they deserve.

As the ever faithful Eddie Walsh said: “I am a Bulldog fanatic and will be until I die. All I can see is red, white and blue.”

You’re not alone this week, Eddie. Go Dogs.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ad...ialSF&utm_source=HeraldSun&utm_medium=Twitter

 

[Sentinel]

Road to glory??

Premature much??

Yeah this is pretty cringeworthy. If we win then maybe fair enough but this is far too much the night before the game's even played, it's a little embarrassing from channel 7.

 

[Sharkey66]

Bulldogs bound for glory.
Watch it guys and gals must see tv, not what you thought.

 

[NoName]

AFL grand final 2016: Our Western Bulldog clan is uniting and the pain is fading

• Bob Murphy

• 60 reading now

"You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The Bulldogs are an "uncomplicated group". Photo: Scott Barbour/AFL Media
A football club's history is a delicate balance. There is a wafer-thin line between romance and baggage. I once wrote that the elusive second premiership for the Bulldogs loomed as the biggest carrot in the game. Four years on, my view hasn't changed (although I would be sensitive to acknowledge claims from the Saints).

The romance surrounding my football club these past couple of years has been undeniable. At times it's felt quite magical. Outsiders in so many ways, the Bulldogs' rise has captured something that's very hard to describe. But I can feel it, and I know I'm not alone.

All of a sudden so many years of heartbreak and longing look to be behind us. The sunshine is breaking through the clouds, warming the faces of the clan.

But what about the balance? Where does this leave the 22 players who will take the field on Saturday?

Advertisement
The Western Bulldogs are a family. They're my family. But like all families there is pain, hurt and damage done from the hard years. Too many hard years.

I'm told my club has an ancestral link to Scotland. There's a clan who know a thing or two about the ripple effect of defeat. For all of my club's glorious romance of survival and the spirit of working-class heroes, the scars of our past are visible like the thousands of lochs on a Scottish map.

With only one premiership in 91 years there are far too many of our clan who feel disgruntled, bitter or unfulfilled. Some have left, never to return.

There has been many poignant moments these past couple of years, but one that keeps coming back to me happened on our recent trip to Perth for the elimination final against the Eagles. In the euphoria of victory in the rooms, everywhere you looked were familiar faces of our clan returned.

Past players and administrators from different eras often join in after the game in the rooms to say hello and share a few yarns, but this felt different. Like sons and daughters of the west coming home. It gave me pause to think, "this could heal our football club".

Since that night, the wins against the odds have kept coming, and with each week that feeling I had in the Subiaco rooms feels like it's grown and grown. Our clan is uniting and the pain is fading.

At the end of last season I spoke publicly about the fact our club was bruised at the end of 2014. But the reality is we were merely nursing the freshest batch of bruises. Like a Scottish loch, some of these waters run deep.

So this brings me to our boys. Our custodians of the jumper. All year people have asked me how we'll handle the pressure of the next big game.

I've tried to explain with varying degrees of success that en-masse we are an uncomplicated group. That doesn't mean simple, only that these Bulldogs have a gift for simplifying things.

With a musical bent, we have some virtuosos with classical training. But for the most part this is a garage rock band. Tell us when the game starts, we'll plug in and crank it up to 11.

I wouldn't regard the group as unromantic because at times we've shown ourselves to be full of heart, emotion and sentimentality. But once the emotions are purged we move on. It's only my take on it, but it seems to be the right mix for playing with reverence, without being weighed down by the pain of the past.

My family has a big dance booked for Saturday. It feels like the most anticipated grand final in recent memory, but my lot this year means I won't get to lead my boys out in front of the Bulldog clan. That's my little loch that I shall keep locked.

I can't run – not the way I want to anyway – so I join the circle that protects those who can. This circle doesn't need to run, we just have to wait. If we win, we get to walk to the Footscray Town Hall like the heroes of '54. I can walk just fine.

But look at me, getting all romantic, momentarily losing my balance. The flip side of the coin is how hard it will be to get our hands on the cup. Sydney will fight us to the line. And if my club's footprints can be traced all the way back to Scotland, we shouldn't forget the Swans were packed up and shifted north less than half a lifetime ago. My Bulldogs don't have the market cornered when it comes to romance.

It's now I'm reminded of another line, a wholly unromantic one from the most unlikely of places – Hollywood. From the movie Moneyball, and its lead character Billy Beane: "If you don't win the last game of the year, who gives a shit?"

More than ever we need to keep our balance if we're to reach the top of the mountain. Only then will we look down on all of those lochs born of tears, and know the wait is over.


http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...g-and-the-pain-is-fading-20160929-grrre4.html

 

[BRWB]

And this kind of thinking is also wrong. Enjoy it for those who are not alive to witness this great moment! Embrace it I say.

I embrace hope and the Dogs.

Not hubris.

 

[Doggy Dan]

They showed me and my fiancé cheering in the crowd at the GWS game. Rewound it about 10 times, lol!

 

[DexterTan]

Yeah this is pretty cringeworthy. If we win then maybe fair enough but this is far too much the night before the game's even played, it's a little embarrassing from channel 7.

You can cringe, I'm soaking it in and enjoying it.

 

[giblj]

Adam Cooney on Western Bulldogs’ AFL Grand Final: Bring it home for Eddie

ADAM COONEY, Bulldogs player 2004-2014, Herald Sun
8 minutes ago
Subscriber only

WALK through the main door at Whitten Oval, take a quick right turn and you’ll enter a corridor which holds treasured Bulldogs memorabilia: EJ’s guernsey, Libba’s Brownlow, posters of successful games and players.

And then there it is, the 1954 premiership cup.

It’s the first thing you hear about when you are drafted into the club. Supporters speak about the lack of success over so many years, so much heartbreak of previous occasions where the Dogs have come so close but just fallen short.

The 1954 premiership cup and Charlie Sutton’s famous number 6 jumper.

1990 Brownlow Medal winner Tony Liberatore relaxing at home the day after winning the medal.
Today, as the Dogs play off in their first GF in 55 years, the people of the west will be united in praying that these bold, brave and exciting boys can bring home their first flag in 62 years.

This Grand Final, like most, has had its fair share of heartbreak for Mitch Wallace, Jack Redpath, Matt Suckling and Lin Jong, but none bigger than skipper Bob Murphy.

The public heart-and-soul figure of the clubs’ swift turnaround, Murph ruptured his ACL earlier in the year but has continued to show passion and leadership to his young pups.

No doubt he’ll have mixed emotions about the game, but there will be no happier a man if they finally break the longest drought in premiership history.

This week the west has lit up.

Pubs houses and fences have been painted red, white and blue.

There’s a great feeling around, and a buzz that has been missing since 1961.

WEG’s Bulldogs 1954 premiership poster.
I usually don’t subscribe to the notion about sport being life, but this game feels just that.

I’ve met so many elderly Dogs fans over my playing days who have said to me that all they want to see before they go is a Bulldogs premiership.

One man in particular I’ve been thinking about this week is club legend Eddie Walsh.

Eddie was a club volunteer at Western Oval for a mammoth 71 years of his 89-year life.

He was property steward when I first arrived and was a gentleman who lived his whole life for the club.

It would have been magical if Eddie was still with us to witness this moment, but unfortunately he passed away in 2011.

No doubt he will be looking down and hopefully helping the ball bounce the Dogs’ way on the day.

Another is a good friend of the Cooneys and our favourite babysitter, Chelsea Heath.

Chelsea can be seen (and heard) front and centre every Bulldogs game as the head of the cheer squad.

She lives and breathes Bulldogs.

Footballer Ted Whitten in full flight, showing his classic kicking form.

Memorabilia football card of Ted Whitten.
The only time she has a break from footy is when she’s got her hands full looking after my kids.

She is fiercely loyal to her team but what I admire most about Chelsea is that she is never negative about Bulldogs players past and present; she never boos the Cal Wards and Ryan Griffens of the world.

She appreciates every player who has pulled on the red, white and blue jumper.

I’m sure there are thousands of other similar stories out there.

I was at the AFL live site at the MCG yesterday to witness a sea of red, white and blue that had to have been at least 50,000-60,000 strong.

The feeling was just incredible. It’s one I think the Bulldogs players have embraced all week and will feed off today.

Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd and Liam Picken will be feeling the weight of the west on their shoulders the most.

Being the mature players who have been around the club for years, they understand the magnitude of the situation.

Ted Whitten watches Footscray defeat Melbourne from the bench in a preliminary final at the MCG.
They know that this moment could change the lives of thousands of Bulldogs supporters, and has the ability to transform the whole western suburbs from battlers who have had to scrap and scrape to get by, to being the home of the AFL Premiers.

The situation could also be a blessing for the young, inexperienced Bulldogs, Caleb Daniel, Josh Dunkley, Clay Smith, Zaine Cordy and Toby McLean, who wouldn’t have heard all the tales of woe over the years so the expectation on them will not be overbearing.

This will hopefully allow them to just go out there and play with the freedom and instinct that they have all year.

I can’t wait to watch this game.

I believe the Dogs will win today.

The football they have played this finals series has been tough, ruthless and spirited — exactly like the working-class people of the western suburbs.

But what I’m really looking forward to is, if the Dogs do get up and win, hearing everyone’s stories of elation and relief that the long-suffering Bulldogs’ supporters are finally vindicated and get the success and happiness they deserve.

As the ever faithful Eddie Walsh said: “I am a Bulldog fanatic and will be until I die. All I can see is red, white and blue.”

You’re not alone this week, Eddie. Go Dogs.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ad...ialSF&utm_source=HeraldSun&utm_medium=Twitter

Man, Coons has me feeling the feels. Mitch Wallace though??

 

[hoianbulldog]

Bulldogs bound for glory.
Watch it guys and gals must see tv, not what you thought.

It was embarrasing television.

 

[Sharkey66]

It was embarrasing television.

Embarrassed to see the bulldogs talking themselves up? Therein lies the problem and why we will always be a minnow unless we embrace the moment!
#bemorebulldog
#gatherthepack
#3teams1club

Comon dude history in the making, win or lose tomorrow we as a club have already won!

GO DOGS!!!!
Love this club

 

[BRWB]

Embarrassed to see the bulldogs talking themselves up? Therein lies the problem and why we will always be a minnow unless we embrace the moment!
#bemorebulldog
#gatherthepack
#3teams1club

Comon dude history in the making, win or lose tomorrow we as a club have already won!

GO DOGS!!!!
Love this club

An interesting take. I'd be more inclined to say that it's premature celebration and minnow thinking to think the club has won already just by making a GF. If our team thinks like that we've already lost IMO. I doubt it though.

Ask a Saints fan what it means to make a GF and lose. SFA might be your answer.

Admire your enthusiasm and positivity though.

Go Dogs.

 

[Sharkey66]

An interesting take. I'd be more inclined to say that it's premature celebration and minnow thinking to think the club has won already just by making a GF. If our team thinks like that we've already lost IMO. I doubt it though.

Ask a Saints fan what it means to make a GF and lose. SFA might be your answer.

Admire your enthusiasm and positivity though.

Go Dogs.

I understand where your coming from and completely agree. I was referring more to the overall idea of the dogs being good enough and the self confidence that the team and we as supporters have to believe that we can actually do it this year.
Comon mate you and i both know that we have won nothing yet but the next contest is a genuine 50/50 , more-so than any other in recent history. To top that off, we for once in our history we have a fairdinkum home ground advantage.