How Has Your Life Changed?

[comrade]

I always thought seeing the Dogs win a flag would be life changing and I guess it has.

Footy has been both an outlet & passionate source of stress. My mood is generally dictated by the result: on cloud 9 if we won, majorly peeved if we lost.

Usually at this time of year, I am champing at the bit for the season to start, confident that this may just be the year. After reaching the summit, those feelings aren't there...at all.

On the flipside, talking with other Doggies supporters and going back over that glorious month has been a lot of fun.

Has the flag changed you?

[ratsmac]

Food tastes better, coffee tastes better and of course beer tastes better. I am more attractive somehow and my sex life is off the charts... Ok now I'm getting carried away :p

[Eastdog]

It has been great.

Been wearing for most weeks now Bulldog t Shirts including my 2 premiers T shirts and gotten a few comments. A few weeks ago I was at the shops and someone was wearing a Doggies cap and said Go Dogs to me.

At work I wear my Doggies lanyard and have gotten into a few conversations.

I endeavour before the season starts to watch the GF again - the great thing is that it will be with us forever!!

[GVGjr]

No real change for me. I've had a good drink from the premiership cup so to speak but it's not going to be enough for me, not by a long shot. I'll be bitterly disappointed if we slip back into just being a competitive side rather than being a genuine contender.

I understand that premierships are typically a very difficult achievement for clubs to command but with the barrier we knocked down last year I don't like the thought of sliding back into the pack.

2016 was a great year for all of our supporters but it is very much last years news for me now. We now need to work even harder than last year and my expectations are high.

Quite frankly I'm sick of work colleagues and friends being happy for me. It was nice enough to have that acknowledgement in October and maybe November etc but it's now time to back it up. I'm going to be mighty pissed if I hear that last year was a fluke because we can't get our shit together this year.

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

I have no bitterness left in me, no chip on my shoulder, life is good

[chef]

I have no bitterness left in me, no chip on my shoulder, life is good

Im the same. The pain of 97 and 09 is gone and im content now.

A huge monkey off our back so i think I'll be more optimistic too.

[MrMahatma]

One slight negative, as a doggies fan in QLD, when you meet someone for the first time and start talking footy, many of them believe me to be on the bandwagon now and only a recent doggies fan.

Small price to pay.

[1eyedog]

I've got my Bulldog 2017 sticker on the car and still get tooted a few times a week with other people with stickers on their car and I'm not in the Western Suburbs. There's a brotherhood / sisterhood no doubt about it.

The biggest change for me is observing the old people in my family. The ones that brain-washed me as soon as I was born and took me to the Western Oval every second week. They're all old now but the joy the flag has brought these people, and I guess every family has these types of supporters, is absolutely priceless.

They've all said they can die happy and that is such a cool thing to say!

[bornadog]

No real change for me. I've had a good drink from the premiership cup so to speak but it's not going to be enough for me, not by a long shot. I'll be bitterly disappointed if we slip back into just being a competitive side rather than being a genuine contender.

I understand that premierships are typically a very difficult achievement for clubs to command but with the barrier we knocked down last year I don't like the thought of sliding back into the pack.

2016 was a great year for all of our supporters but it is very much last years news for me now. We now need to work even harder than last year and my expectations are high.

Quite frankly I'm sick of work colleagues and friends being happy for me. It was nice enough to have that acknowledgement in October and maybe November etc but it's now time to back it up. I'm going to be mighty pissed if I hear that last year was a fluke because we can't get our shit together this year.

This ^^^^

After going to the season launch tonight, I am pumped for another season. I want more premierships, we are way too far behind for a club that has been around since 1877.

Go Dogs

[Bulldog Revolution]

This ^^^^

After going to the season launch tonight, I am pumped for another season. I want more premierships, we are way too far behind for a club that has been around since 1877.

Go Dogs

I love the idea of doing it all again AND I've reflected on my own celebratory performance and planned improvements if we get to do it again

However I dismiss any suggestion of a fluke - it's one of the greatest premierships in the history of the game - that's no fluke, instead an exceptional performance

I have enormous faith in the competitive drive of our group - libba Dahl Bont clay wallis etc - that spirit will make the difference

[The Pie Man]

The Tom Boyd goal is the most effective 'happy place' I've ever had - get down about something, think about that goal and McClean jumping on his back.

Started trying to remember how moments from the game looked from my seat instead of the TV footage - it's great to go back through how it registered in my memory.

Like GVG, I'll be disappointed if we can't build on this, but in case GWS do convert this potential dynasty of theirs, I'm just happy we nicked 2016 from 7th without a dominant forward.

[G-Mo77]

No real change for me. I've had a good drink from the premiership cup so to speak but it's not going to be enough for me, not by a long shot. I'll be bitterly disappointed if we slip back into just being a competitive side rather than being a genuine contender.

I understand that premierships are typically a very difficult achievement for clubs to command but with the barrier we knocked down last year I don't like the thought of sliding back into the pack.

2016 was a great year for all of our supporters but it is very much last years news for me now. We now need to work even harder than last year and my expectations are high.

Quite frankly I'm sick of work colleagues and friends being happy for me. It was nice enough to have that acknowledgement in October and maybe November etc but it's now time to back it up. I'm going to be mighty pissed if I hear that last year was a fluke because we can't get our shit together this year.

I'm the opposite. I'm still in 2016 celebrating. I have very little interest in the upcoming season, although when it starts I'm sure I will. I think I'll be a little bit different, the us against the world mentality might lessen now and I'm less bitter about past losses and missed opportunities. I don't hate Ryan Griffen anymore either.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Can die happy.
The streets are paved with solid gold happiness that underpins everything, everyday.
Sad for those supporters who died just shy of it.

[The bulldog tragician]

2017 will be very intriguing for the reasons discussed here. It will be interesting to see how as fans we react to the normal ups and downs and fluctuations in performance without that giant burden on our shoulder that always framed everything in a 'just like us' mentality - whether this was lack of composure at key points, contentious umpiring decisions, or general 'bad luck'.

We have now seen a team that withstood so much and never wavered at moments such as the JJ 'non-goal' in the GF. The Bont's question: 'Why not us?' probably changed us as supporters more than anything. It was such a simple, yet complicated question because of our history and performance in big games, and now that it's been answered, I feel something will have shifted forever in how we view our club.

[The Pie Man]

2017 will be very intriguing for the reasons discussed here. It will be interesting to see how as fans we react to the normal ups and downs and fluctuations in performance without that giant burden on our shoulder that always framed everything in a 'just like us' mentality - whether this was lack of composure at key points, contentious umpiring decisions, or general 'bad luck'.

We have now seen a team that withstood so much and never wavered at moments such as the JJ 'non-goal' in the GF. The Bont's question: 'Why not us?' probably changed us as supporters more than anything. It was such a simple, yet complicated question because of our history and performance in big games, and now that it's been answered, I feel something will have shifted forever in how we view our club.

2017 : Why not us again?

[Sedat]

I could care less what other team supporters and pundits think of our 2016 season, and I care even less about the 'premiership scoreboard' (the cry of the great unwashed) - I'm quite sure Melbourne and Richmond supporters would do anything to swap with us right now. What transpired in 2016 was the most wonderful sporting event to happen in my life, and I will forever have that happy place to go to for the rest of my days. Of course I'd love more success in the future and I think we can achieve it, but nothing will ever come close to the sheer ecstasy of what we all experienced last year. And I will certainly not be filthy or pissed off with the club if we don't quite reach the summit again in the next few years - of course I love my club and I will still watch their progress with interest over the next few years, but my yearning desire to see the ultimate success has been sated, and in the best and most unexpected way imaginable.

I was at Glenferrie with a couple of Hawk mates in 1991 when Hawthorn just won their 5th flag in 8 years - honestly I've seen more excitement and action at a backyard BBQ than what was going on there that night. Of course they virtually went belly-up less than 5 years later (after 3 more consecutive finals series no less), so I don't even feel envious of the most successful club in the modern era because they have absolutely no idea what it feels like to experience the joy and significance of what we achieved last year. Only the Pies in 1990 know the feeling (and perhaps the Swans in 2005 and Cats in 2007 to a much lesser extent) - our 2016 flag is the very definition of quality over quantity. In short I am a very contented Bulldogs supporter and life is good ;)

[Ozza]

In terms of how it may have 'changed me' in a football supporting sense;

Before we won the flag - I was incredibly fearful that the Saints and Dees would win one (well maybe just the saints....the dees not really a risk!) and that we wouldn't. The thought of them getting one, and us missing out was awful. And its probably not a great reflection on me - as those two teams are the teams that are supported by the majority of my closest 6-8 mates.

I also used to get quite sad and bitter around Grand Final day each year - another year of missing out - and when the medals were handed out it always got me down a bit.

Now although I don't know exactly how i'll feel on GF day this year (if we don't make it/win it), and how I would feel in future about the saints, dees, even Tigers...at the moment I am feeling free of bitterness and resent! The pressure is off, and to some extent, I feel like I would like to see those mates who haven't seen their teams win a flag - get to taste it. Maybe after we've won one or two more though!!

One of my best mates is a saints man, and he was saying to me - 'I'd give anything for one of the Grand Final DVDs I have to be a winning one. You've got your premiership DVD forever, you can put it on and relive it forever and nobody can take it away'.

So I guess the main thing is, that I'm no longer walking around with "Will we ever win one in my lifetime?". The pressure is off - and the bitterness gone!!

Having said that - we don't know when or if it will happen again - so I am very serious about us capitalising on the current group - and making sure we get one more in this era. So I'm hanging out for this season, but also thinking realistically - that its so hard to go back-to-back - that we just need to be around the mark for the next few years and hopefully things fall our way for one more within the next 3 years.

[westdog54]

I've lost a lot of time to Youtube watching OctoCalls.

I'm not calling that a bad thing.

[Eastdog]

It has been great.

Been wearing for most weeks now Bulldog t Shirts including my 2 premiers T shirts and gotten a few comments. A few weeks ago I was at the shops and someone was wearing a Doggies cap and said Go Dogs to me.

At work I wear my Doggies lanyard and have gotten into a few conversations.

I endeavour before the season starts to watch the GF again - the great thing is that it will be with us forever!!

Got another quick Go Dogs as I was leaving a tram 40-45 minutes ago at the last stop. The tram driver said he was a Dogs fan.

[GVGjr]

I'm the opposite. I'm still in 2016 celebrating. I have very little interest in the upcoming season, although when it starts I'm sure I will. I think I'll be a little bit different, the us against the world mentality might lessen now and I'm less bitter about past losses and missed opportunities. I don't hate Ryan Griffen anymore either.

I get why some are happy enough with last years results but I think it's essentially the easy option for people to take.
We should be fired up and wanting us to give it a good old nudge again.

I'd hate us to do a Leicester City and pretty much become irrelevant within a year. I've invested way too much in the club and I want another very competitive run in 2017. We've also made significant inroads to set this club up over a long period of time and half arsed attitudes based on last years efforts could erase that progress quickly.

I get the position many Bulldog fans find themselves but I expect and want more of the same of what I enjoyed last year.

[chef]

I doubt the players will be having the same content feelings of some of us. Bob will keep them hungry.

[GVGjr]

I doubt the players will be having the same content feelings of some of us. Bob will keep them hungry.

Why do you think Bob will keep them hungry when he can't do that for you? It's a nice sentiment but I doubt it's a realistic one.

"Lets do it for Bob" needs to have everyone of board including the supporters.

It really only needs to have one or two with the same 'the jobs been done' attitude and it will turn to shit quickly. Complacency is something that the slightly less motivated have a habit of dragging others into even in a professional environment.

Based on what I'm hearing it's possible that a lot of supporters may not attend games this year that they would have been dying to go to last year except if we make it to the finals. Complacency is a killer.

[chef]

Why do you think Bob will keep them hungry when he can't do that for you? It's a nice sentiment but I doubt it's a realistic one.

"Lets do it for Bob" needs to have everyone of board including the supporters.

It really only needs to have one or two with the same 'the jobs been done' attitude and it will turn to shit quickly. Complacency is something that the slightly less motivated have a habit of dragging others into even in a professional environment.

Based on what I'm hearing it's possible that a lot of supporters may not attend games this year that they would have been dying to go to last year except if we make it to the finals. Complacency is a killer.

Not sure how the feeling of fans effect the team, which is what we are discussing isnt it?

I dont think we need to worry to much about the professionalism of our team, we are in pretty good hands.

[lemmon]

I'm firmly in the 'not done yet' camp. If we don't back up last year, it's swept away as a fluke or a once-off fairytale.

The Hawks are who they are because of sustained success. I firmly believe this group and this coach has the opportunity to stamp the same sort of identity on this club.

We've won one, we need to create the kind of culture that makes sure a 62 year wait doesn't happen again.

[Sedat]

I'd hate us to do a Leicester City and pretty much become irrelevant within a year.
Leicester are in the final 8 of the Champions League ;)

I do get your point, but premierships are ridiculously hard to win so to have one in the back pocket in such extraordinary circumstances is no mean feat. I could care less if people call it the Bradbury premiership or a fluke - it happened and it was one of the greatest stories in sports history.

[Eastdog]

Leicester are in the final 8 of the Champions League ;)

I do get your point, but premierships are ridiculously hard to win so to have one in the back pocket in such extraordinary circumstances is no mean feat. I could care less if people call it the Bradbury premiership or a fluke - it happened and it was one of the greatest stories in sports history.

I would love to go back to back again.

It will be a greater challenge to do it again but yes to win the way we did last year was amazing and winning from the position we were in (a record) and winning 4 finals in a row is a unique record that hasn't been done before and was done by us :)

[bornadog]

I doubt the players will be having the same content feelings of some of us. Bob will keep them hungry.

Talking to Bailey Williams last night, the players are pretty pumped up for 2017 and they want to keep it going. They have set the benchmark and want to achieve it all again.

[GVGjr]

Leicester are in the final 8 of the Champions League ;)

I do get your point, but premierships are ridiculously hard to win so to have one in the back pocket in such extraordinary circumstances is no mean feat. I could care less if people call it the Bradbury premiership or a fluke - it happened and it was one of the greatest stories in sports history.

But haven't fired a shot in the EPL :)

Achievements like Bradbury are won in a few days where the cards just roll their way and are in no way comparable to a lifetime of supporters willing their team on to the ultimate prize after a ridiculously long drought. Yes AFL premierships are very hard to win but we have to aim at being more than competitive this year and we should expect that from the team.
I understand how a level of complacency, after such a long wait, has hit a few people but it's nearly been six months and with the season just a few days away it just reeks of people not wanting to put it on the line again this year. It really is time for people to stop looking in the rear view mirror and focus on the season ahead. You never know but we just might go back to back.

[chef]

Talking to Bailey Williams last night, the players are pretty pumped up for 2017 and they want to keep it going. They have set the benchmark and want to achieve it all again.

Yeah, i dont think that was ever in doubt with the leaders we have at the club. This is a special group.

[Mantis]

Achievements like Bradbury are won in a few days where the cards just roll their way and are in no way comparable to a lifetime of supporters willing their team on to the ultimate prize after a ridiculously long drought. Yes AFL premierships are very hard to win but we have to aim at being more than competitive this year and we should expect that from the team.

I understand how a level of complacency, after such a long wait, has hit a few people but it's nearly been six months and with the season just a few days away it just reeks of people not wanting to put it on the line again this year. It really is time for people to stop looking in the rear view mirror and focus on the season ahead. You never know but we just might go back to back.

It's a little but disrepectful to Bradbury (and others) who train their whole life and make countless sacrifices to achieve the ultimate success... Sure he had luck (which he played for), but in other stages of his competitive career he didn't.. swings & round-abouts.

Anyway to the thread at hand, it was glorious, but I haven't checked out and want to see us rise again... It's a tough competition and the cards may not fall our way as they did through Sept/ Oct, but I'm confident that we will be striving for the ultimate success... and that's all as supporters you can ask for.

[Ozza]

I guess the question should be asked (maybe another thread)....what is a 'pass mark' this season.

As an absolute minimum - my expectation is that we make a prelim final - and then you give yourself a chance from there. Probably a grand final appearance constitutes a 'pass mark', but a prelim is my minimum expectation. Got to be top 4.

[Mantis]

I guess the question should be asked (maybe another thread)....what is a 'pass mark' this season.

As an absolute minimum - my expectation is that we make a prelim final - and then you give yourself a chance from there. Probably a grand final appearance constitutes a 'pass mark', but a prelim is my minimum expectation. Got to be top 4.

Yep... Lets get to the PF and see what happens... As we know they aren't easy to win, but the events of last year will give us a fair amount of belief.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

2017 will be very intriguing for the reasons discussed here. It will be interesting to see how as fans we react to the normal ups and downs and fluctuations in performance without that giant burden on our shoulder that always framed everything in a 'just like us' mentality - whether this was lack of composure at key points, contentious umpiring decisions, or general 'bad luck'.

We have now seen a team that withstood so much and never wavered at moments such as the JJ 'non-goal' in the GF. The Bont's question: 'Why not us?' probably changed us as supporters more than anything. It was such a simple, yet complicated question because of our history and performance in big games, and now that it's been answered, I feel something will have shifted forever in how we view our club.
Bravo Tragic, Its like Dylan's "When The Ship Comes In", a seismic shift that affects everything, every game and all perceptions thereafter, including umpiring, other fans and outcomes.
You must surely finally divorce your avatar, in recognition of the above! "Bulldog Supreme nee Tragician"perhaps?

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I guess the question should be asked (maybe another thread)....what is a 'pass mark' this season.

As an absolute minimum - my expectation is that we make a prelim final - and then you give yourself a chance from there. Probably a grand final appearance constitutes a 'pass mark', but a prelim is my minimum expectation. Got to be top 4.

I remember 2015 and taking on Adelaide in the finals I thought we could go deep. Group that with winning in 2016, and what we'll achieve in 2017, no way will our premiership be seen as flukey or anything other than magnificent.

[comrade]

Another great side effect of the flag: no more pity from opposition fans when you tell them you follow the Dogs, no more '1954', no more '1 flag', no more 'Tom Boyd will ruin your list'.

In terms of footy, I'm walking around feeling like Neo in the Matrix. Bulletproof.

[Jam Donuts]

How about as a first goal for the year we set ourselves the task of finishing on top (minor premiers) for the home and away season, off the top of my head I don't believe we have ever achieved this before, then start the march to the G for another flag.

[SonofScray]

I am excited for the season and nervous in terms of us wanting to successfully defend the title. Usually I would be mustering about a lot of performed swagger and self deprecating grandiosity about the Club and our chances. This year I am genuinely full of belief and curious about what the future holds. 2017 is a real storming phase in our identity, to date a lot of the passion I felt was tied up in the pursuit of a drought breaking Flag Which Wags. Now its about the hope that many more Flags may Wag.

[GVGjr]

I guess the question should be asked (maybe another thread)....what is a 'pass mark' this season.

As an absolute minimum - my expectation is that we make a prelim final - and then you give yourself a chance from there. Probably a grand final appearance constitutes a 'pass mark', but a prelim is my minimum expectation. Got to be top 4.

Playing contending football through the season is the pass mark. If that means top 4 or 5 then that's OK.
I don't want to see us limp around that would be a huge waste.

[Raw Toast]

I like to think of myself as a generous person, and so I'm very happy for other clubs to have a turn. Well, for another club to have a go. Maybe just once.

After we've won 5 in a row that is.

That said, a Hawthorn supporting mate gave me the gift of a glorious way of thinking about the superb 2016 triumph. He'd been living their season even more intensley than usual, hoping they could do something 'truly historic' (to use his words). But then we come along, and in four games do something wonderfully historic that will be remembered as long as this game has a hold on our hearts, minds and souls.

Whatever happens, that cannot be taken away from us, and I adore it.

I understand that some are wanting to hold us to a very high standard this year, and with significant justification for that. But as a historian, I think the odds are once more against us (though they'd be pretty good for Spartans, and we were like them last year, at least in terms of the laudable aspects of the Spartan civilisation).

For a generally very young team to be able to find the amazing intensity again, is a tough task. That just seems to be to be a simple fact. The Hawks team, for example, had lots of determined, tough nuts, and they still struggled to recapture it for a number of years. I hope that we'll do better than them. And I hope we can be even better this year during the regular season. But if I knew sustained dominance was coming, I could wait. I'll get frustrated if it doesn't.

Yet even if the peak isn't climbed again, what happened last year was so incredibly glorious that I couldn't have scripted it in my dreams.

[ReLoad]

We have the same number of premierships as Adelaide. No im not happy at all.

[Twodogs]

We have the same number of premierships as Adelaide. No im not happy at all.


Technically they have twice as many AFL flags as we have. We have 11 more VFL/A premierships than them though.

[LostDoggy]

We have the same number of premierships as Adelaide. No im not happy at all.

Just slightly off topic,it was great to hear you on Gold the other day.:)

[merantau]

I am really looking forward to the season. I'm sort of intrigued by the possibilities. Last year was a mega effort. We had so many challenges to surmount and put together an incredible final series. We won a lot of close games, we won games when we weren't playing well - it was sort of a mixed bag. But we monstered our opponents in the finals. With nearly a full list, a ready to go Travis Cloke, a hungry Stewart Crameri and the return of Bob Murphy we are stronger than last year. I think everything is in place to finish top 4. I'll be down if we don't but not despondent because we have the team and the coach that could win us a flag from any position in the 8.
So how have I changed? Well I can't remember a season when I've ever been 100% certain that we will make the 8 before the season has opened. Go Dogs!

[merantau]

I am really looking forward to the season. I'm sort of intrigued by the possibilities. Last year was a mega effort. We had so many challenges to surmount and put together an incredible final series. We won a lot of close games, we won games when we weren't playing well - it was sort of a mixed bag. But we monstered our opponents in the finals. With nearly a full list, a ready to go Travis Cloke, a hungry Stewart Crameri and the return of Bob Murphy we are stronger than last year. I think everything is in place to finish top 4. I'll be down if we don't but not despondent because we have the team and the coach that could win us a flag from any position in the 8.
So how have I changed? Well I can't remember a season when I've ever been 100% certain that we will make the 8 before the season has opened. Go Dogs!

[jeemak]

I've been humbled since our character in the face of adversity throughout the season and finals effort, with a huge amount of putty applied to a once significant chip on each shoulder, leaving my only gripe being the condescending crap levelled at us by the more cynical of footy fans over the pre-finals break and our favourable treatment by the umpires.

That condescending crap has made me want to show the twerps who peddle it that I as a supporter am not satisfied. We have seen a rule change involving ruck contests, and an apparent crackdown on illegal ball use by hand result from our success, we will be the hunted and many sections of the football public now that we have won our much awaited premiership will want us to revert to type.

All summer I have been keeping a dignified presence in the adulation afforded our club knowing it will turn and we will be underrated again. Our 2016 season has only shown me what it is we are capable of, and that we can actually be better.

We played the best football ever seen in a finals series with a young group holding onto belief against the odds. I feel like they can't and won't stop us this year if we bring our best to the table.

I've never felt that before.

[bornadog]

We have seen a rule change involving ruck contests, and an apparent crackdown on illegal ball use by hand result from our success,

Talking to Bailey Williams last week, he said internally they felt the rule changes were directed at us.

[jeemak]

There's no doubting they were.

I really do get why the likes of the interstate clubs west of Victoria get annoyed by the behaviour of City Hall, as soon as the Vic establishment and its extension to Sydney raises its ire over something, punishment is distributed. Clarkson's pathetic effort post our triumph over Hawthorn in week two, coupled with our pantsing of Sydney One and Sydney Two really got the goat of everyone who counts.

The Have-nots ended up having it, the Haves ended up losing it. It was and is the sweetest thing ever.

[Twodogs]

There's no doubting they were.

I really do get why the likes of the interstate clubs west of Victoria get annoyed by the behaviour of City Hall, as soon as the Vic establishment and its extension to Sydney raises its ire over something, punishment is distributed. Clarkson's pathetic effort post our triumph over Hawthorn in week two, coupled with our pantsing of Sydney One and Sydney Two really got the goat of everyone who counts.

The Have-nots ended up having it, the Haves ended up losing it. It was and is the sweetest thing ever.


And the sweet thing is you can bank on us not featuring quick hands or relying on third man up to keep knocking it forward of the contest majorly in our game plan this year.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

WARNING!! LONG WINDED SELF-ABOSRBED RESPONSE-

I’m not unlike almost everyone here in how my life has been informed or given context through a Bulldogs lens. Supporting the Bulldogs goes back as far as I have memory and most major milestones in my life are framed by or imbued with Bulldog’s colour.

I can only assume that as a toddler growing up in the 70’s in country Victoria, Maryborough the reason I formed an attachment to the Dog’s began on early road trips to see my Nan and Pop in Brooklyn near Altona. Perhaps I’d seen the colours walking through the streets in Brooklyn, and perhaps along the way my Mother first told me of how she’d gone to see the Dog’s premiership in 1954? I can only assume this is the case. I can also recall that as a 3 year old I had a home-made knitted jumper Bulldogs colour and pattern, perhaps handed down from a relative.

My first owned memory of the Dogs was in 1978 when they made these rubbery plastic ‘action figures’ in each of the club colours and they came with numbered stickers. I pestered my Mum and Dad for one, and when I eventually complied I can recall the care and attention I took to carefully affix the numbers 3 and 1 to the back of it. I used to walk to and from school most days back then, carrying my now personalised Kelvin Templeton figurine carefully to and from Maryborough Primary school.

Then we moved to the big smoke I think in late 1979…my folks bought a milk bar in Athol Road Noble Park….and for the first time I remember becoming aware that my choice of team was not fashionable. I could not understand. Hordes of Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton and Essendon supporters were everywhere and seemed bemused that I would support Footscray. I even remember one kid asking me why I wouldn’t just do what he’d done and swap teams. The idea had never ever crossed my mind before. Why would I swap teams?
With my parents owning a milk bar I did have good access to footy cards and through this I started to learn who some of our players were, beyond KT. Shane Loveless, Ted Whitten jr, Jim Edmond John Reid, Ian Dunstan, Terry Wheeler, Geoff Jennings, Ian Hampshire, were some of the cards I remember getting.

By the time we’d moved to another part of the suburb in 1982 and I’d changed from the school in Athol road to Noble Park Primary school, I was fully aware of how dismal on field we were and again I remember being the only kid in my social circle that supported Footscray. But the kids, even my friends were more than bemused at my support of the Dogs, they delighted in greeting me on Monday mornings at the school gate whenever we’d copped the latest of hidings. The only kid in class who was subdued and who could relate was the lone St Kilda supporter, although I remember him getting real mouthy on the 2 occasions they beat us that year, on our way to the spoon.

We moved again in 1983 to another part of Noble Park and a new school at Harrisfield Primary. I was now 10 years old and the Bulldogs really from this point became by absolute passion. I had a real awakening in terms of knowing who the players were beyond the odd name. And I came across my first Bulldog’s supporting class mate, Natalie Mercer! In all my school-days she was the only Bulldog supporter I ever came across.

This was the first year I remember us improving and for the first time beyond my attachment to KT some years ago, I really took an interest in our players. Doug Hawkins, Brian Royal, Steve Macpherson, Andrew Purser, Simon Beasley, Steve Wallis, Peter Foster, Jim Sewell and Michael Mclean fast became my heroes as I kicked my football in my back yard with the radio broadcast of the games on Saturdays.

Now, my Dad was American and had absolutely ZERO affinity for football. And we were never much on the TV back then anyday.so I rarely was able to catch even a glimpse of us on the TV on the Match of the day replay on Saturday evening with Peter Landy. And on Sundays my old man was lord of the TV.. He refused to even consider letting me watch the Channel 7 panel show with Lou Richards, Jack Dye etc. was it World of Sport?? The one with the handball competition and the dude giving out the food hamper to footy guests?? I sometimes managed to get a sneaky look in the odd occasion the old man wasn’t around.
I first got to go to a Dog’s game in 1984, a night comp game vs North Melbourne. It was either 83 or 84, and we won. But my biggest moment of pride was in 1984 when I must’ve successfully badgered my Mum to take me to see a proper VFL game, against Melbourne and we got flogged.. What’s worse, my first footy hero Kelvin Templeton was lining up for the Demons that day.
I went to a few more games that year and remember running out on the field after we’d beaten Richmond and giving Simon Beasley a pat on the back, and on another occasion Zeno Tzatzaris. I felt ten feet tall getting so close to my heroes.

In 1985, my folks upended everything and we moved to Isisford in Queensland, in the middle of the outback. ABC Winners was the only football access I got out there. No one out there even had the foggiest was footy was, they watched this weird game called Rugby League.

Just my luck the first year we were any good in my life and I might as well have been in Timbuktu…

I recall in September 85, visiting our friends who owned a sheep station. The kids took me for a ride in their car out in the scrub and then I came across a scratchy football broadcast.. I heard the word Footscray..and I yelled out for everyone to ‘shoosh!’.. I fiddled with the tuning knob..and the signal improved a bit.. but it was still scratchy..It was the prelim final.. and it was the fateful final 10 minutes…I heard Leigh Matthews finish our brave dash… But it was the first time I’d ever entertained the thought that we could possibly make the Grand Final.

From 86-88 I went to boarding school in Central Qld in Yeppoon as most kids in the Outback had to do. Those were lean years football-wise for me personally. I was in Rugby league and union heartland…and I was one of those who followed ‘GayFL’. Thankfully there were a band of Vic expats at the school and we banded together. But it was tought trying to watch any games on TV. The one TV in our common room was always tuned into a Rugby League game..

At the end of 88 we moved to another Queensland country town, but much less isolated, Wondai, near Kingaroy. My folks bought a newsagency so I actually started getting regular access to football publications. So whilst people around me still did not really care for footy I at least could now

I’ll try and fast forward through from here on.
So come end of 89 and Malthouse leaves, we are merged..and I realised that if the dogs were no more my love of footy was gone..

Thankfully through the efforts of so many our club was saved and my passion for the club was more than ever before…and a new hero emerged for me. Chris Grant’s emergence was like a new ‘Kelvin Templeton to me and was probably the last real football ‘idol’ for me right as I crossed the threshold into adulthood. Those next years teased and frustrated as our fortunes lifted and waned.
I remember at that stage I was introducing my friends to the story of the Bulldogs.. they really did not know about the club.. and I remember having intrigued them all so much with the tale of the Dogs, that I had these Rugby League versed friends of mine so keyed up about the dogs that they watched with me that 1994 Semi Final against Geelong as we came back from some 7 goals down, we hit the front…and then cruelly were to lose in the last seconds to Billy Brownless’ kick… I said to my friends ‘This is what it means to be a Bulldog’s supporter.’

The same group of friends again got to witness this repeat again, but much more painfully, as we watched the 97 Prelim from a local pub.

In 1998, I met my wife-to-be, Mei at a Bulldogs game. She was a last minute ring in. She was a home-stay student living with my cousin. I’d bought a ticket for him and his friend. His friend pulled out so he invited Mei to come instead.

We saw the dogs beat the Lions in an absolute monsoonal downpour, and I said to my flatmate the next day – ‘I am pretty certain I’ve met the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with’. Almost twenty years on, that’s about the only prediction I’ve made in my life that seems to be holding true! Thankfully she’s as big a Bulldog’s supporter as I am.

Fast forward a more few years, and in 2006 my Dad died on March 28. I was obviously feeling as low as I’d felt in a long time. I tuned it to watch our season kick off on the Friday 3 days later, bereft of my usual level of excitement. The performance that night though lifted my spirits and made me feel happy at least for the duration of the game. Indeed I think we started that season off with 3 or 4 straight wins and it really did help get me through that otherwise sad period in my life.

So the Rocket era well and truly put the potential for success out there as a possibility and gave me renewed hope. 3 Prelim losses later, and I was a bit more jaded and I have to admit, as my son was born in 2013,I really considered that it I just may be that I don’t get to see a Bulldogs victory in my lifetime.

So what does a Premiership mean to me? How has it changed me?

So all summer I’ve been reading other Woofer’s put in word here what this means to them. and I have seen endless replays of the final’s campaign. I’ve found it very hard to put into words.

For most of my life supporting the Dogs has meant finding joy in the moment, in a player, without really holding hope for ultimate team success. It’s meant celebrating Brownlow medal wins, player milestones, and finding significance and joy in specific home and away wins without ever really considering a Grand Final victory may actually lay in wait somewhere further down the road.

That’s changed. It really is possible. It has happened. It might even happen again.

Well when we won.. I was almost numb…my wife, son and I embraced.

My 80 year old, Mum who I’ve been somewhat estranged from for the past 3 years, rang me within 30 seconds of the final siren. She knew more than anyone how much that game would mean to me. That phone call set in motion an avenue for further dialogue that has enabled me to accept her back into my life and allow her to play a part in her grandchildren’s life.

I looked out my window last mid October, watching my almost 4 year old son Joshua running around in the backyard kicking his footy…and I felt nostalgic. It brought back memories of a young me doing similar in Maryborough. And then something else happened…

My son stop kicking his footy.. he held his arms aloft and started cheering…. He then pretended he was at a microphone and he pulls this Bulldog member lanyard from out of his pocket.. puts it around his neck …puts his arms in the air and yells out ‘WE DID IT..WOO HOO!!” He was re-enacting JJ’s Norm Smith presentation words.

He then started ad libbing Luke Beveridge’s speech, finishing with something about ‘Get up here Bobby Murphy.
And then I lost my collective sh1t. I had to sit down and compose myself. I realised, he is not going to go to school with people giving him crap about the Dogs being useless, irrelevant. He will have memory of the Dog’s winning the Grand Final. It will form, albeit increasingly vague given he’s so young, a basis of his memory for ever.

I’ll get to take Joshua to his first game this year when the Dog’s come to play the Lions up here in August. Maybe one day that’s going to be an important memory for him and be another Bulldog imbued memory when he gets old and nostalgic one day.
The fact that he saw the Dogs win a premiership at the start of his life sets his journey apart from mine, and I’m so grateful for that.

I often see my boy out in the yard, still re-enacting the grand final, calling out Bontempelli, Stringer, Picken…as he kicks the ball around the yard.

The Bulldogs have coloured my life in so many ways, and I am so grateful that my son appears to be embracing the Dogs as an important part of his life as he only just starts his way through life.

[craigsahibee]

How about as a first goal for the year we set ourselves the task of finishing on top (minor premiers) for the home and away season, off the top of my head I don't believe we have ever achieved this before, then start the march to the G for another flag.

That's exactly how I want this season to pan out. I want to finish the H&A rounds as the best team over 22 Rounds and then dominate September again.

I want us to be feared by everyone.

[Murphy'sLore]

Thank you so much YHF for that long self-indulgent rambling post! Tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Beautiful.

[bornadog]

Thank you so much YHF for that long self-indulgent rambling post! Tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Beautiful.

Ditto..........................great post.

[aker39]

Well when we won.. I was almost numb…my wife, son and I embraced.

My 80 year old, Mum who I’ve been somewhat estranged from for the past 3 years, rang me within 30 seconds of the final siren. She knew more than anyone how much that game would mean to me. That phone call set in motion an avenue for further dialogue that has enabled me to accept her back into my life and allow her to play a part in her grandchildren’s life.

That makes the win all the more special.

I really enjoyed reading your story.

[Twodogs]

I lost my shit too at "get up here Bobby Murphy"

And what a great idea. My members lanyard is my own personal premiership medal too now. Thanks Joshua! :cool:

[Ozza]

Great post YHF.....I also have a young son called Joshua who runs around commentating the Bontempelli's and Johannisen's etc !

[josie]

YHF - One of the best posts I have ever read. Just wiping a tear from my eye. By the by, I grew up in Noble Park and attended Southvale Primary in Athol Rd from '69 to '75. I must have purchased 5c mixed lollies from your Dad's milk bar (back then 5c bought a fair few licorice squares, eucalyptus diamonds, sherbet bombs and musk sticks, or a wiz fizz or two).

For me, albeit only following dogs for 20 years (was not really into footy before that and never a member of any other club), I just feel this warm fuzzy, endorphin laden contentment, plus I break out in a smile whenever I think of our finals campaign. It's like a heavy load of expectation has been lifted. I find myself in traffic jams, long shop queues etc. saying "oh well, we won the Granny" and the delays seem trivial. Hope this feeling lasts a long time or even better we have a double or triple dose in the next few years - a great antidote to life's little frustrations.

[merantau]

Absolute great post. You really nailed what makes being. a Bulldog supporter so special. And it's stories such as yours that really illustrate the magnitude of our 2016 Premiership win. Epic beyond measure. Beautiful to read about your young boy re-enacting great Grand Final moments. The thing that sustained me throughout my childhood was Ted Whitten. We may not have had much success, but we had Ted and the others didn't. Ted walked the football stage like a Collosus. He was the biggest personality in the game and having him play for us was something that all other supporters wete envious of.

[KT31]

What a wonderful post YHF.

[Daughter of the West]

Thank you so much YHF for that long self-indulgent rambling post! Tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Beautiful.

Ditto to the tears and lump YHF, thank you.

[LostDoggy]

Fantastic and emotionally charged post YHF.
Thanks for posting.
LG-Lifes Good :D

[Eastdog]

Who would of thought I'm sitting right now at home about to watch the best game ever the 2016 Grand Final!!

[LostDoggy]

Who would of thought I'm sitting right now at home about to watch the best game ever the 2016 Grand Final!!

What Channel Easty?

[Eastdog]

What Channel Easty?

My DVD :)

[Twodogs]

EastySport

[Eastdog]

EastySport

You could say that :)

[Chicago1]

After enduring losing for 39 years, I will be pretty, pretty arrogant at my first match when I get back. Hopefully it will be against Norf. I've been practising double arrogance since the Cubs victory in Nov. I've never had this feeling before. It's kinda nice.:D

[BornInDroopSt'54]

After enduring losing for 39 years, I will be pretty, pretty arrogant at my first match when I get back. Hopefully it will be against Norf. I've been practising double arrogance since the Cubs victory in Nov. I've never had this feeling before. It's kinda nice.:D

After 39 years of not winning it, arrogance is a luxury you deserve to try on for size. Inner assurance is what I indulge in. I don't prepare a face for other supporters but I will enjoy the lack of arrogance from other clubs.
The Cubs and the Dogs couldn't have done it without you.
The city will welcome you back.

[Twodogs]

After enduring losing for 39 years, I will be pretty, pretty arrogant at my first match when I get back. Hopefully it will be against Norf. I've been practising double arrogance since the Cubs victory in Nov. I've never had this feeling before. It's kinda nice.:D


Have you been practising your strutting? We get to strut around like we own the place a lot more than we used to.