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View Full Version : The Tackle: Western Bulldogs stand tall in three epic minutes against Sydney



westdog54
04-05-2015, 06:56 AM
http://m.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/the-tackle-western-bulldogs-stand-tall-in-three-epic-minutes-against-sydney/story-fnp04d70-1227332945549


AL PACINO once said: “There’s three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. Either we yield as a team or we’re going to crumble, inch by inch, play by play to we’re finished. We’re in hell today.”

This was Any Given Saturday Afternoon.

CHAT LIVE WITH ROBBO BELOW FROM 11.45AM MONDAY (AEST)

Here’s the story. SCG. The boundary umpire has the ball in the Bulldogs’ forward pocket. The score is 76-73 Bulldogs. The rain is pouring and bodies are tiring.

03:00 to play

The ball is thrown in and Roughead and Pyke contest. The ball lobs to Bontempelli v Richards and Kennedy. The ball bounces off fingers and Bontempelli wins it. His hurried snap for goals is out on the full. Smith kicks across goal to Laidler who goes long to Parker in the middle.

Easton Wood spoils Parker and the ball rockets 25m to the right flank. “Massive,” says Jason Dunstall in commentary.

Macrae picks it up with Shaw and Richards desperate to stop him. Macrae throws it on his boot and Dickson contests the mark. The ball spills. Boyd tries to grab it and Laidler and Kennedy are on him.

Kennedy wins the ball, Picken lays the tackle on Kennedy. The ball spills. Picken lays a second tackle on Pyke. The ball spills. Roughead lays a tackle on Hannebery. The ball spills. Roughead lays a tackle on Kennedy. The ball spills. Picken lays a tackle on Laidler. The ball spills. Dunstall: “Great pressure from the Bulldogs.”

Dahlhaus pushes Pyke off the ball, Horvat picks it up and snaps a point. Score: 77-73 Bulldogs.

Easton Wood, Lin Jong and Jack Macrae enjoy the win.
Easton Wood, Lin Jong and Jack Macrae enjoy the win.
02:11 to play

Swans kick out long. Lin Jong spoils a Buddy mark and then Picken smothers a Hannebery kick. Roughead knocks it forward.

Picken is relentless. He goes head first into a 50-50 contest. The ball spills to Dickson. He handballs to Honeychurch, who lobs a kick to the goal square. Dahlhaus is flattened running with the flight of the ball. “Oooohhhh,’’ moans Mark Thompson.

Swans clear the ball to the middle of the ground. Roughead intercepts with a fist. The ball spills to Buddy. Stringer tackles Buddy. Dickson picks up the spillage and handballs inside to Macrae who kicks short to Clay Smith.

Laidler spoils the mark and Jetta and then Rampe go for the ball. Hrovat tackles Rampe, Bontempelli bumps Rampe, but Rampe kicks it forward. Easton Wood makes the spoil over Hannebery. Wood chases his own spoil on hands and knees and is tackled by Jack.

Wood knocks the ball forward with two Swans players on top of him. “That was magnificent,” says Anthony Hudson. Hrovat on his knees picks up the ball and handballs to Johannisen who kicks it blindly forward. “What a game,” says Mark Thompson.


00:56 to play

Rampe marks, plays on and kicks it to centre-half-forward. A desperate Jong dives two metres to touch Rampe’s kick off the boot and umpire calls play on.

Pyke marks the ball, but doesn’t hear the umpire. “It’s play on,” screams Thompson. Johannisen wraps both arms and one leg around Pyke. “It’s play on,” Thompson shrieks again. He’s not commentating, he’s cheering.

The ball spills and Franklin lunges forward with Macrae on is bum. Franklin loses the ball and Hrovat grabs it and breaks a Pyke tackle and kicks it to the forward pocket boundary line 65m away.

”’He kicks it for his life,” says Hudson. “What a great kick,” says an admiring Dunstall.

00:35 to play

Boundary umpire has the ball in the Bulldogs forward line. Macrae sharks the Ted Richards tap out.

His hurried kick goes 2m to Roughead who is tackled by Pyke. Roughead scrambles a handball which goes another metre forward. Richards picks up the ball and is tackled by Dickson.

Bodies fly everywhere, five of them are on the ground. Picken dives for the loose ball. Lying on his back he handballs from his chest and over his head. “This is an amazing effort,” says Dunstall.

Stringer takes the handball and scrubs a kick forward as Hannebery shirt-fronts him. “What a battle,” says Thompson.

Boyd meets the ball and it bumps off his chest. Bird slides in and knocks the ball to Lewis Jetta, who breaks a Clay Smith tackle and handballs to Nick Smith who kicks to an unmarked Jarrad McVeigh at half-back.

“This is possible,” bellows Hudson. “What a kick,” says Dunstall.

Clay Smith typifies the Bulldogs’ desperation.
Clay Smith typifies the Bulldogs’ desperation.
00:13 to play

McVeigh kicks a mongrel torp long into an open forward line. “The game’s a foot race,” says Thompson. “Chase, chase for your life,” squeals Hudson.

Wood leads the run down. 40m. 30m. 20m 10m. The ball spins on the slippery surface. Wood has Jake Lloyd behind him and Gary Rohan coming in from his right side. Boyd is behind Rohan and Johannisen is behind Lloyd.

Wood picks up the bouncing ball one-handed. Such confidence. Such execution. He’s tackled by Lloyd and Rohan. “It’s flashpoint, five seconds to go,” says Hudson.

Wood squeezes a handball back to Johannisen. It is a miracle play. Johannisen scoops the bouncing ball and is tackled by Lloyd and Luke Parker. He handballs to Boyd who is chased by Rohan ... and the siren sounds.


00:00 to play

Amazing scenes. Amazing effort. Bob Murphy has both fists clenched. He runs to the bench and joins Stevens, Crameri and Lukas Webb in a group hug. Smiles abound.

Murphy hugs Ayce Cordy who hoists Murphy from his feet. Hrovat, Bontempelli, Smith and Jong are hugging in the centre. They are delirious and exhausted.

“This is a massive victory for this football club,” says Thompson.

“This is a season-defining victory,” says Dunstall.

Bob Murphy is interviewed: “How can you not get emotional about footy,” he says, almost in tears. “It’s the best game ... it’s the best win I’ve ever been a part of.”

Al Pacino once said: “The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break in the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. In any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.”

“That’s a team, gentlemen. That’s football guys.”

That was the Western Bulldogs Football Club.

Bulldog Joe
04-05-2015, 07:37 AM
Wow.

That is well written and brings tears to my eyes all over again.

The Doctor
04-05-2015, 07:57 AM
fantastic article.

westdog54
04-05-2015, 08:37 AM
Not often we're complimenting Mark Robinson on his writing.

Geez I love footy.

If you get a chance, follow the link and scroll down to Lin Jong's tweet of his mum's siren celebration. Priceless.

Murphy'sLore
04-05-2015, 11:27 AM
Lin Jong's mum can't compete with what was going on in my car when the siren went :)

My daughter nearly had to grab the wheel!

Mantis
04-05-2015, 02:06 PM
A really good read... I can see the play un-fold in my mind as you work through the article.

Looking forward to AFL360 tonight.. Might be a fair bit of love to all thing Bulldog

Ozza
04-05-2015, 02:25 PM
A really good read... I can see the play un-fold in my mind as you work through the article.

Looking forward to AFL360 tonight.. Might be a fair bit of love to all thing Bulldog

Robbo always does 'Harf Time' with Daniel Harford on Monday's. I wouldn't normally go out of my way to listen to it - but given the bulldog love this week I listened. Expect to enjoy Robbo's take on our team tonight, if his radio segment is anything to go by.

The journo's love kicking with the breeze, Robbo is no exception. But regardless, its fun to hear him speak about how much he loved our performance, and in particular Picken, Wood and Murphy.

Amusing that when he talking about how thrilling our game was on Saturday, he started by saying "After sitting through that crap on Friday night..."

LostDoggy
04-05-2015, 02:26 PM
That would've been a brilliant article, if not written by Hird's PR Manager. Like a good Caro article, I absolutely loved it, and I feel so dirty as a result.

Greystache
04-05-2015, 03:25 PM
The journo's love kicking with the breeze, Robbo is no exception. But regardless, its fun to hear him speak about how much he loved our performance, and in particular Picken, Wood and Murphy.

Amusing that when he talking about how thrilling our game was on Saturday, he started by saying "After sitting through that crap on Friday night..."

Normally two of the biggest downhill skiers in the media are Lloyd and Lyon, but you can bet they'll ignore us on Footy Classified tonight. Hutchy will be into them to admit they were wrong about us, Lyon will say let's see how they're going in 10 weeks, and Lloyd will shift focus onto us paying too much for Boyd and Crameri (he's still really wound up about us poaching him) and that they're not performing.

Twodogs
04-05-2015, 03:41 PM
Normally two of the biggest downhill skiers in the media are Lloyd and Lyon, but you can bet they'll ignore us on Footy Classified tonight. Hutchy will be into them to admit they were wrong about us, Lyon will say let's see how they're going in 10 weeks, and Lloyd will shift focus onto us paying too much for Boyd and Crameri (he's still really wound up about us poaching him) and that they're not performing.

Brilliant isn't it? My heart bleeds buckets of piss for him.

Greystache
04-05-2015, 03:45 PM
Brilliant isn't it? My heart bleeds buckets of piss for him.

That's what happens when someone leaves a cult. You have to make them the ultimate pariah otherwise others may be tempted to escape.

LostDoggy
04-05-2015, 04:31 PM
Anthony Hudson is the best commentator in the business by a long margain. He was fantastic on Saturday. Especially in the dying moments.

Twodogs
04-05-2015, 04:50 PM
That's what happens when someone leaves a cult. You have to make them the ultimate pariah otherwise others may be tempted to escape.

It's a good point. I wonder if we had to deprogram Stew when he first arrived?

westdog54
04-05-2015, 06:53 PM
Normally two of the biggest downhill skiers in the media are Lloyd and Lyon, but you can bet they'll ignore us on Footy Classified tonight. Hutchy will be into them to admit they were wrong about us, Lyon will say let's see how they're going in 10 weeks, and Lloyd will shift focus onto us paying too much for Boyd and Crameri (he's still really wound up about us poaching him) and that they're not performing.

I wouldn't count on that Stache.

I watched the Access All Areas show on afl.com with Lyon and Barrett. The dogs took up about two and a half minutes of the 12.20 it ran for.

We're THE good news story this week.

jazzadogs
04-05-2015, 08:15 PM
I hate to bring down an article that is so positive about the Bulldogs, but I can't agree that is well written. It's basically a play-by-play description of what happened with no embellishment or description, just quotes from the commentators on the footage. I've watched the final three minutes on at least four occasions and struggled to envision what he was talking about because it was so bland!

(I actually don't mind Robbo on 360, but can't stand that his 'articles' are constituting football journalism at the moment)

LostDoggy
05-05-2015, 08:40 AM
It's a good point. I wonder if we had to deprogram Stew when he first arrived?

I envisage a man waving a pocket watch in front of his face.

"Injections in the stomach bad. Breaking a 60-year flag drought good." over and over

Bulldog Joe
05-05-2015, 08:57 AM
I hate to bring down an article that is so positive about the Bulldogs, but I can't agree that is well written. It's basically a play-by-play description of what happened with no embellishment or description, just quotes from the commentators on the footage. I've watched the final three minutes on at least four occasions and struggled to envision what he was talking about because it was so bland!

(I actually don't mind Robbo on 360, but can't stand that his 'articles' are constituting football journalism at the moment)

I think you are being harsh.
Yes it is a blow by blow with commentators quotes thrown in, BUT it relives the emotion. The fact that there is no embellishment is why I believe it is well written.

It was epic and embellishment in any form would be detracting.

jazzadogs
05-05-2015, 11:02 AM
I think you are being harsh.
Yes it is a blow by blow with commentators quotes thrown in, BUT it relives the emotion. The fact that there is no embellishment is why I believe it is well written.

It was epic and embellishment in any form would be detracting.

I think this (http://www.bulldogtragician.com/the-tragician-blog/one-more-song is a much better article about the same topic, by the Bulldog Tragician.

Sedat
05-05-2015, 12:38 PM
Have watched the last 3 minutes a few times now and I can't really fault any Bulldog player for making even half a mistake. Our pressure and desperation completely smothered Sydney, and the only real forward 50 chance they had was from an unbelievable kick from Nick Smith to McVeigh - that kick was so good with such amazing vision, it was Murphy-esque :)

LostDoggy
05-05-2015, 01:58 PM
I hate to bring down an article that is so positive about the Bulldogs, but I can't agree that is well written. It's basically a play-by-play description of what happened with no embellishment or description, just quotes from the commentators on the footage. I've watched the final three minutes on at least four occasions and struggled to envision what he was talking about because it was so bland!

(I actually don't mind Robbo on 360, but can't stand that his 'articles' are constituting football journalism at the moment)

After years of not being interested, I have been recording and watching every footy show I can get my hands on since demoralising the cows.

I watched 360 last night, Robbo wrote that because he loved those final minutes, he was choking up talking about it, seriously looked and sounded like he was emotionally moved by the dogs performance and what we have achieved since October.

F'scary
05-05-2015, 03:56 PM
It's a good point. I wonder if we had to deprogram Stew when he first arrived?

We certainly had to detoxify him!!!

Happy Days
05-05-2015, 04:21 PM
It's a good point. I wonder if we had to deprogram Stew when he first arrived?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgeDh1WCyeM

Mofra
05-05-2015, 04:29 PM
I hate to bring down an article that is so positive about the Bulldogs, but I can't agree that is well written. It's basically a play-by-play description of what happened with no embellishment or description, just quotes from the commentators on the footage. I've watched the final three minutes on at least four occasions and struggled to envision what he was talking about because it was so bland!

(I actually don't mind Robbo on 360, but can't stand that his 'articles' are constituting football journalism at the moment)
Knowing a few writers, it's a tension technique in both the fiction and non-fiction genres.

Writers in tense situations or describing the climax to a story are encouraged to write as dispassionately as possible because it makes the reader want to read "quicker" to find out what happens. It's a counter-intuitive technique but it works.

Bulldog Joe
05-05-2015, 05:34 PM
I think this (http://www.bulldogtragician.com/the-tragician-blog/one-more-song is a much better article about the same topic, by the Bulldog Tragician.

That is a terrific story, but it has a perspective that Mark Robinson could not have.

Robbo's effort is still fantastic in this instance.