Who was there? - Round 21, 1997, Whitten Oval, Saturday August 23, Western Bulldogs vs West Coast Eagles

[Dry Rot]

Whitten Oval's last hurrah https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/1176736/whitten-oval-s-last-hurrah

Sounds a good game and an amazing day. Michael Gardiner would remember it.

Who was there? What was it like?

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

After the game I picked some grass from the Doug Hawkins wing it’s still in my fridge to this day

[jeemak]

I was in the pocket where they went Gardner at the start of the game. It was clear as day they were going to go and rough him up and it got the crowd going. Dent copped a decent punch to the face.

I couldn't get over the size of the Eagles players, looked like genuine steroid abusers (McIntosh in particular).

[WBFC4FFC]

I was in the pocket where they went Gardner at the start of the game. It was clear as day they were going to go and rough him up and it got the crowd going. Dent copped a decent punch to the face.

I couldn't get over the size of the Eagles players, looked like genuine steroid abusers (McIntosh in particular).

Was there right at the bark in the pocket, between the EJ Whitten Stand and the Barkly St Entrance. There with my youngest brother and good mate.

Was hoping the crowd got fired-up to take down the Goal and point posts but then who was going to souvenir them? I lived 800 metres away and was thinking I could walk home one!

[bornadog]

Missed it, as I was working in Asia in the 90s

[Swoop]

I was there. Stood behind the goals in the pouring rain and watched the boys head straight towards Gardiner.

I loved that 97-98 team.

[Grantysghost]

I missed it was playing back in those days.

Spewing!

[Happy Days]

I was there. It was the second game I ever went to. Can’t really remember anything except that it was freezing and that we stood on those stair things in the right forward pocket at the Geelong Rd end.

I had a really sweet t-shirt from that day that read “Dog’s vs Eagle’s” and the date of the game on the front that I wore until it all but disintegrated a couple of years ago.

[jeemak]

I was there. It was the second game I ever went to. Can’t really remember anything except that it was freezing and that we stood on those stair things in the right forward pocket at the Geelong Rd end.

I had a really sweet t-shirt from that day that read “Dog’s vs Eagle’s” and the date of the game on the front that I wore until it all but disintegrated a couple of years ago.

They're called mad *!*!*!*! stages.

[merantau]

I was there. Drove down from Bendigo via Daylesford. It was snowing at Leonards Hill.
Freezing day. Rain and wind. Heavy ground. Exciting opening. Steve Kretiuk led rhe welcoming committee along with Craig Ellis abd Daniel Southern. It was "Shock and Awe' and the perfect way to set the agenda for a fine wiñ. Cousins kicked the last goal - pity that.

The drive home was good.

[ReLoad]

Had a great day there down the Geelong road end. Was sad but also an awesome day.

The crowd was in fine form!

[merantau]

I would love to see us playing at the Whitten Oval again. I prefer my football standing up!

[Grantysghost]

I was there. Drove down from Bendigo via Daylesford. It was snowing at Leonards Hill.
Freezing day. Rain and wind. Heavy ground. Exciting opening. Steve Kretiuk led rhe welcoming committee along with Craig Ellis abd Daniel Southern. It was "Shock and Awe' and the perfect way to set the agenda for a fine wiñ. Cousins kicked the last goal - pity that.

The drive home was good.

Matthew Dent from memory too. That was a hard team.

[merantau]

Matthew Dent from memory too. That was a hard team.

Yes, he was a tough nut. Could give a good account of himself, as they say.

[GVGjr]

I was there. Drove down from Bendigo via Daylesford. It was snowing at Leonards Hill.
Freezing day. Rain and wind. Heavy ground. Exciting opening. Steve Kretiuk led rhe welcoming committee along with Craig Ellis abd Daniel Southern. It was "Shock and Awe' and the perfect way to set the agenda for a fine wiñ. Cousins kicked the last goal - pity that.

The drive home was good.

Gardiner acquitted himself well in the push and shove. It was impressive the way he handled himself.
I try and watch this game each year. We had some very talented players.

[chef]

I missed it as I was working in Windsor. Remember being pissed off, but weekends were hard to get off in those days.

My last Whitten Oval game was the Freo one from the season before, had a good win and it was *!*!*!*!ing cold. The good old days.

[Smads57]

I went with a work colleague and he wanted to stand on the outer wing near the elevated coaches box - it was the only time I watched a Bulldogs game from the outer side of ground. Remember it being wet and cold - what else could you expect at the
Western Oval in winter!

[Sedat]

I missed it as I was working in Windsor. Remember being pissed off, but weekends were hard to get off in those days.

My last Whitten Oval game was the Freo one from the season before, had a good win and it was *!*!*!*!ing cold. The good old days.
Was that the game where Ben Allan had a shot to win after the siren from 55m out as a direct result of an errant Peter Quill kick inboard at D50, when the whole crowd were screaming at him to kick it long to the Doug Hawkins wing boundary?

I don't remember it at all......

[chef]

Was that the game where Ben Allan had a shot to win after the siren from 55m out as a direct result of an errant Peter Quill kick inboard at D50, when the whole crowd were screaming at him to kick it long to the Doug Hawkins wing boundary?

I don't remember it at all......

Nah, not that one. We won by 3 or 4 goals and Daniel Hargraves kicked 5(and looked like he was going to be a star).

[Bulldog Revolution]

Yep I was there, belted with rain in the lead up to the game, conditions atrocious, crowd huge and whitten was overflowing, looked everywhere in surrounding streets for a park, couldnt find one, was receiving a lot of commentary on where I should park from family members in the car, which was greatly appreciated as you might imagine.

Ended up parking illegally right next to where the players now enter the training facility from the car park - did not get a fine which was a good result.

What a great side we fielded that day - incredible talent across every line - amazing energy in the air at the ground. Our supporters were in a ruthless mood. The eagles may not have appreciated what they were walking into, a rabid bulldog side in front of a huge and passionate record crowd baying for Eagles blood. We'd never loved them, they stole our coach, we'd had the melee over the Steve Wallis hip and shoulder, Southern the scapegoat suspended, and we just never have particularly liked West Coast. They are everything we arent - entitled, old money, privilege and power.

[Bulldog4life]

1 was there too. Standing close to the player's race. Drenched. But that was the norm in those days. Men didn't use umbrellas at the footy. Especially if you were a tough doggie supporter. Saw so many die-hards there that day. I will always remember it. Great game.

[EasternWest]

Yep I was there, belted with rain in the lead up to the game, conditions atrocious, crowd huge and whitten was overflowing, looked everywhere in surrounding streets for a park, couldnt find one, was receiving a lot of commentary on where I should park from family members in the car, which was greatly appreciated as you might imagine.

Ended up parking illegally right next to where the players now enter the training facility from the car park - did not get a fine which was a good result.

What a great side we fielded that day - incredible talent across every line - amazing energy in the air at the ground. Our supporters were in a ruthless mood. The eagles may not have appreciated what they were walking into, a rabid bulldog side in front of a huge and passionate record crowd baying for Eagles blood. We'd never loved them, they stole our coach, we'd had the melee over the Steve Wallis hip and shoulder, Southern the scapegoat suspended, and we just never have particularly liked West Coast. They are everything we arent - entitled, old money, privilege and power.

I wanna go into battle now.

[angelopetraglia]

I was there. Standing on the Doug Hawkins Wing. Great memories of the Western Oval/Whitten Oval.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Nah, not that one. We won by 3 or 4 goals and Daniel Hargraves kicked 5(and looked like he was going to be a star).

Man, he could kick like a mule.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

1 was there too. Standing close to the player's race. Drenched. But that was the norm in those days. Men didn't use umbrellas at the footy. Especially if you were a tough doggie supporter. Saw so many die-hards there that day. I will always remember it. Great game.

Standing beside the player's race! My favourite place to watch.

[SonofScray]

Haunts me to this day.

I wasn't there. I was in Bonnie Doon on my u/12s end of season footy trip.

I just assumed the "act time" at the Whitten Oval would be like a John Farnham. "Last Time" so didn't tell my folks that I really wanted to go to that instead.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

It was one of our 'Cultural Days'!

The only time i've been to a coterie group function. I won tickets to the past players hosted by Alan Mannix.
Anyway we were oblivious to the weather until we walked out 20 minutes before the game. There in the pouring rain was an islander group bare chested dancing on the oval!

We scurried up into the front row of the Whitten stand.

I know it's a cliche but there was no way known we were going to lose that day. The energy and emotion was terrific. What a season that was after the gloominess of the previous seasons. Plough brought a toughness and innovativeness.

[Bulldog4life]

It was one of our 'Cultural Days'!

The only time i've been to a coterie group function. I won tickets to the past players hosted by Alan Mannix.
Anyway we were oblivious to the weather until we walked out 20 minutes before the game. There in the pouring rain was an islander group bare chested dancing on the oval!

We scurried up into the front row of the Whitten stand.

I know it's a cliche but there was no way known we were going to lose that day. The energy and emotion was terrific. What a season that was after the gloominess of the previous seasons. Plough brought a toughness and innovativeness.

Lives in Flinders these days.

[Eastdog]

I would love to see us playing at the Whitten Oval again. I prefer my football standing up!

We just may in the future. Would be cool to play 1 home game there each season.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I was there. Standing on the gravel hill at the Geelong road end drinking VB cans from the bar in the rain. It was a bittersweet day, as I knew this precious slice of our western suburbs football ritual was going to be gone forever. But at least we won. My then girlfriend, now wife, has some super 8 film from the day. She's trying to find it now. Nothing could make me happier than to see the Western Oval become the 3rd Melbourne AFL stadium. I would KILL to have a home ground like Geelong has, and in a crazy way, well.....not actually crazy way at all.... we are probably the only Melbourne team that could actually do it. It's the only one that makes sense geographically and public transport wise. with enough land around it, small enough* supporter base, and access from the CBD. I guess it's never gonna happen. But I'm hoping.....At grass roots level however some things never change. Watched my boy play for Flemington v West Footscray today. was such a great game and both teams play finals next week against each other. I remember playing senior football for St. Albans as a 19 year old in the centre square against West Footscray. Robbie McGhie was their ruckman and captain. Yes, THE Robbie Mcghie. Holy shit. Today's game was a little 'friendlier'.
*for now

[Twodogs]

One of my strangest ever games. I ran into one of my cousins before the game. He said he'd bought a couple of joints with him and we should go for a toke
Anyway it was wet so we had to find a dry spot that was out of the way. We asked one of the caterers if we could quickly use the back of a catering truck. The deal was he'd have a quick puff and then get out and shut the rear door of the van until we banged on the door to let us out. Long story short he saw a policeman walking towards him and got an attack of paranoia (it was my cuz's primo homegrown gear) so he ran away leaving us locked in the van. The police officer heard us banging on the back door and opened it himself. We were lucky enough to be able to talk our way out of the "funny smell" that hit him when he opened the back of the van but while we were doing it we missed the start of the game.

Luckily enough the fight didn't start until we had staggered back to our spot in the crowd.

[EasternWest]

Love a TD tale.

[jeemak]

We just may in the future. Would be cool to play 1 home game there each season.

I know I used to get stuck into you for banging on about playing more games at the G Eastmiester, but this is something I can get behind!