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

[immortalmike]

The Titus view.

http://titusoreily.com/the-monday-knee-jerk-reaction-afl-grand-final-2/

The Adelaide drive-by is a pearler. Unless of course you happen to be from south Australia...


The Monday Knee Jerk Reaction: AFL Grand Final


Footy is a passion, not some cold hearted, spread sheet dominated rational exercise.

On a Monday you want irrational reaction. You want emotion to trump reason.

What you really want is idiotic hysteria.

You’ve come to the right place.

Sydney Swans (10.7.67) v Western Bulldogs (13.11.89)

If you’re a Bulldogs supporter, this was not a dream, this actually happened.

Grand Final day is always the best, and it’s not just because you can drink in public before noon. OK, it’s mainly that, but a game like this one is pretty great too.

I arrived at the ground, and the atmosphere was just electric. For South Australian readers, electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge. Electrical power is the backbone of modern industrial society apparently.

I take my seat, and there are Bulldogs supporters on either side of me and Swans fans behind me.

The Bulldogs fan to my left already looks like he’s run a marathon and the game is still an hour away. He is not coping.

I buy him a beer, partly because I’m a wonderful person but mostly because I worry he will die if he doesn’t relax a little. The beer cost me $80 if I remember correctly and pairs nicely with the $63 chips.

They have the lap of retiring players, and I see poor Ted Richards who never got to be coached by James Hird. I bet he’ll regret things not working out at the Bombers for the rest of his life.

The AFL entertainment is about to begin and is always an excellent way to find out who is still alive.

It turns out Sting is. Before he comes out, we get Vance Joy who does a perfectly reasonable job, not that anyone is paying much attention.

Then The Living End come out and play a song no one knows. They then play Prisoner of Society and people around me all say ‘oh, I vaguely remember that song’.

Sting is then announced and plays ‘Message In A Bottle’, ‘Every Breath You Take’ and ‘I Can’t Stop Thinking About You’ (yes I’ve never heard of that last one either).

These are not really songs to fire you up before the big game.

At least Sting did well enough that in years to come we will never remember he did this. You have to be really awful for us to remember you.

I get chatting to the Dogs supporter, and he tells me that if they lose, it will be the worst day of his life. I say ‘how could that be when you got to see Sting?’ He stares at me for a long time, and we don’t talk again until halftime.

While the AFL run the pre-game entertainment about as well as they run the draw, there’s one area they never fail in, acknowledging sponsors.

It’s a touching moment when an executive from Toyota gets a chance to toss the coin. Imagine wasting this once in a lifetime opportunity on some sick kid or other undeserving loser?

Of course, the crowd really gets going when the two teams come out. The banners going up and the club songs are about a billion times better than the pre-game entertainment.

The noise in the ground is insane. It’s louder than Adelaide Oval, something scientists and the Channel Seven commentary team previously thought impossible.

Finally, the game is underway, after a solid national anthem from the Bull sisters.

Tom Boyd drops an early mark and a Sydney supporter behind me yells ‘that a million dollars wasted’. It’s going to be a bad day for him, the supporter that is, not Tom, who is about to prove everyone wrong and earn his entire salary in one day.

Early on, neither side is allowing the other to do what they want to do. It’s like watching a bad marriage.

Both sides are so well drilled that there are actual tactics going on. They both know what the other is trying and are competent enough to stop it.

To borrow a phrase from arm wrestling, this is a real arm wrestle.

As we plunge into the second quarter, the crowd is riding every bump. There are a lot of turnovers, but that’s mainly because whoever has the ball is about to be smashed by three opponents.

The Bulldogs get away early, but the Swans then get moving.

In the high-pressure atmosphere of the second quarter, Josh Kennedy and Tom Mitchell start to thrive. The Swans appear to be getting on top and look to be taking a good lead into halftime.

My Bulldog friend next to me looks like someone having their second stroke of the day.

Lance Franklin is throwing himself around but an ankle injury from the first quarter seems to be hampering him a bit, that and the fact the Bulldogs defence is insane.

Just before halftime, though, the Bulldogs get a goal through Toby McLean, and we go into halftime with everyone in the stadium stressed out of their mind.

It’s more tense than when Gerard Whateley interviewed James Hird on AFL360.

I try to cheer my neighbour up by telling him not to worry, as I’ve never seen the Bulldogs lose a Grand Final. For the second time that day he gives me a look you usually reserve for a crazy person.

Conversation dries up pretty quickly after that.

The AFL’s running of the halftime sprint is won by an amateur, but it’s hard to tell as most of the other competitors aren’t exactly household names either.

If there’s a less exciting sporting competition than the halftime sprint I haven’t seen it, and yes I did watch that fast tennis thing.

The third quarter beings and Marcus Bontempelli starts to have real impact. His possessions are all quality. His use of the ball is way more important than someone having a tonne of ineffective possessions. He’s like a surgeon, just slicing the Swans open.

Tom Boyd is also playing the game of his life. He’s marking everything and kicking goals. It’s another reminder that football has been invented to make us all look stupid at some point.

The Bulldogs enter three-quarter time with the lead but in some ways that’s worse. Ask Richmond fans; it’s the hope that kills you.

But something is happening. Sydney looks out on their feet while the Bulldogs seem to be gaining strength. You can see it across the ground. Hannebery is injured, the Bulldogs are running more freely. It appears the dam is about to break.

The Swans though may be out on their feet, but they’re very good, and twice they counter punch and pull within one point. These are two sides that don’t give up; you have to put the other one down.

The Bulldogs are the far more organised team as the fourth progresses, despite the Swans hanging in there.

Liam Picken kicks a goal on the run, and you can see Bulldogs fans begin to wonder if 62 years of being hopeless are about to be washed away in a sea of euphoria.

For me, the moment I knew, was when Tom Boyd kicks from 55m into an empty goal square and the ball bounces one way, then the other. Time stands still and then it bounces through. It’s destiny.

They’re now creating their own luck, and another Picken goal seals it.

It is pandemonium. People are crying, yelling, hugging, doing odd dances.

The siren goes, and the song is sung, and again and again.

My friend next to me is in tears. He is sobbing, and it is kind of awesome. We shake hands, and he hugs me. He hugs me for a long time.

Barely anyone leaves, Swans fans included. Everyone is doing the right thing, showing respect for what we have just seen, two teams give it their all and the breaking of a 62-year drought.

The medal presentation begins, and it’s great, but then Beveridge calls Bob Murphy onto the stage.

So much of footy these days is manufactured emotion, but this is raw, and people are getting even more emotional in the stands, something I wouldn’t have thought possible moments before. It couldn’t be more perfect if you’re a Bulldogs supporter.

It was a great moment, and as Easton Wood and Bob hoist the cup, the release is palpable.

As the Doggies begin to celebrate and circle the ground, a Swans supporter taps my Bulldogs neighbour on the shoulder and says “enjoy it mate; there’s nothing like it.”

Isn’t footy the best? I mean it just is.

They clasp hands and then the Swans fans leave. They are shattered. I know that feeling, and it’s not good. I don’t know what the Bulldogs are feeling, though, but it looks awesome.

What a day. It turns out that if you stick with something for sixty years, you can accomplish anything.

Normally find Titus an annoying, unoriginal, unfunny, hipster douche/Melbourne toff amalgam. But this was brilliant.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Normally find Titus an annoying, unoriginal, unfunny, hipster douche/Melbourne toff amalgam. But this was brilliant.

He could well be all of those things or a parody of all those things.

 

[immortalmike]

He could well be all of those things or a parody of all those things.

He's not Andy Kaufman.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Love Titus, has quality work and makes me laugh everytime

Looking forward to the Tragician's report too; bound to be poignant*.


I recently heard someone on the ABC pronounce the g in that word.

 

[stefoid]

Listening to Terry Wallet on SEN and he said Macraes game vastly underated - 10 scoring involvements, 2 direct assists, 14 contested posses, 33 overall. massive game.

Also some discussion of how well we have been running out games.

Personally I wonder if its the depth of our midfield/forward group - the way we can run nominal forwards like Picko, Smith, even Stringer through the midfield and also the capacity of Hunter, Macrae and probably now Daniel to stay on the ground longer and give the other guys a bit more rest.

 

[gangsta deluxe]

360 opening segment backed by Wil Anderson was beautiful.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

Someone told me this appeared in the Age today. Funny if true.

Just went and checked, this is definitely in today's Age.

 

[Dav1d]

Bevo coming up on 'On the Couch'

 

[gangsta deluxe]

Just went and checked, this is definitely in today's Age.

It was a **** up by Fairfax (probably some NZ subeditor), not VU as the Hun published the correct version of the advertisement. They obviously has both.

Hopeless.

 

[Dav1d]

Kennedy wins the Gary Ayres medal for best player of the finals
JJ second

 

[Bont2Bruce]

Kennedy wins the Gary Ayres medal for best player of the finals
JJ second

I get the interest in having a "player of the finals series", but it feels like trying to award the Coleman medal by including goals kicked during the finals. Just isn't a level playing field and doesn't sit right in it's current format.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

Hopefully sackofballs can eventually upload them to his youtube channel, because tonight's AFL360 and especially On The Couch were must watch programs.

 

[giblj]

360 opening segment backed by Wil Anderson was beautiful.

Crying while watching AFL 360, what has this team done to me

 

[Easton Thighs]

Cmon there HAS to be a new comic by First Dog On The Moon soon. *anxiously waits*

 

[Dav1d]

Crying while watching AFL 360, what has this team done to me

I cry whenever Robbo comes on usually to

But that's for other reasons.

Although I find myself more tolerant of the media guys now....not sure why.

 

[Fossie 32]

Normally find Titus an annoying, unoriginal, unfunny, hipster douche/Melbourne toff amalgam. But this was brilliant.

Great article, funny and captures it well.

 

[Fossie 32]

Crying while watching AFL 360, what has this team done to me

Dale Morris' highlights - amazing

 

[ScragCity]

Damn... I missed both of those shows... Do they post the replays online?

 

[gangsta deluxe]

Hopefully sackofballs can eventually upload them to his youtube channel, because tonight's AFL360 and especially On The Couch were must watch programs.

That little segment at the start of 360 was wonderful

 

[Contador]

They're usually posted on youtube pretty quickly

 

[fred cook]

That little segment at the start of 360 was wonderful

That needs to be posted on line somewhere

 

[Norm De Guerre]

360 opening segment backed by Wil Anderson was beautiful.

The Wil Anderson rant from Grand Final Eve was glorious. At the time I thought he spoke for all of us here as it manically seemed to condense the highs and lows of about 750,000 bigfooty posts into a single usable soundbite which subsequently went beautifully with the grand final highlights.

 

[gangsta deluxe]

They're usually posted on youtube pretty quickly

Start at 5:30 people, best 5 minutes.

 

[Mutt]

I cry whenever Robbo comes on usually to

But that's for other reasons.

Although I find myself more tolerant of the media guys now....not sure why.

Robbo is usually cringe worthy but I thought Robbo's performance last night was definitely one of his best for a fair while. And he seemed genuinely excited by our performance and what it means for the club and supporters. Made some insightful observations and didn't make too many faux pas. He was genuinely funny quite often as well.

 

[gangsta deluxe]

hahahaha look at Denham's page (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Greg+Denham). The only coverage of our victory he has provided is the below. A mine of salt.


Premierships no longer the preserve of big-spenders

Long-time strugglers the Western Bulldogs defied the norm in more ways than one by winning their second premiership in their 91-year history.

Their drought-breaking win over Sydney went against the common denominator of recent history, where the rich ruled over the poor. The more you spend, the more you win was how flags used to be won. Not any more.

The Bulldogs are the first club in 17 years to win a premiership when ranked in the bottom-four or five for football department spending, which includes player payments and coaching staff wage and the costs associated with recruiting, development and training facilities.

Before the Dogs, the last team to win the premiership from the bottom five of the expenditure ladder was North Melbourne in 1999. The last club to make a grand final from the bottom rung in spending was Melbourne in 2000. While up to date financials have yet to be determined for this year, the Bulldogs conceded they started the season an estimated $1.5 million behind the competition’s biggest spenders including the Swans.

While the spending gap between the rich and poor has narrowed, the Bulldogs said they were “a seven figure sum below the top clubs” despite an increase in their investment into their football department for this year of $500,000.

When Luke Beveridge took over as senior coach at the end of 2014, the Bulldogs were $6.3m behind the top-spending clubs, a gap that had been increasing at a dangerous level for more a decade.

The biggest spenders — Fremantle, Sydney, Hawthorn and West Coast — all had footy bills of $23m or more, with the Dockers heading the list at $24.8m. The frugal Bulldogs were 17th on the expenditure ladder with an outlay of $18.5m because that’s all they could afford.

While the Dogs were virtually treading water off the field and just scraping through with a severe debt and meagre profits, pretty much living hand to mouth, the top clubs continued to flourish. Hawthorn were consistently making profits of more than $3m and West Coast were reaping up to $5m annually.

Something had to give and the AFL stepped in with a new equalisation strategy. Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou led the way by establishing an equalisation sub-committee to address the problem.

As immediate past Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon said on Saturday night after the Dogs became the first club to win the premiership from seventh on the ladder: “To the AFL’s credit, they come up with a special assistance package that led to an equalisation plan that led to a competitive balance plan and we’re the beneficiaries of that.”

It was no coincidence that one of the most influential members of the sub-committee was current Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon, who was in the chair in the previous dark times and urged significant immediate change to re-financing the entire competition this time around. Demetriou, Gordon and a number of other key AFL and club people went to extraordinary lengths to address equalisation, including a study trip to look at major sporting organisations in the US.

The result was that two initial measures were introduced from 2015 to bridge the gap between the rich and poor and put a halt to the exorbitant increases some clubs were ploughing into the numbers of personnel employed in their footy departments.

The first was a soft cap on football department spending of $9.3m, not including total player payments. Clubs spending any more were taxed 37.5c in the dollar last year and 75c in the dollar this year. Bigger taxes will follow and the AFL has already acknowledged an instant impact.

The second mechanism was the introduction of a revenue tax, also known as a wealth tax, where the financially stronger clubs contributed to a pool that was shared by the poorer clubs. A total of 10 clubs contributed, with Hawthorn, Collingwood and West Coast — as much as they strongly objected — forced to pay in $1m each over two years.

The club to have benefited the most is the Dogs, who have received about $1.3m from the tax to make amends for such things as their limited home-games stadium deal at Etihad Stadium, their lack of blockbuster games and exposure to prime-time matches, particularly Friday nights. In 2015 they had zero Friday night games. This year they played three Friday night matches, but only one as the home team, which is sure to be increased in 2017 as they are awarded on merit.

Under new AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan the league’s equalisation strategy has been further enhanced by competitive balance measures that kick in next year and involve the unequal distribution of annual AFL dividends to clubs over the next six years of the new broadcast rights. The rich clubs will receive modest increases of about $500,000 to their dividends, ranging up to $20m for Greater Western Sydney. The Bulldogs sit somewhere down the scale near GWS and can expect further special multi-million-dollar financial assistance to maintain their on-field competitiveness.

As the Dogs said this week: “We are still nowhere near the rich clubs but the mechanics of competitive balance is helping.”

All clubs will soon be able to follow the Bulldogs’ lead and compete on equal footing. Ten of the past 12 premierships have been won by clubs in the top four of overall football department spending, but that is changing.