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

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Anyone have any idea about what kind of financial benefit the dogs would make from not only the last 3 finals games, but also the grand final? (Excluding sponsorship money ) just Money from the actual games?
Peter Gordon was asked a similar question in his presser that's up on the club website. He said we don't have any experience to give us a guide but he did mention that there had been big merchandise sales and lots of people at the ground.
 
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7.30 report on channel 2 is about to have a segment on us

There's only hard hitting news! I'm too drunk for this!! Although I am concerned that their reporting of the South Australia weather event did not explore the involvement of global warming in the severity of event itself (thus fundamentally calling into question the criticism of renewables by the Liberals in this instance, despite the fact that a non renewable system would have faced the same issue)...

Ughhh football segments now!!!
 

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Watching the footy show (i know i know should know better) but i really hope the boys didnt watch the first segment. Dougie talking as though we have won. Remove our colours from the trophy!!!! Dont tempt the footy gods!
 
Article in the Herald Sun about Toby McLean.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...s/news-story/ee0a9fb2b65ac41da06d215ad24a0f18

Toby McLean is no stranger to adversity and it is driving him to AFL success
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SAM LANDSBERGER, Herald Sun
31 minutes ago
Subscriber only
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TOBY McLean was red in the face, exhausted by hard running.

He’d just completed a 3km time trial during the Dandenong Stingrays’ pre-season.

Soon after finishing he was dragged to the side of the oval and unceremoniously cut from the squad.

McLean was red in the face again, this time with devastation and a lasting bitterness.

Talent manager Mark Wheeler said McLean’s fitness levels were “miles off ”, his defensive game was poor and the Stingrays wanted to give selection preference to Jack Lonie and Bailey Dale.

No stranger to adversity, McLean embodies the resilience that has powered the Bulldogs in September.

When McLean was 12, he and his older brother played in premierships — Toby for Mossgiel Park and Sam for Narre Warren North Foxes.

Not long after and their father, Ian McLean, died of skin cancer, aged 43.

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Toby McLean at Western Bulldogs training. Picture: Michael Klein
It was a short battle with melanoma — about 12 months — and it shattered the family, as well as the local community.

Saturday, McLean, 20, will step on to the MCG for a Grand Final in just his 19th game with one wish in mind.

“If my dad was still alive, I hope he’d be proud of me,” he said.

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If my dad was still alive, I hope he’d be proud of me.

Toby McLean
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The Narre Warren boy presents as a sensitive soul, a quiet achiever around Whitten Oval.

Teammate Jason Johannisen describes him as the shy kid. Junior coach Mick Stinear noted McLean has a “genuine care” for people.

But beneath the surface he’s a fighter. It might be tender Toby, but it’s also tough Toby, evidenced by his animal-like final quarter against GWS.

“It (Ian’s death) changed my life quite dramatically,” McLean said.

“You go from having two parents, happy family, and then …

“Not all of us dealt with it very well. My sister dealt with it pretty harshly, she was the youngest out of everyone, so she didn’t really know what to do.

“A bit like myself, I was only 12. But mum (Heather) was pretty good, she was quite strong.

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Toby McLean gets tackled high by Patrick Cripps. Picture: Michael Klein
“She’s had to do a lot of both sides of the parenting. I really look up to my mum.”

There were tears for weeks, and a holiday with Ian’s sister as the grieving family sought a distraction.

Saturday, the south-east community - which howled in disapproval at Toby’s Stingrays axing - will be thinking about McLean, the son of a local legend.

According to Ian’s obituary in the Dandenong Leader, he was a fine athlete, a good cricketer, a gun footballer, a keen golfer and a champion fellow.

His two footy clubs, Keysborough and Rythdale-Officer Cardinia, now play for the Ian McLean Memorial Shield.

Ian owned a menacing - but fair - hip-and-shoulder and, like Toby, could leap high for a mark.

“Not as high as me!” Toby quips, “but there’s a few photos I’ve seen of him taking pack marks.

“I didn’t get to watch my dad play a lot, because he died when I was quite young, but I hear from a lot of people that he was a great player.

“We’re quite different. He was a bigger man, my brother’s got more of his stature.”

Heather was a netballer with a nice jump and Toby, blessed with plenty of talent, has made a habit of standing out.

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Toby McLean in action for Narre Warren North Foxes in 2012.
After the Dandenong rejection, he shone with 58 goals for Narre Warren.

In 2014, he asked for a go at Oakleigh Chargers, with the help of local coach Dean Irwin.

McLean rocked up to his first Chargers session in a Stingrays singlet and was promptly nicknamed ‘Stingray’.

He couldn’t help standing out, and a change of clothes wasn’t going to help.

“We quickly got him some Chargers gear, and then he stood out with his training,” Oakleigh Chargers coach Michael Stinear said.

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From the first game he played for Oakleigh, where they didn’t have his number in the record, he stood out with his footy smarts.


Simon Dalrymple
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“His athleticism, the way he moves and his decision-making — he was one step ahead of everyone else.”

It was a similar story when Dogs recruiter Simon Dalrymple locked eyes on the wiry teenager.

“From the first game he played for Oakleigh, where they didn’t have his number in the record, he stood out with his footy smarts,” Dalrymple said.

“He’s got the ability to win the ball in the air, at ground level and he’s got some cunning about him in the way he makes decisions and really good game sense.”

A video of McLean taking a goalline hanger went viral in 2014 and was aired on The Footy Show.

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Toby McLean take a hanger for Oakleigh Chargers against Eastern Rangers.
During a Chargers bye, McLean returned to the Narre seniors and slotted eight goals.

McLean’s final stage to show off was the TAC Cup Grand Final - where he won the medal for best afield.

“I guess (the medal) sort of shows the talent manager over there (Dandenong) doesn’t really know what he’s doing, does he?” McLean said.

“And I’m happy to say that. They had no belief or faith in me.”

Stinear and Wheeler agree the Dandenong cull was the spur McLean needed, and he was drafted from Oakleigh at No.26 — before any Stingray.


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Jon Ralph

✔@RalphyHeraldSun

The Dogs can't drop Toby McLean for Lin Jong. He has been amazing in the finals. So it's Jong, Fletcher Roberts or Suckling. Am I right?

7:15 PM - 25 Sep 2016


It was the Dogs’ first pick and it’s proved a popular one at the kennel, McLean inheriting ex-captain Ryan Griffen’s No.16.

“Elite hops” is how Johannisen describes McLean’s penchant for high marks.

“He’s going to be a pretty special player,” finals star Clay Smith says.

“He’s lightly built, but he can jump in the air and he’s just got that little bit of X-factor about him.”

Dale Morris says McLean is “a little ripper” — and much more than a flashy forward.

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The Western Bulldogs’ 2014 draft class (from left) Caleb Daniel, Toby McLean, Declan Hamilton, Bailey Dale, Lukas Webb and Zaine Cordy. Picture: Colleen Petch.
“He’s got super talent. He can jump on someone’s head and take a mark, but he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty and laying those hard tackles and doing the tough things.”

McLean spends two nights a week living with Morris, 33, and the veteran loves it because he gets a free babysitter.

“My eldest, Riley, wants to copy his hairstyle. He’s got this whisp thing going on, and he doesn’t want to copy his old man — he’s all over Toby.”

Riley might have cottoned on, but Smith won’t be copying McLean.

“He tends to get around in trackies and thongs. Not even thongs, like little sandal things with velcro over the top of the feet,” Smith said.

“And his taste in music isn’t the greatest. I remember him putting up a photo of a Sam Smith album on Instagram and had a good laugh.”

Both are hoping to unite their styles on Saturday night - belting out ‘Sons of the West’ and sporting some new gold bling around their necks as the Dogs chase their first flag in 62 years.

And Ian McLean would be front and centre in his son’s mind.

“I think about him after games,” McLean said.

“I get a lot of family saying he would be proud. And that means quite a bit.”

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Watching the footy show (i know i know should know better) but i really hope the boys didnt watch the first segment. Dougie talking as though we have won. Remove our colours from the trophy!!!! Dont tempt the footy gods!

Yeah hated that but those sort of things are part and parcel of being a dogs supporter. Part cringe, park awkward pride in stuff like that.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Watching the footy show (i know i know should know better) but i really hope the boys didnt watch the first segment. Dougie talking as though we have won. Remove our colours from the trophy!!!! Dont tempt the footy gods!

Yeah just ruined all the good joojoo for me...holy shit


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
7.30 report on channel 2 is about to have a segment on us
What an appalling and pathetic story. They predominantly spoke to some diehard supporter who has lived in Footscray for 30 years and she went on to describe the place as full of homeless people and ice addicts oh and lots of dark skinned people. I wish the media would every once in a while interview one of my mates who live in the west. WTF do they find these people.
 
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Has it been mentioned there is a special open mike with Peter Gordon ? Almost over.
 
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