Media Bias Towards the Bulldogs

[Ghost Dog]

Our win was as exciting foot as we saw over the weekend.
Yet Access All areas gave a really poor wrap.

"Is the Bulldogs gamestyle sustainable throughout the year? "
I think last year we played quite freely, but ours was more a lock in in the 50 job against Freo.
Ours is not a play on at all costs style, we are capable of slowing it up.
I think pegging us as a 'run and gun' side is dog-whistling us as a 'flakey' side.

"Is their gamestyle transportable to the MCG?"

If we played Freo in a final on Sunday I can't imagine the result would have been that different. Again, it's just another put down.

Instead we get more coverage on the show about Dane Swan's foot, Stevie J's selfishness - there are 30,000 fans who would have liked a non-biased commentary about the game. How about Easton Wood's mark? Stringer's 5? I know it's a short segment but it was poor.

[bornadog]

We are use to bias reporting.

[Ghost Dog]

True enough. But to quote twisted sister ' We're not gonna take it!'.

[azabob]

From the media coverage i have a seen and heard over the weekend about our game this thread is a total overeaction.

[Ghost Dog]

From the media coverage i have a seen and heard over the weekend about our game this thread is a total overeaction.

Why then, is our game style 'not transportable to the MCG?' Isn't this a curious statement to you?

[Remi Moses]

The talking heads just swing in the breeze to be honest .
Gotta sort your way through the dross, but it's hard to find decent commentary
We were " irrelevant " two years ago, and now we're "sexy"!
We're Port Adelaide at seasons start, and we're a "glamour" team now!
I think the Port reference is lazy journalism, and just making a comparison for the sake of it .

[Remi Moses]

Why then, is our game style 'not transportable to the MCG?' Isn't this a curious statement to you?

It's just nonsense. We're like every home team, we play better on more familiar terrain .
Eagles play better in Perth, Sydney at the SCG, and so on . We lost that final, because we didn't defend well enough, and didn't take our chances. We beat Richmond there, and put in a stinker against the Dees, where our intensity didn't exist .

[azabob]

Why then, is our game style 'not transportable to the MCG?' Isn't this a curious statement to you?

Firstly Sorry for the direct comments. I should have expanded more.

Not really. Fact is off the top of my head we lose more than we win at the G.

Has our game plan evolved enough to win big games at the MCG?

Unfortunately GD we will have to listen to those questions more often than not as we don't play there enough to satisfy them.

My main gripe with this thread is we had a great win yet we still manage to find something to complain about. As members and supporters we need to stop this 'woe is me' attitude.

[LostDoggy]

Our win was as exciting foot as we saw over the weekend.
Yet Access All areas gave a really poor wrap.

Isn't that Pinhead Barrett on there?
Says it all for me really.

[whythelongface]

Didn't listen to Access all areas but overall the media seems to be very much positive towards us. AFL360 are fawning all over us, the guys from the On the Couch were all positive last night, despite their initial reservations about where we will finish and the print media also is positive. There will always be negative components to the media, until we win the big dance but at the moment we are one of the media darlings.

[Ghost Dog]

Firstly Sorry for the direct comments. I should have expanded more.

Not really. Fact is off the top of my head we lose more than we win at the G.

Has our game plan evolved enough to win big games at the MCG?

Unfortunately GD we will have to listen to those questions more often than not as we don't play there enough to satisfy them.

My main gripe with this thread is we had a great win yet we still manage to find something to complain about. As members and supporters we need to stop this 'woe is me' attitude.

Point taken. I'm not sure we have to have a 'woe is me' attitude to point out media bias.

[LostDoggy]

The talking heads just swing in the breeze to be honest .
Gotta sort your way through the dross, but it's hard to find decent commentary
We were " irrelevant " two years ago, and now we're "sexy"!
We're Port Adelaide at seasons start, and we're a "glamour" team now!
I think the Port reference is lazy journalism, and just making a comparison for the sake of it .

Spot on Remi.
David King who has had us sliding all pre season said on the Couch last night that his rating of us changes now and that he and Dunstall have us as top 4.
Which ever way the wind blows boys which ever way.

[SonofScray]

There is definitely a whole host of characters in the media who do not like us as a Club and subscribe to the types of narratives that really grate against us as a fan group. Ex-players who hated going to Whitten Oval, got beat up by Libba and the like, classist folk who harbor ill will towards the working class Western Suburbs etc. They're all in each other's pockets affirming each others behaviour.

They hate having to do extra work on us, it irritates them to expend their resources on us as a smaller Club. It is easier for them to pull out the scripted pieces they have sitting in their top draw:

- Dogs need a key forward
- Club is existential crisis
- Dole bludging dogs
- This is Higgins' season.
- is this their year?

If they can repeat those well tread paths, they can expense their resources on the things that attract more interest, like how much drugs the Big Four clubs are pumping into their players and how big (or little) star player's penises are according to their leaked snap chats and SMS's to girlfriends.

Our best value to them is a support act to bigger franchises, we are good fodder for their stories that affirm the status quo.

Best bet is to just strap yourself in, enjoy the ride and consumer independent, fan generated media.

[Ghost Dog]

Well, we have not beaten Freo in the last 6 outings. I forget these things!

[Twodogs]

How many times have we played Freo in the first round does anyone know?

I can remember that depressing loss to them in round one 1997 at home base Optus Oval that foretold what was sure to be another long soul destroying season down the bottom end of the ladder with St Kilda and Adelaide.

[SonofScray]

How many times have we played Freo in the first round does anyone know?

I can remember that depressing loss to them in round one 1997 at home base Optus Oval that foretold what was sure to be another long soul destroying season down the bottom end of the ladder with St Kilda and Adelaide.

I recall walking out saying "same old stuff, there's always next year" my Mum gave me a clip for being too negative. But gee that loss was a real dampener on things.

[divvydan]

How many times have we played Freo in the first round does anyone know?

I can remember that depressing loss to them in round one 1997 at home base Optus Oval that foretold what was sure to be another long soul destroying season down the bottom end of the ladder with St Kilda and Adelaide.

This is only the 3rd time we've played Freo in Rd 1 (1997 (H) and 2009 (A)).

We've played interstate teams 13 times (8 Home, 5 Away) in Round 1 over the past 20 seasons, including the last 5 years in a row.

[boydogs]

I reckon you just caught the wrong program GD
Take a look at these other ones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_qYNb-ps8Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux4jR81Owjk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgG8fNtQL_A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN78vxsnWks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=innEKJVDFeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xvirXxcGkE

[bornadog]

This is only the 3rd time we've played Freo in Rd 1 (1997 (H) and 2009 (A)).

We've played interstate teams 13 times (8 Home, 5 Away) in Round 1 over the past 20 seasons, including the last 5 years in a row.

The bias certainly comes through the AFL and fed down to the media.

[Mofra]

I think reporting has been pretty favourable in recent times. Most journos say the Bulldogs are the most watchable team, we're most people's second favourite tem, and we had two of the top plays on afl.com (including Wood's mark at no 1).

One person asking if our primary gameplan is sustainable over 20+ rounds (hint: even I think it isn't which is why I was happy with the second & third grinding-out quarters on Sunday) isn't evidence of media bias, it's one person asking a fair question.

[1eyedog]

We haven't won a flag for 62 years and been close numerous times. There becomes a certain uncertainty for external analysts anytime we start playing good football. Is it sustainable? Can it be transferred to the G? Could the Dogs win a flag? Some just want to rag us for the reasons described above but many want to believe.

The broader footballing community would love to see us win a flag. Ultimately all that matters is the club and its supporters. Media pundits will jump on jump off but we'll always be there and what they say us irrelevant because we are the real ones with the vested interest; our hearts are involved. They are purely football analysts who ultimately don't care whether we finish 1st or 18th. The only bloke I listen to re. how we are traveling is Bevo.

[Happy Days]

I went to my parent's house to pick up a drill bit and my mum had a literal stack of press clippings she'd saved for me on how great the Bulldogs have been going, looking, etc. to start the year. Since Sunday.

Threads like this are why internet forums get a bad wrap.

[Ghost Dog]

I went to my parent's house to pick up a drill bit and my mum had a literal stack of press clippings she'd saved for me on how great the Bulldogs have been going, looking, etc. to start the year. Since Sunday.

Threads like this are why internet forums get a bad wrap.
Point taken Happy Days. My beef is with the AFL mouthpiece, which should be a little more even I feel. For example, in any kind of list they all ways put it in alphabetical order which means we are last in every article, every day of the year. Why not just put it in random order ?
Sounds petty I know but I'm pretty one-eyed, and a forum is a place for one-eyed people. Agree? Most threads on here are quite upbeat and fun.
Their media outlets should be more even handed, but I agree we have been doing well in the broader media. Perhaps the thread should be entitled 'Dogs in the media' ? Mods please consider changing the title. Thanks Happy.

[1eyedog]

Point taken Happy Days. My beef is with the AFL mouthpiece, which should be a little more even I feel. For example, in any kind of list they all ways put it in alphabetical order which means we are last in every article, every day of the year. Why not just put it in random order ?
Sounds petty I know but I'm pretty one-eyed, and a forum is a place for one-eyed people. Agree? Most threads on here are quite upbeat and fun.
Their media outlets should be more even handed, but I agree we have been doing well in the broader media. Perhaps the thread should be entitled 'Dogs in the media' ? Mods please consider changing the title. Thanks Happy.

Why do you care? Just wondering.

[Ghost Dog]

Why do you care? Just wondering.
I'm a graphic designer so how we are presented in the media matters to me. But I like your post - maintain the bubble.

[1eyedog]

I'm a graphic designer so how we are presented in the media matters to me. But I like your post - maintain the bubble.

Yeah fair enough I can understand that.

[Maddog37]

I get upset listening to the games when Dunstall is condescending and Frawley is just plain negative during the game. Frawley of all people; the original Spud!!

Apart from that i don't really worry too much. Until we win flags we will continue to be largely ignored or treated with anything more than the occasional pat on the head.

[Bulldog4life]

I get upset listening to the games when Dunstall is condescending and Frawley is just plain negative during the game. Frawley of all people; the original Spud!!

Apart from that i don't really worry too much. Until we win flags we will continue to be largely ignored or treated with anything more than the occasional pat on the head.

Dunstall was praising us immensely on "On the couch" and during the game He seemed genuine to me.

[Maddog37]

Dunstall was praising us immensely on "On the couch" and during the game He seemed genuine to me.

I like Dunstall too but he is a Hawk man through and through and as such is tainted with their unending arrogance. It seeps into his comments at times. He is the best of a bad lot IMHO.

[The Pie Man]

Dunstalll was only two weeks ago trying to suggest there might be a few 'scars' at the Dogs following our loss to Collingwood in the NAB Challenge. Kinda sounded like wishful thinking at the time.

[bornadog]

Dunstall was praising us immensely on "On the couch" and during the game He seemed genuine to me.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN78vxsnWks

[Ozza]

The media for the last 12 months has absolutely fawned all over us really.
Love for Beveridge.
Love for Bob.
Discussion over 'Bonti or Stringer' being the better young prospect.
Love for our gamestyle.

If anything - I'd be happy enough for the media to be harder on us. We haven't won anything yet.

[soupman]

I too think the media has been rather favourable towards us.

The exception as always has been Footy Classified, who seem to only do positive stories on the big clubs. This isn't really that big a loss though, as positive stories probably account for 15% of their show, the rest dealing with rumours, scandals and things they all find dissapointing but still feel the need to argue over just how dissapointing it really is. They're the type of show that if they did praise us it would be followed by a much longer segment bagging out the Boyd contract. It is no loss to not be on their show.

I find the marketing aspect more frustrating, we rarely if ever feature in AFL promos; the latest ticket ad features GWS but not us. Fixturing is obviously another area long discussed on here. This could all change though as we gain players that are going to be household names like Stringer, and Murphy is possibly the most popular captain in the league.

[dukedog]

The longer we stay out of the media spotlight the better, teams will start focusing on us more. But at the end of the day. To win a flag you have to be consistently good. So bring it on fellas. Bring it on!

[Flamethrower]

I think the perception of negative media bias comes from 2 main areas. The first is from scribes who are trying to justify their preseason predictions by using a "worse case scenario" when guessing that a team will slide down the ladder. With us it was the old chestnuts of "their gameplan has been worked out" and "they have a tougher draw". The first is an insult to the great Luke Beveridge and the 2nd is one of the biggest myths in football.

The second is from lazy/incompetent media types and is all about us sustaining our gamestyle all season. Most of these media types have no idea what our game style is....they see us streaming down the field in waves and accuse us of being downhill skiiers.

[Twodogs]

Point taken Happy Days. My beef is with the AFL mouthpiece, which should be a little more even I feel. For example, in any kind of list they all ways put it in alphabetical order which means we are last in every article, every day of the year. Why not just put it in random order ?
Sounds petty I know but I'm pretty one-eyed, and a forum is a place for one-eyed people. Agree? Most threads on here are quite upbeat and fun.
Their media outlets should be more even handed, but I agree we have been doing well in the broader media. Perhaps the thread should be entitled 'Dogs in the media' ? Mods please consider changing the title. Thanks Happy.


Done.

[azabob]

Done.

As in you just considered it?

[Twodogs]

As in you just considered it?

Thought about it for five seconds or so, yep.

[Rocco Jones]

I am definitely in the media loves us camp. We are perfect media love story. Underdog club, super attractive footy and we aren't a hated, big club which makes us easier to pallet for neutrals.

[Twodogs]

And we have Stringer and Bontempelli the two best young players in the comp.

[jeemak]

I'm staggered anyone has such a short memory, but then I forget what all the fuss is about.

It's post round one and everyone's blowing up our tyres for now, win a couple, lose a few and it will turn around.

Yes, there is inherent bias against our club because we don't sell papers or air time, so we don't get the coverage. Beyond that, there's not much in it in terms of love. AFL media is private enterprise and not a public service, so get over it and realise we're going to have to do a lot more over a very long period of time to get some kudos.

[Mofra]

And we have Stringer and Bontempelli the two best young players in the comp.
And more players are saying they'd take Stringer over Hogan!

Given what it would have cost to get him, I'll take Stringer & Macrae over Hogan too.

[G-Mo77]

As much as I get angry over the media taking potshots at us, they do drop the boots in when given opportunity, I hate hearing puff pieces and prefer to just fly under the media radar.

[hujsh]

There was the constant, "Let me take you back to October for a moment" questions even when we had really turned around and had lots of great, far more relevant things to talk about.

[bulldogtragic]

Picked up the Hun while waiting for a coffee, so it's my mistake. But wtf is is with the back page all being about Tom Boyd (inc. a photo of him and not Hunter) and others having to get paid less and a cartoon having a go at Boyd? Pissed me off royally.

[Bulldog4life]

Picked up the Hun while waiting for a coffee, so it's my mistake. But wtf is is with the back page all being about Tom Boyd (inc. a photo of him and not Hunter) and others having to get paid less and a cartoon having a go at Boyd? Pissed me off royally.

Sam Landsberger is a doggie supporter too

[KT31]

Our win was as exciting foot as we saw over the weekend.
Yet Access All areas gave a really poor wrap.

"Is the Bulldogs gamestyle sustainable throughout the year? "
I think last year we played quite freely, but ours was more a lock in in the 50 job against Freo.
Ours is not a play on at all costs style, we are capable of slowing it up.
I think pegging us as a 'run and gun' side is dog-whistling us as a 'flakey' side.

"Is their gamestyle transportable to the MCG?"

If we played Freo in a final on Sunday I can't imagine the result would have been that different. Again, it's just another put down.

Instead we get more coverage on the show about Dane Swan's foot, Stevie J's selfishness - there are 30,000 fans who would have liked a non-biased commentary about the game. How about Easton Wood's mark? Stringer's 5? I know it's a short segment but it was poor.

I hear what you are saying GD, but we have also had a lot of positive stories the last season and a bit.
Good with the bad, swings and round-a-bouts that sort of thing.
Really we on Woof know we are on track for something special but until this group prove something and start to win big matches consistently and eventually finals the nee sayers will still pop up.
Hawks lost one game and Slobbo had them already done and dusted.

[Smads57]

sometimes I am just happy to read anything in any paper about my team...

[Axe Man]

Picked up the Hun while waiting for a coffee, so it's my mistake. But wtf is is with the back page all being about Tom Boyd (inc. a photo of him and not Hunter) and others having to get paid less and a cartoon having a go at Boyd? Pissed me off royally.

I also liked the fact there was another article today on Gold Coast re-signing Tom Lynch on $800k per season without any mention of how they are going to retain all their young stars (and that's without taking into account Ablett's contract).

[Smads57]

I also liked the fact there was another article today on Gold Coast re-signing Tom Lynch on $800k per season without any mention of how they are going to retain all their young stars (and that's without taking into account Ablett's contract).

Thought the same thing myself.

[bulldogtragic]

I also liked the fact there was another article today on Gold Coast re-signing Tom Lynch on $800k per season without any mention of how they are going to retain all their young stars (and that's without taking into account Ablett's contract).

Jaegear o'Meara, Lynch, Ablett, Jarrad Grant, Prestia, Swallow, Jack Martin... Whatever do you mean about salary cap issues? And Lynch, he's the best KPF is the comp because that price tag can only be for Pendelbry, Buddy types and anything less is stealing from team mates.

It takes some seriously inept, incompetent, unprofessional arseholes to turn a positive story about Lachie Hunter resigning for 3 years into another negative pot shot at Tom Boyd who played well and kicked 3 goals on the weekend despite being assaulted on numerous occasions without free kicks.

It's like the seriously jealous friend or family member. They say they love and support you, but the second you do something good they compete or try to undermine you. We have a brilliant start to they year, big wins and the second best defensive start ever, the best in 60 years, players re-signing and the stories are Tahleeya and Tom Boyd being a thief. I've stopped watching the news and this is incentive enough to avoid watching footy coverage. All last year's success was underpinned by how good we were... Considering we lost our captain, Brownlow medalist, CEO, coach, assistant coaches and players... It's like the media are only happy when they get to kick us around. Fits Newbold's narrative about us bring 'small' 'battlers' and Eddie's view we are after 'footy socialism' that attacks the big clubs. Over 1,000 days without a Friday night game, no blockbuster game, shit deals, shit fixturing and still we're going to break membership records in the face of that tsunami. I am BT's furious anger. Rant over, for now.

[chef]

Sam Landsberger is a doggie supporter too

Yep. Weird stuff coming from a Doggies man. I thought he'd have more of a clue.

[Topdog]

Honestly I have just completely zoned out of all football media now. It's complete and utter hyperbole and as I think Remi mentioned they just swing in the breeze. I'm surprised by how many ppl still pay attention to it

[azabob]

I didn't see it, but I doubt Landsburger drew the picture and asked for it in the article.

[Twodogs]

Cartoonists are a law onto themselves.

[Mantis]

I also liked the fact there was another article today on Gold Coast re-signing Tom Lynch on $800k per season without any mention of how they are going to retain all their young stars (and that's without taking into account Ablett's contract).

Lynch is their best young player and that payment is pretty fair of what he is worth.

We have probably over paid Boyd on output, but it needed to be done to get him across.

[Twodogs]

I can remember when Craig Bradley came across from SA the wage Carlton were paying him was fairly common knowledge. The Coodabeens divided the amount of kicks he got (no one was that interested in handballs back then) and divided it by the payment and it came to something like 157 bucks a kick or something. Tony Leonard just kept saying "he's never played a proper game of footy in his life and he's getting paid more than the Prime Minister" (the PM was very poorly paid back then, I was a 22 yo public servant and was making almost as much as the PM was then). People who carried on about how much Bradley was getting now look a bit previous. Carlton did a brilliant piece of business getting him at the price they did.

Craig Bradley turned out alright and so will Tom Boyd.

[bornadog]

Cartoonists are a law onto themselves.

Careful :D

[Bulldog4life]

Lynch is their best young player and that payment is pretty fair of what he is worth.

We have probably over paid Boyd on output, but it needed to be done to get him across.

That's the key to it. Bit like buying stocks that are going to explode and people are doubting you in buying them but you feel confident about them. The journalist scribes are basing the million dollar a season on the current output from Tom. We have taken the risk. It is not a usual thing for a Club to do usually a player gets a million a season when they are worth it at the time. Bevo has come from a risk management background too so I'm sure he is not totally against it either.

As Tom keeps producing we will hear less of it. We just have to wait and put up with it till he does. If he doesn't.....well that's another story for another day. I personally think he will explode. When it will happen I'm not sure.

[Ozza]

Tom is already a significantly better player than he was last year. He's played 25 games now, his next 25 should see him really come on in leaps and bounds.

Arguably our best two players of the year so far are Johannisen (49 games) and Hunter (38 games) - when they had played 25 games, we were talking about different players entirely - now they're emerging stars.

Its very encouraging to see him get to so many contests on Saturday night. It will click soon, and he'll start taking an extra 3 or 4 marks a game - which is a combination of confidence, and handling the workload better.

[Axe Man]

Lynch is their best young player and that payment is pretty fair of what he is worth.

We have probably over paid Boyd on output, but it needed to be done to get him across.

Absolutely, Lynch is a gun and worth the big dollars. But if GC are paying him $800k then other clubs would gladly have given him +$1 million to lure him away. Yes he has more runs on the board than Boyd, but the inconsistency in the reporting is glaring.

[F'scary]

Loved that "clutch" mark Toyd took near the end of the 3rd qtr against StK. That was a very difficult mark in the hardest part of the ground to take a contested mark. I don't think anyone shorter than him or without his great soft hands could have taken that.

[Twodogs]

Loved that "clutch" mark Toyd took near the end of the 3rd qtr against StK. That was a very difficult mark in the hardest part of the ground to take a contested mark. I don't think anyone shorter than him or without his great soft hands could have taken that.

Well worth a couple of fistpumps.