Who will be our leading goal kicker in 2023?

[Go_Dogs]

We've got a lot of potential in our forward half this coming season, and I suppose an expectation the goal scoring load may be shared more equally across the board.

So, who do you think ends up our leading goal kicker and what gives them the edge (or makes them the teams preferred avenue) to topping the leader board?



I'm going to nominate Lobb. I think he's got a different look (lead and mark) that will mean he's less reliant on big pack busting and we know he's got a long range and likes Marvel on my limited viewing of him there.

I'd pick Naughton and Cody to round out the top 3.

[azabob]

I’m going to nominate Lobb. I think he’s got a different look (lead and mark) that will mean he’s less reliant on big pack busting and we know he’s got a long range and likes Marvel on my limited viewing of him there.

I’d pick Naughton and Cody to round out the top 3.

You best cast your vote then ;)

Now you mention it you are spot on, we currently don't have the lead and mark type player on our list.

Lobb will be a great point of difference.

I went with Naughton purely because he typically has 100 shots on goal a year and I'm confident he will kick more goals than he misses.

[Go_Dogs]

Thanks Aza.

Naughton leading the charge. He’s definitely still our big kahuna in the forward line, and should also benefit from Lobb playing and Marra’s improvement. This forward line is scary…

[The Doctor]

I went with Jamarra.

[mjp]

I went with Jamarra.

I'm fascinated as to why??

[Go_Dogs]

I'm fascinated as to why??

Agreed. I think he’ll improve and his finishing is solid, but would be MASSIVE if he scores more than Naughts and Lobb.

[The Doctor]

I'm fascinated as to why??

I've probably jumped the gun but I've always been a sucker for exciting young forwards. Naughton or Flea probably the favourites.

I feel there is a great opportunity for him this year. His encouraging natural development combined with Lobb & Naughton likely to get the best defenders opens up opportunity for him. He's a natural goal kicker, looks more settled in the senior team and hopefully more confident. I loved his game v Melbourne last year where he took the game by the scruff. He kicked a bag that day and think we will see a few more of these games. The talk of Naughton playing a little further upfield at CHF and Weightman spending time midfield might also open up chances for him to hit the scoreboard.

He's a smokey but if there were odds over 10-1 I'd lay a fiver on it.

[1eyedog]

Went Cody he can kick goals quickly and is accurate. Needs to play HIS role though. This is easily the best forward line we've ever had.

[The Doctor]

This is easily the best forward line we've ever had.

Pieman, Lally, Super, Jock, Budgie with Choco chipping in was pretty handy in 85.

Still think we are short a good ground level small forward

[Jeanette54]

I went with Jamarra.

I agree, for wo reasons.

One is that he will (initially) get the third best tall defender, the best two going to Naughts and Lobb. The other reason is that he doesn't waste his set shots on goal. The opposition just can't afford to let him get his hands on the ball too often.

Also, he is a beautiful, conventional leading forward when he chooses. And will only improve overhead with experience and as his frame matures.

Don't get me wrong, I love Astro Naught with his exciting attack on the ball, which always make me fear for his safety. And if the team ever learn to deliver the ball to Cody's advantage, he should continue to regularly trouble the scorers.

[mjp]

I agree, for wo reasons.

One is that he will (initially) get the third best tall defender, the best two going to Naughts and Lobb. The other reason is that he doesn't waste his set shots on goal. The opposition just can't afford to let him get his hands on the ball too often.



You know he kicked 18.16 last year right?

And Naughton kicked 51.34?

I'm not trying to attack J54 or Doc or anyone else who thinks Jamarra will top the goal-kicking, but there seems to be a narrative out there that Jamarra is a great shot for goal and Naughts is a terrible shot for goal but in 2022 that simply wasn't the case...Naughts was a lot more accurate with more the double the number of shots on goal.

Lobb kicked 36.24 fwiw.

[Happy Days]

You know he kicked 18.16 last year right?

And Naughton kicked 51.34?

I'm not trying to attack J54 or Doc or anyone else who thinks Jamarra will top the goal-kicking, but there seems to be a narrative out there that Jamarra is a great shot for goal and Naughts is a terrible shot for goal but in 2022 that simply wasn't the case...Naughts was a lot more accurate with more the double the number of shots on goal.

Lobb kicked 36.24 fwiw.

Marra’s action is beautiful and he flushes balls when he kicks them right, but I do wonder if the hoisting style he uses leaves a little too much room for error. As you said it’s kinda borne out in the results.

Although I also conversely believe that for whatever reason it takes young forwards a few seasons to deal with the nerves of having a set shot in the AFL. So maybe it’s nothing.

It is excellent that Naughton has become so reliable in any event.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Marra’s action is beautiful and he flushes balls when he kicks them right, but I do wonder if the hoisting style he uses leaves a little too much room for error. As you said it’s kinda borne out in the results.

Although I also conversely believe that for whatever reason it takes young forwards a few seasons to deal with the nerves of having a set shot in the AFL. So maybe it’s nothing.

It is excellent that Naughton has become so reliable in any event.
Buddy used to bomb long ones and miss close ones with his long levers and booming kick too.

[Axe Man]

You know he kicked 18.16 last year right?

And Naughton kicked 51.34?

I'm not trying to attack J54 or Doc or anyone else who thinks Jamarra will top the goal-kicking, but there seems to be a narrative out there that Jamarra is a great shot for goal and Naughts is a terrible shot for goal but in 2022 that simply wasn't the case...Naughts was a lot more accurate with more the double the number of shots on goal.

Lobb kicked 36.24 fwiw.

Taking into account total shots at goal our main forwards ran like this last season:

Naughton 51.34 from 97 shots @ 53%
Weighman 36.10 from 57 shots @ 63%
Jamarra 18.16 from 46 shots @ 39%
Lobb 36.24 from 74 shots @ 49%

Of course that doesn't break down set shots vs in play or the difficulty of the shots, but it does paint a picture.

As I have said before the idea that Naughton is a poor set shot these days is a fallacy. His figures are fairly standard for most key forwards in the league. Weightman we know is a fantastic set shot, Lobb maybe not quite as good as we thought but perhaps playing more games on his favourite ground in Marvel will help. Jamarra looks good kicking at goal but the reality is he has plenty of work to do to improve his accuracy. 11 fewer shots than Flea for 18 fewer goals, needs to make more of his chances.

[Bulldog Joe]

Taking into account total shots at goal our main forwards ran like this last season:

Naughton 51.34 from 97 shots @ 53%
Weighman 36.10 from 57 shots @ 63%
Jamarra 18.16 from 46 shots @ 39%
Lobb 36.24 from 74 shots @ 49%

Of course that doesn't break down set shots vs in play or the difficulty of the shots, but it does paint a picture.

As I have said before the idea that Naughton is a poor set shot these days is a fallacy. His figures are fairly standard for most key forwards in the league. Weightman we know is a fantastic set shot, Lobb maybe not quite as good as we thought but perhaps playing more games on his favourite ground in Marvel will help. Jamarra looks good kicking at goal but the reality is he has plenty of work to do to improve his accuracy. 11 fewer shots than Flea for 18 fewer goals, needs to make more of his chances.

The impression of Naughton as a poor shot comes from the amount of misses "my mother could have kicked".

He is actually quite good from the 35 to 50 range but blows plenty from inside 20. There needs to be stats for that.

If there are stats for posters I would expect Naughts to be a world record contender. He seems to hit the post a LOT and multiple times some games.

[MrMahatma]

Taking into account total shots at goal our main forwards ran like this last season:

Naughton 51.34 from 97 shots @ 53%
Weighman 36.10 from 57 shots @ 63%
Jamarra 18.16 from 46 shots @ 39%
Lobb 36.24 from 74 shots @ 49%

Of course that doesn't break down set shots vs in play or the difficulty of the shots, but it does paint a picture.

As I have said before the idea that Naughton is a poor set shot these days is a fallacy. His figures are fairly standard for most key forwards in the league. Weightman we know is a fantastic set shot, Lobb maybe not quite as good as we thought but perhaps playing more games on his favourite ground in Marvel will help. Jamarra looks good kicking at goal but the reality is he has plenty of work to do to improve his accuracy. 11 fewer shots than Flea for 18 fewer goals, needs to make more of his chances.

Does
Total Shots = Goals + Behinds + OOB + Short?

[Axe Man]

Does
Total Shots = Goals + Behinds + OOB + Short?

I would assume so. Anything where it appears the player was attempting to kick a goal is my guess.

There may be some grey area occasionally with kicks that fall short, I suppose those are up to the interpretation of the stats person.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

I went with Lobb purely as I think Naughton and JUH will play high and deliver into F50 a lot more than previous years. Also Lobb will not miss many shot at Goal

[Grantysghost]

I went Naughton. He’s still finding his feet really as a forward and is only going to get better.

We are really going to stretch defences in the air with Lobb now so I can see Naughty getting more ground balls/snaps too.

[Mofra]

Lobb.
We rarely have a leading goalkicker two years in a row, and I suspect Naughton plays a little higher up the ground at times.
Lobb will likely play closest to goal

[GVGjr]

Lobb.
We rarely have a leading goalkicker two years in a row, and I suspect Naughton plays a little higher up the ground at times.
Lobb will likely play closest to goal

Good point. Lobb plays closer to goal and probably gets the 2nd best defender. Given he probably got the best defender when playing at Fremantle that could be a good outcome plus a few more games at the pristine Marvel stadium might help as well.
Marra should hit the scoreboard more this year as well so perhaps a great spread across 4 or 5 players.

[Mofra]

Good point. Lobb plays closer to goal and probably gets the 2nd best defender. Given he probably got the best defender when playing at Fremantle that could be a good outcome plus a few more games at the pristine Marvel stadium might help as well.
Marra should hit the scoreboard more this year as well so perhaps a great spread across 4 or 5 players.
Marra just needs to concentrate on contributing and playing 22 games + finals - IF he can

[GVGjr]

Marra just needs to concentrate on contributing and playing 22 games + finals - IF he can

Got some concerns with him Mof?

[The Doctor]

Leading goal kickers after 3 rounds

6 Jamarra (5)
4 Naughton (1)
3. Baker (1)
2. Lobb (2) Williams (1)
1. Bont, English, Garcia, JJ, Libba, Macrae, Treloar.

We need a name for the WOOF goal kicking award. I propose 'The Busta Beaser' award. I saw it on a sign held up by the cheer squad when Beasley was strutting his stuff.

[Sedat]

We need a name for the WOOF goal kicking award. I propose 'The Busta Beaser' award. I saw it on a sign held up by the cheer squad when Beasley was strutting his stuff.
No love for previous club goalkicking winners like Billy Gowers, Sam Lloyd, Mitch Wallis, Jason Watts, Adrian Campbell, Shane Loveless, Brucey, Crammers, everyone's favourite Bulldog Aker, or even the much maligned Gia? What about Huddo, Loaf, Ozzy, or even sooky Jade? Shame that poor Cooky didn't quite scale the lofty heights - he would have been a worthy addition. To call our club leading goalkickers a motley bunch doesn't do it justice.

For mine there is only one clear name for this award - the Dead-Eye Del-Re

[Grantysghost]

No love for previous club goalkicking winners like Billy Gowers, Sam Lloyd, Mitch Wallis, Jason Watts, Adrian Campbell, Shane Loveless, Brucey, Crammers, everyone's favourite Bulldog Aker, or even the much maligned Gia? What about Huddo, Loaf, Ozzy, or even sooky Jade? Shame that poor Cooky didn't quite scale the lofty heights - he would have been a worthy addition. To call our club leading goalkickers a motley bunch doesn't do it justice.

For mine there is only one clear name for this award - the Dead-Eye Del-Re

The Gowers' Goblet

[D Mitchell]

Don't discount that Bev might come to his senses, return Bruce to the goalsquare and that he'll regain his 2021 form.

[Happy Days]

No love for previous club goalkicking winners like Billy Gowers, Sam Lloyd, Mitch Wallis, Jason Watts, Adrian Campbell, Shane Loveless, Brucey, Crammers, everyone's favourite Bulldog Aker, or even the much maligned Gia? What about Huddo, Loaf, Ozzy, or even sooky Jade? Shame that poor Cooky didn't quite scale the lofty heights - he would have been a worthy addition. To call our club leading goalkickers a motley bunch doesn't do it justice.

For mine there is only one clear name for this award - the Dead-Eye Del-Re

Even Jake “Jakey “The Package” “Jakey Boy” “Jakey”” Stringer kinda turned out to be a joke as well.

With the obvious exception of Aaronathan Brown, has anyone who’s been good and stayed good ever won our goal kicking?

[Sedat]

Even Jake “Jakey “The Package” “Jakey Boy” “Jakey”” Stringer kinda turned out to be a joke as well.
Or "Jesse", as Derm used to call him :rolleyes:

My mind is blown that he won our goalkicking award more often than Chris Grant.

[GVGjr]

Don't discount that Bev might come to his senses, return Bruce to the goalsquare and that he'll regain his 2021 form.

I think that is a long shot at the moment. They seem pretty happy with Bruce in the back line.

[D Mitchell]

I think that is a long shot at the moment. They seem pretty happy with Bruce in the back line.
Long shots come off.
Dave Darcy to half back
"Bottles" Greenwood to Full back
Libber (snr) to tagger
Chris Grant to half back
Tom Boyd to ruck
J Christ to...Ah, it's Easter.

Bruce back to the Goal Square.

[The Doctor]

Even Jake ?Jakey ?The Package? ?Jakey Boy? ?Jakey?? Stringer kinda turned out to be a joke as well.

With the obvious exception of Aaronathan Brown, has anyone who?s been good and stayed good ever won our goal kicking?

Or Jesse Stringer

[SquirrelGrip]

Merv Hobbs & George Bisset jointly won our goalkicking in 1963 ..... with 16 goals apiece!

I propose the Woof leading goalkicker award is the Hobbs-Bisset Medal.

[Axe Man]

Merv Hobbs & George Bisset jointly won our goalkicking in 1963 ..... with 16 goals apiece!

I propose the Woof leading goalkicker award is the Hobbs-Bisset Medal.

Looking at the list I never realised Charlie Sutton won the goal kicking (jointly) in 1951.

[The Doctor]

Thanks to everyone who suggested a goalkicking great in which to name the Woof goalkicking award. So I've decided for now to stick with the 'Busta Beaser' award in honour of Simon Beasley. However I thought we could honour our goalkicking greats by creating a weekly award in their honour to whoever kicks the most goals each round.

So this week the Round 4 goalkicking award has been named in honour of our 2022 leading goalkicker Aaron Naughton. Did you know that Naughton has now kicked more goals for the Bulldogs than Simon Minton Connell and James Cook combined?

Goalkickers in Round 4 vs Richmond

Naughton 3, Liberatore 2, English 2, Lobb, Daniel, Macrae, Hannan, McComb

Therefore the Aaron Naughton goalkicking award for Round 4 goes to Aaron Naughton!


Leaderboard after round 4

7. Naughton
6. Jamarra
3. Baker, Libba, English, Lobb
2. Williams, Macrae
1. Bont, Garcia, JJ, Treloar, Daniel, Hannan, McComb

Naughton moves to the lead ahead of Jamarra who left his kicking boots at Marvel Stadium last week. Early Sutton medal favourites Libba & English are making their moves and join Lobb and Baker in equal 3rd. Watch out for dark horse Jack Macrae! Daniel, Hannan & McComb make their debuts on the leaderboard.

I have to say I find this leaderboard so much more interesting than the US Masters leaderboard.

[Go_Dogs]

Love it. Thanks Doc!

[The Doctor]

The Round 5 goal kicking award honours the great Jason Watts who was our leading goal kicker in 1996.

Watts, if my memory serves me correctly came through the U/19's and made the senior list but was delisted in 1991 without playing a game. He spend the next 2 years with Werribee where he won the 1993 B&F in their premiership year. He was drafted back to us in the 1994 pre season draft (see below) as a mature age mid sized defender. It was a surprise to see him line up in the forward line in 1996. He did a great job in a tough season for the Dogs. he finished with 44 goals for the season. Now what odds would you have got for our top 3 goal kickers in 1996? You could have made a motza;

44 Jason Watts
36 Daniel Hargraves
22 Todd Curley


Goalkickers for Round 5 vs Port Adelaide

Weightman 4, Bont 1, Hannan 1, Naughton 1, English 1

The Jason Watts medal goes to Cody Weightman


Leaderboard after Round 5

8. Naughton
6. Jamarra
4. English, Weightman
3. Baker, Lobb, Libba
2. Williams, Macrae, Bont, Hannan
1. Garcia, JJ, Treloar, Daniel, McComb

Naughton extends his lead to 2 goals. This could be an unassailable lead given the paucity of our goalscoring this season. Flea makes a statement and moves straight into equal 3rd after his first game for 2023. He clearly wants to win this award. Bont responds to the challenge issued by Jack Macrae and draws level with him. What a battle this could be?

---------

Jason Watts was taken with selection 12 in the 1993 preseason draft. It was quite a notable draft with 39 players chosen. From a Bulldogs perspective it was notable for the following players moving one way or the other. With pick 27 we chose our 1996 goal kicking runner up Daniel Hargraves. So a good draft for us. Going the other way were Matthew Mansfield to Fitzroy, Jon Ballantyne to Collingwood, Peter Filandia (runner during Rocket era) to Sydney.

Other notable players selected were Dermott Brereton, Andrew Bews, Craig Lambert, Dean Rice, Brad Pearce, Derek Kickett & several others who played regular AFL football. It also featured notable administrators Simon Lethlean (Hawks) & Cain Liddle (Cats)

Did you know Jason Watts was born in Los Angeles?

[The Doctor]

The Round 6 goal kicking award honours the legendary Alan Rait our leading goal kicker in 1933 with 59 goals from 15 games. He kicked 10 goals v Carlton that season which alone deserves a medal named in his honour.

Alan Rait was recruited from the mighty North Hobart Demons after he kicked 10 goals in the 1932 Grand Final. Rait was considered the greatest full forward in Tasmania until Peter Hudson came along. Rait held the TFL goal kicking record for most goals in a season when he kicked 152 in 1930. Hudson broke that record in 1976 and I saw him kick 13 of those goals in 3 quarters against North Hobart that year (flog). I also saw most of the others. Goes to show how good Rait must have been. His career with the Bulldogs was cut short by injury. He returned to North Hobart and became captain coach only to narrowly lose the 1935 grand final to Newtown who were coached by former North Hobart premiership coach Roy Cazaly (bloody traitor). He resisted the opportunity to return to the VFL when approached by Footscray to make a comeback and also to Essendon. Dodoro was probably in his early list management days back then.

Goalkickers for Round 6 vs Fremantle

Williams 3, Naughton 3, Treloar 2, Bontempelli 2, Daniel, English, Liberatore, Lobb, McNeil, Scott, Weightman


The Alan Rait medal is shared by Bailey Williams & Aaron Naughton


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 6

11. Naughton
6. Jamarra
5. Williams, English, Weightman
4. Bont, Lobb, Libba
3. Baker, Treloar
2. Macrae, Hannan, Daniel
1. Garcia, JJ, McComb, McNeil, Scott

Astro Naughton makes a break from the chasing pack. Leading the peloton is Jamarra who needs to find his kicking boots. He has kicked 6.11 so far this season compared to Naughton's 11.6. Perhaps Bailey Williams with 3.0 has Jamarra's kicking boots. He is the big mover this week and finds himself in equal 3rd. The battle among the midfielders is intensifying with Bont & Treloar making a charge. Poor Jack Macrae is in danger of being left behind after his early season dominance. We welcome to the leaderboard McNeil & Scott.

Did you know Alain Rait and I share something in common? We were both born in Hobart and raised on the Glebe!

[The Doctor]

The Round 7 goal kicking award honours our former captain and 70's legend Laurie Sandilands who lead the goal kicking in 4 successive years from 1972-75. His best year was in 74 when he booted 50 majors.

Sandilands was a local lad hailing from West Footscray. He came through the Bulldogs U/19's and made his debut in R12 1966. Sandilands had a great year in 74. Against the powerhouses of the VFL at the time he played some of his best games. Against eventual premier Richmond he kicked 5, against runner up Lol Norf he kicked 7 and against preliminary finalist the Dawks he kicked 6 that year. He also led us out of finals wilderness when we made the finals for the first time since 1961. One stat I particularly enjoyed was when he kicked 9 goals straight against Geelong in 73. I hated Geelong even back then.

Goalkickers for Round 7 v Hawthorn

Naughton 4, Lobb 2, Ugle-Hagan 2, Daniel, English, Johannisen, Jones, Scott, Williams


The Laurie Sandilands medal goes to Aaron Naughton


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 7

15. Naughton
8. Jamarra
6. Lobb, English, Williams
5. Weightman
4. Bont, Libba
3. Baker, Treloar, Daniel
2. Macrae, Hannan, JJ, Scott
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Arty

Astro is galloping away with it at the moment. The bleach blonde Lobb makes his move into 3rd spot going toe to toe with fellow blonde bombshell English and Williams, who if he dyed his hair blonde would definitely kick a lot more goals. We welcome Arty Jones to the leaderboard after his first major of his career. Hopefully many more to come from Arty.

Did you know that Sandilands succeeded an eventual Brownlow medallist in Bernie Quinlan as leading goalkicker and was succeeded himself by another eventual Brownlow medallist in Kelvin Templeton?

[Dogs 24/7]

I look forward to this thread each week Doc. Waiting for Cody to make his move :)

[Jeanette54]

I look forward to this thread each week Doc. Waiting for Cody to make his move :)

Speaking of Cody, I don't think I have seen anyone work so hard for no scoreboard reward than he did against Hawthorn. If endeavour is the basis of scoring it won't be long before he starts getting his fair share of goals again.

[bornadog]

Shot at goal accuracy (players) after R7 of the 2023 AFL season (minimum 20 shots)

Naughton at 57.7%, JUH at 33.3%

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FvD2zWjagAIASTU?format=jpg&name=medium

[Axe Man]

But I thought Naughton was a terrible kick and should most definitely play in the backline and Jamarra was the most beautiful kick to ever grace a Bulldogs jumper? :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I have been saying for a long time Naughton's goal kicking is better than the generally held perception and Jamarra's is poor despite looking like he should be a great kick at goal. Not sure what the issue is for him as he has gotten worse year on year to this point.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Naughtons kicks remind me a bit of Barry Halls in that the balls trajectory pretty much doesn't change once it leaves the boot. Only issue is that Barry's were generally always on target whereas Aaron's are only 57.7% of the time....which is surprisingly high.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Itd be interesting to know where on the ground kicks are taken from. I feel like Aaron gets a lot of his marks close to goal.

[hujsh]

But I thought Naughton was a terrible kick and should most definitely play in the backline and Jamarra was the most beautiful kick to ever grace a Bulldogs jumper? :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I have been saying for a long time Naughton's goal kicking is better than the generally held perception and Jamarra's is poor despite looking like he should be a great kick at goal. Not sure what the issue is for him as he has gotten worse year on year to this point.

Naughton would be more interesting to see what the expected score was vs his actual. My perception is he gets so many easy shots from contested marks he should have Tony Lockett accuracy. His ability to smash a ball into the post from 30m out slight angle is unparalleled.

[lemmon]

Would also love to see Naughton's set shot accuracy rather than shot at goal accuracy. He's so agile on the ground that I feel like he'd kick a bigger proportion of goals on the run over most key forwards.

Feel like just about every week he's the first to recover from a contest, he gets to the ball out the back first and kicks one running into an open goal. It's a great trait, but I think 'shot at goal' accuracy is a misleading stat when we can all see he misses far more easy set shots than he should.

[The Doctor]

The Round 8 goalkicking award is named after 1997 leading goalkicker Simon Minton-Connell. He kicked 43 goals from his 17 games in that season.

Minton Connell had a great start to the 97 season slotting 39 goals in the first 11 rounds of the season. Only once during those games did he fail to kick 3 goals or more. Then inexplicably his form fell away. He struggled the following season until recalled for the 98 Qualifying Final against the Wiggles. He completely wiped the floor with Ashley McIntosh who that year was All Australian and Best & fairest winner. I'm sure they didn't show any highlights of McIntosh from that game at their presentation night, because all he did was chase M-C's tail. He booted 5 in that epic win. Epic because it was against the Wiggles and it was by 70 points.


Goalkickers for Round 8 v Giant Waste of Space

Naughton 3, Lobb 2, Jones 2, Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Scott, Liberatore, Johannisen, Bontempelli


The Simon Minton-Connell medal goes to Aaron Naughton


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 8

18. Naughton
9. Jamarra
8. Lobb
6. English, Williams, Weightman
5. Bont, Libba
3. Baker, Treloar, Daniel, Arty, Scott, JJ
2. Macrae, Hannan
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil


Astro adds another award to his trophy cabinet, although by half time I thought his fellow forwards Jamarra, Lobb & Arty were conspiring together to kick all the goals to try and catch up to him. Astro must have checked the Busta leaderboard at half time and noticed the move of Lobb into outright 3rd. So he decided he had to do something about it and produced party tricks such as one handed speccies and grabbing the game by the scruff in the 2nd half to increase his lead at the top. English is joined by fellow blonde Weightman in equal 4th. I noticed Williams didn't take my advice last week and dye his hair blonde. No wonder he is going through a goalkicking drought. The shoot out between Bont & Libba continues and Arty after getting a taste last week likes the flavour and starts to make his move up the leaderboard.

Did you know prior to being drafted Simon Minton Connell played in North Hobart's 1987 premiership side as an 18yo full back? He had 6 kicked on him! He also sported the most ridiculous hair cut ever by a full back or possibly any player ever. A flat top haircut that made him look like one of those cartoon characters that had an anvil land on it's head. Others with a Bulldog connection in that same team were Darren Davies and David Noble.

[EasternWest]

The Round 8 goalkicking award is named after 1997 leading goalkicker Simon Minton-Connell. He kicked 43 goals from his 17 games in that season.

Minton Connell had a great start to the 97 season slotting 39 goals in the first 11 rounds of the season. Only once during those games did he fail to kick 3 goals or more. Then inexplicably his form fell away. He struggled the following season until recalled for the 98 Qualifying Final against the Wiggles. He completely wiped the floor with Ashley McIntosh who that year was All Australian and Best & fairest winner. I'm sure they didn't show any highlights of McIntosh from that game at their presentation night, because all he did was chase M-C's tail. He booted 5 in that epic win. Epic because it was against the Wiggles and it was by 70 points.


Goalkickers for Round 8 v Giant Waste of Space

Naughton 3, Lobb 2, Jones 2, Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Scott, Liberatore, Johannisen, Bontempelli


The Simon Minton-Connell medal goes to Aaron Naughton


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 8

18. Naughton
9. Jamarra
8. Lobb
6. English, Williams, Weightman
5. Bont, Libba
3. Baker, Treloar, Daniel, Arty, Scott, JJ
2. Macrae, Hannan
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil


Astro adds another award to his trophy cabinet, although by half time I thought his fellow forwards Jamarra, Lobb & Arty were conspiring together to kick all the goals to try and catch up to him. Astro must have checked the Busta leaderboard at half time and noticed the move of Lobb into outright 3rd. So he decided he had to do something about it and produced party tricks such as one handed speccies and grabbing the game by the scruff in the 2nd half to increase his lead at the top. English is joined by fellow blonde Weightman in equal 4th. I noticed Williams didn't take my advice last week and dye his hair blonde. No wonder he is going through a goalkicking drought. The shoot out between Bont & Libba continues and Arty after getting a taste last week likes the flavour and starts to make his move up the leaderboard.

Did you know prior to being drafted Simon Minton Connell played in North Hobart's 1987 premiership side as an 18yo full back? He had 6 kicked on him! He also sported the most ridiculous hair cut ever by a full back or possibly any player ever. A flat top haircut that made him look like one of those cartoon characters that had an anvil land on it's head. Others with a Bulldog connection in that same team were Darren Davies and David Noble.

Quality

[The Doctor]

We are going with a different approach this week and honouring a player who may not have won the goalkicking in a season but nevertheless was a handy goalsneak for us. The Round 9 goalkicking award is named after Darren Collins, a small forward who played for us between 1987 - 89.

Recruited from Collingwood, the blond dasher played 24 games and booted 37 goals. I remember him at Collingwood and thought he was pretty good and was glad to see him join us. His best season was 1988 when he came 3rd in the goalkicking with 20 from 13 games. However I thought some of his best footy came in our troubled year of 1989 when he booted 3 in a great win v Sydney at WO and followed up with a match winning 5 in a low scoring slugfest v St Kilda in the wet and slush at Waverley. He joined Fitzroy via the MSD in 1990 before he disappeared from the AFL. Career over at 22.


Goalkickers for Round 9 v Carltank


Scott 3, Lobb 2, Johannisen, Naughton, Liberatore, A.Jones, Smith, Ugle-Hagan


The Darren Collins medal goes to Anthony Scott


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 9

19. Naughton
10. Lobb, Jamarra
6. English, Williams, Weightman, Scott, Libba
5. Bont
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Treloar, Daniel
2. Macrae, Hannan
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Smith

Anthony Scott ran riot v the Blues and rises up the leaderboard with a bullet. He is now in equal 4th. Whoo hoo! Astro maintains his 9 goal lead at the top. Next year I might start a hitting the post leaderboard and name it after Aaron Naughton. The Lobbster continues to stealthily climb the ladder and joins Jamarra in 2nd spot. Libba moves ahead of Bont in the battle of the Italian stallions. We welcome at long last Bailey Smith to the leaderboard after his delicious goal that helped sink the Blues in the last. Special mention to Arty for his goal and 3 assists late in the last. Magnificent. Duryea had a chance to make his debut on the leaderboard but choked. Had O'Donnell kicked that goal from the impossible angle I would be here hailing him as the new Eddie Betts.

Did you know that after Darren Collins came 3rd in the goalkicking in 1988 behind Busta Beasley (only 62 goals behind) he got his revenge on Beasley in 1989 when he finished 4th in the goalkicking with 16 majors and pipped Beasley by 1 goal. Now thats something he can tell his grandkids about.

The top 5 in 1989 were;

1. Adrian Campbell with 21
2. Phil O'Keefe & John Georgiades with 19 each
4. Darren Collins with 16
5. Simon Beasley with 15

Gee, what a year!

Why aren't there anymore Darrens in football? Who was the last Darren to play for us? Baxter?

[EasternWest]

We are going with a different approach this week and honouring a player who may not have won the goalkicking in a season but nevertheless was a handy goalsneak for us. The Round 9 goalkicking award is named after Darren Collins, a small forward who played for us between 1987 - 89.

Recruited from Collingwood, the blond dasher played 24 games and booted 37 goals. I remember him at Collingwood and thought he was pretty good and was glad to see him join us. His best season was 1988 when he came 3rd in the goalkicking with 20 from 13 games. However I thought some of his best footy came in our troubled year of 1989 when he booted 3 in a great win v Sydney at WO and followed up with a match winning 5 in a low scoring slugfest v St Kilda in the wet and slush at Waverley. He joined Fitzroy via the MSD in 1990 before he disappeared from the AFL. Career over at 22.


Goalkickers for Round 9 v Carltank


Scott 3, Lobb 2, Johannisen, Naughton, Liberatore, A.Jones, Smith, Ugle-Hagan


The Darren Collins medal goes to Anthony Scott


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 9

19. Naughton
10. Lobb, Jamarra
6. English, Williams, Weightman, Scott, Libba
5. Bont
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Treloar, Daniel
2. Macrae, Hannan
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Smith

Anthony Scott ran riot v the Blues and rises up the leaderboard with a bullet. He is now in equal 4th. Whoo hoo! Astro maintains his 9 goal lead at the top. Next year I might start a hitting the post leaderboard and name it after Aaron Naughton. The Lobbster continues to stealthily climb the ladder and joins Jamarra in 2nd spot. Libba moves ahead of Bont in the battle of the Italian stallions. We welcome at long last Bailey Smith to the leaderboard after his delicious goal that helped sink the Blues in the last. Special mention to Arty for his goal and 3 assists late in the last. Magnificent. Duryea had a chance to make his debut on the leaderboard but choked. Had O'Donnell kicked that goal from the impossible angle I would be here hailing him as the new Eddie Betts.

Did you know that after Darren Collins came 3rd in the goalkicking in 1988 behind Busta Beasley (only 62 goals behind) he got his revenge on Beasley in 1989 when he finished 4th in the goalkicking with 16 majors and pipped Beasley by 1 goal. Now thats something he can tell his grandkids about.

The top 5 in 1989 were;

1. Adrian Campbell with 21
2. Phil O'Keefe & John Georgiades with 19 each
4. Darren Collins with 16
5. Simon Beasley with 15

Gee, what a year!

Why aren't there anymore Darrens in football? Who was the last Darren to play for us? Baxter?

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[azabob]

I remember Jason Watts was my only joy in 1996.

My vague recollection was he could not miss.

I guess the drafting of Cook and SMC spelled the end of Watts?

[bulldogtragic]

So Naughts, Lobb & Marra good for about 4.5 goals a game already despite some shoddy kicking and an injury to Lobb. That seems like a ‘pass mark’ for getting Lobb to me.

[D Mitchell]

So Naughts, Lobb & Marra good for about 4.5 goals a game already despite some shoddy kicking and an injury to Lobb. That seems like a ‘pass mark’ for getting Lobb to me.

Naughton's and Ugle-Hagan's averages are pretty much the same this season to date as last season (Naughton 2.32 in 2022 and 2.11 to date; Ugle-Hagan 1.06 and 1.11) Lobb's averaging 1.25 goals per game, a bit better than his career average of 1.08 and not quite up to his average for the past 2 years, 1.6. Is there any reason to think that shoddy kicking and injuries aren't going to continue ? I'll be surprised, pleasantly surprised, if the 3 do much better for the rest of the season.

[bulldogtragic]

Naughton's and Ugle-Hagan's averages are pretty much the same this season to date as last season (Naughton 2.32 in 2022 and 2.11 to date; Ugle-Hagan 1.06 and 1.11) Lobb's averaging 1.25 goals per game, a bit better than his career average of 1.08 and not quite up to his average for the past 2 years, 1.6. Is there any reason to think that shoddy kicking and injuries aren't going to continue ? I'll be surprised, pleasantly surprised, if the 3 do much better for the rest of the season.

Fair argument. I’d hope that they start to gel even more, work more cohesively and the mids understand their patterns better and reward them. I’d hope if Weightman can hit form that he gets a little more off the leash too and we can really start to have oppo coaches and defenders stressed about match ups. We are only really half a dozen games into these three talls being fit, and I’m happy enough at this early stage (with only one good game from Cody) and Arty still green to bank 4.5 goals a game. While kicking is a huge issue, I do see some scope to raise it 5+ goals a game from the three talls (plus English has a few too). If they can get that up over 5, and Cody & Arty keep/hit form then things look bright for a bump in scoring power (midfield permitting). And hopefully someone takes that last forward spot that’s been rotating all season last held by JOD.

[Ozza]

At this rate - Naughton would finish on around 48 goals, and Lobb and Jamarra 25 each. I guess that it a reasonable return from the 3 keys, given that we would expect Arty and Weightman to contribute another 30-40 between them hopefully.

[bulldogtragic]

At this rate - Naughton would finish on around 48 goals, and Lobb and Jamarra 25 each. I guess that it a reasonable return from the 3 keys, given that we would expect Arty and Weightman to contribute another 30-40 between them hopefully.

Hopefully some junk time stat boosts with WCE & North for them too. I’d take 100+ goals from our key forwards as a pass mark.

[GVGjr]

At this rate - Naughton would finish on around 48 goals, and Lobb and Jamarra 25 each. I guess that it a reasonable return from the 3 keys, given that we would expect Arty and Weightman to contribute another 30-40 between them hopefully.

I'd think we've been shortchanged if they are the number of goals the 3 key forwards achieve this year.
Just go back to when it was Bruce and Naughton leading the charge and it was close to 100 goal return from two of them so we need a better return than that from 3 of them especially with the lower returns from Weightman so far.

I'd say Scott, Weightman and Arty need to get us closer to 50 goals.

[hujsh]

At this rate - Naughton would finish on around 48 goals, and Lobb and Jamarra 25 each. I guess that it a reasonable return from the 3 keys, given that we would expect Arty and Weightman to contribute another 30-40 between them hopefully.

If Jamarra can convert a little better and Lobb continues his improvement and gets the odd bag of 3-4 I can see that lifting

[MrMahatma]

I reckon we need more from the big 3. Better conversion will help. 120+ for the season is what we need. Scoring is a bit of an issue for us but thankfully the oppo aren't doing it well either.

[Axe Man]

The numbers look nice at the end of the season but does it really matter who kicks them? I would prefer to not be overly reliant on 1 or 2 key forwards to kick our goals like Carlton are. If they get injured or have a bad day the team is in strife. It's great that we can have Scott or Williams or Weightman or whoever pop up from time to time and share the goal kicking load.

[The Doctor]

For the Round 10 goalkicking award we honour the great colossus of the goal square Danny Delre. He was our leading goalkicker in 1992 with 70 & 1993 with 36.

Danny Delre played 62 games for us and booted 139 goals. If he produced that in today's era he would be on $1m + per year! He started off in our U/19's but didn't make the cut and went to Williamstown in the VFA 1987-89. He was picked up in the preseason draft of 1990. 1992 was a cracker season for him. He first appeared in round 4 v Swans at the SCG and slammed in 7 goals in a B.O.G. performance. I was going Ape in the very conservative Ladies Stand that day. During the season he rag dolled Chris Langford of Hawthorn to boot 5, then made mincemeat of Peter Caven & Alistair Lynch when he booted 6 v Fitzroy. His best was in the Qualifying final when he produced an outrageously brilliant 8 v Geelong. The most goals by a Bulldog in a final ever.

Enjoy Danny Delre tormenting Caven & Lynch in Round 12, 1992. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPLF95b5I4


Gee we kicked a lot of behind's yesterday, and not just Adelaide's. Leading butt kickers yesterday were; Baker, Arty, Libba, Flea & Williams all with 2 each. Naughton & Jamarra are tied overall for 1st with 14 each.


Goalkickers for Round 10 v Adelaide Cows


Scott 2, Macrae 2, Gardner, Naughton, Williams, Daniel, Lobb, Weightman, Bontempelli


The Danny Delre medal is shared by Anthony Scott & Jack Macrae


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 10

20. Naughton
11. Lobb
10. Jamarra
8. Scott
7. Williams, Weightman
6. English, Libba, Bont
4. JJ, Arty, Macrae, Daniel
3. Baker, Treloar,
2. Hannan
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Smith, Gardner


Anthony Scott must have really enjoyed winning the Darren Collins medal last week beacuse he has fronted up again and now adds the 'Delre Medal' to his rapidly filling trophy cabinet. He now holds 4th position outright. Lobb jumps into outright 2nd but Air Naughton, who must own an invisible stepladder, maintains his lead at the top. What a battle between Bont & Libba. They've been slugging it out all season. With great pleasure we welcome Ryan Gardner to the leaderboard. It's always great to have someone from the men's dept amongst the goals. I was actually going to ask the question this week who would be the first among our key defenders to kick a goal this year, but Gardner 'spoilt' my plans! Didn't he kick it with some authority too. Harry McKay should study Gardner's goalkicking technique. No being cute, no being clever, no kicking around corners, no complicating it. Just kick the bloody thing!

Did You Know, Danny Delre (as legend has it) first found he might be recruited to Footscray soon after playing in Williamstowns' losing 1989 VFA Grand Final. Apparently, he was showering off when Terry Wheeler barged in and notified Delre that IF Footscray continues to exist in 1990, and IF he was appointed coach, he would recruit him. Imagine the head swirl for Delre at that moment. Having just felt the disappointment of playing in a losing Grand Final and then the elation he could have a AFL career, but only if all the stars align. All this while in the shower!

[Ozza]

I'd think we've been shortchanged if they are the number of goals the 3 key forwards achieve this year.
Just go back to when it was Bruce and Naughton leading the charge and it was close to 100 goal return from two of them so we need a better return than that from 3 of them especially with the lower returns from Weightman so far.

I'd say Scott, Weightman and Arty need to get us closer to 50 goals.

Yeah, I understand that.
I think in 2021 we were a far higher scoring/attacking team sitting at 95 points a game, whereas this year we are at 78 points a game so far. Hopefully we can lift that scoring average with a run of games at Marvel coming up - and some of the weaker teams later in the year.

[GVGjr]

Yeah, I understand that.
I think in 2021 we were a far higher scoring/attacking team sitting at 95 points a game, whereas this year we are at 78 points a game so far. Hopefully we can lift that scoring average with a run of games at Marvel coming up - and some of the weaker teams later in the year.

We could have easily scored 100 points on the weekend had our forwards and others kicked straight.
Regardless if the overall scoring drops a bit and given we started so slowly to be near 80 points now is a reasonable position but if we have invested so heavily on Marra and Lobb to support Naughton we do need to be on the higher side of a 100 goal return from them.

[Ozza]

We could have easily scored 100 points on the weekend had our forwards and others kicked straight.
Regardless if the overall scoring drops a bit and given we started so slowly to be near 80 points now is a reasonable position but if we have invested so heavily on Marra and Lobb to support Naughton we do need to be on the higher side of a 100 goal return from them.

Will be interesting to see - that if the 3 of them gel more, what that translates to on the scoreboard. They are still drawn to the same footy more often than you'd like....I think we have looked good when Marra is leading up at the ball, either being the option or leaving space behind him for the other two.

[The Doctor]

The Round 11 goal kicking award honours the legendary Alby Morrison, who topped the goal kicking on 5 occasions from 1928 - 1931 & again in 1934.

Alby, also known as 'Boy', had an illustrious career with the Bulldogs. He played 224 games for us in 3 stints (1928 - 38, 1941 - 42, 1946 as a 37yo) and knocked in 369 goals. His career tally of 369 goals, a record that stood til Jack Collins came along, still has him placed 6th on the all time goal kicking list for the Dogs. In his debut season as a 19yo he kicked 50 which included hauls of 10 & 7 against the Dawks. He followed up again the next season with another 50. Morrison could play anywhere. As his career progressed he would play upfield a lot. During the depression years he played for free to help the club out. His best season was in 1938 when he came 3rd in the Brownlow medal and played in our first ever finals team where in the first half we outplayed Colliwobbles but bad kicking (6.11.47 to 9.1.55) cost us & we fell apart in the 2nd half. Sound familiar? By the time his career ended he had captained and captain coached the club.

Alby Morrison won the best & fairest twice and was named on the half forward flank in the Bulldogs Team of the Century. What a legend. Here is a caricature of Alby and the 'boys' including Alan Rait in 1933

https://australianfootball.com/articles/view/bath%2Btime%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Btricolours/2013


Goalkickers for Round 11 v Gold Coast Sins


Ugle-Hagan 3, Williams 2, Weightman 2, Smith, Scott, Naugton, Daniel

The Alby Morrison medal is won by Jamarra Ugle-Hagan


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 11

21. Naughton
13. Jamarra
11. Lobb
9. Williams, Weightman, Scott
6. English, Libba, Bont
5. Daniel
4. JJ, Arty, Macrae,
3. Baker, Treloar,
2. Hannan, Smith
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Gardner

Jamarra moves back into 2nd spot & closes the gap ever so slightly on Astro. Williams, Weightman & Scott (sounds like a firm of Accountants) continue their impressive goal kicking form and share 4th place. Can any of these guys finish on the podium this year? Libba & Bont forgot to turn up for their weekly stoush this week.

Did you know Alby Morrison continued to play footy after he retired from the Dogs? He played 5 seasons with Sorrento and in his final year at the ripe old age of 45 he kicked 45 goals and helped them to a premiership on the same day the Bulldogs broke through to win their 1st VFL premiership in 1954. I don't believe our Alby is related to Alby Mangels.

Did anyone see Alby play? Morrison that is, not Mangels.

[The Doctor]

Somehow duplicated previous post. I don't know how. I was doing it in my sleep.

[The Doctor]

The Round 12 goal kicking award honours a player who averaged 1 goal per game in his stellar career with us. This is entirely appropriate this week as no one was able to kick more than one goal v Geelong. I speak of none other than Allen Jakovich.

Allen Jakovich played just the one season for Footscray in 1996. He kicked an amazing 7 goals 14 points in his 7 games for us at an average of 1.2 per game. He was selected at pick 9 in the 1995 draft despite missing the entire 1995 season due to a chronic back injury. This same draft that had future premiership full forwards in Barry Hall and Daniel Bradshaw available at our selection. Imagine if we pulled a recruiting stunt like this nowadays. There would be a guillotine erected outside Whitten Oval and the entire football dept would be waiting their turn for the chop. Anyhow in all games Jakovich played in when he scored 1 goal or less, we lost. However, when he scored 3 goals, we won! It only happened once, but we won!

Goalkickers for Round 12 v Geelong Handbaggers (How much I hate them, Ive hated them since I first saw them back in the early 70's which means Ive hated them longer than most of you reading this. I also hate GWS)

Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Treloar, Smith, Richards, O'Donnell, Naughton, Macrae, Lobb, Daniel

The Allen Jakovich medal is shared by; Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Treloar, Smith, Richards, O'Donnell, Naughton, Macrae, Lobb, Daniel


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 12

22. Naughton
14. Jamarra
12. Lobb
10. Weightman
9. Williams, Scott
6. English, Libba, Bont, Daniel
5. Macrae
4. JJ, Arty, Treloar
3. Baker, Smith
2. Hannan,
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell

The race for leading goal kicker this year continues at snail pace. On current trajectory 30 goals should do it! At least our premiership heroes Bont, Libba, Caleb, JJ & Jack Macrae are in the middle of the chasing pack slugging it out with one another. All we need is Toby Maclean to come in and kick 5 next week to join them. Jack Macrae is having a prolific goal kicking year. At present he is having his equal 4th best goal kicking season in his 11 year career. His best is 9 in 2014. I'll be on Jack Macrae watch for the rest of the season. We welcome to the leaderboard James O'Donnell and Ed Richards. Who will be next among our defenders to join the leaderboard? Bruce, Keath or Jones? Where is Bailey Dale?

Did you know in his glittering career before he joined us Allen Jakovich kicked 201 goals in 47 games for Melbourne? Despite ripping most teams apart he only scored 3 goals & 6 points in total at a ratio of 1.2 v Bulldogs, the same ratio he scored for us!. He wore no.13 at both clubs. No 13. was also worn at the Dogs by other goal kicking greats, Josh Schache, Daniel Giansiracusa, Bernie O'Brien, Charlie Sloley and Ernie Nunn.

[The Doctor]

Ok folks I know you are all a bit cranky at the moment but I'm going to cheer you up as we honour a goal kicking great from our not to distant past. This week for Round 13 it is our 2014 leading goal kicker who gets the nod, Stewart Crameri. I can hear you all yelling "Yippee" from my place near Elwood Beach.

Stewart Crameri joined the Bulldogs from Essendope for the 2014 season., In his first year he topped our goal kicking by slamming in 37 goals and played in all 22 games that season. He would ultimately kick 70 goals in his 42 games for us before heading for the Geelong retirement home. He also played some great footy in 2015 when he came 3rd in the goalkicking behind Jesse Stringer & Tory Dickson. He kicked 2.5 in the elimination final loss to the crows. Who knows had he kicked 5.2 he might be a premiership player. His best game was when he kicked 7 against his former fuel injected teamamates in our magnificent 87 point win. Other great wins by the Bulldogs v Essendung were in 2019 when we won by 104 points and in 1977 when we won by 100 points and at Windy Hill too. I told you I would cheer you up.


Goalkickers for Round 13 v Port Power Outage

Weightman 3 (it should be 4 but for that cheating f%*$#ing umpire), Ugle-Hagan 2, Naughton 2, West, Treloar, Macrae, English, Daniel, Bontempelli


The Stewart Crameri medal has been snapped up by Cody Weightman


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 13

24. Naughton
16. Jamarra
13. Weightman
12. Lobb
9. Williams, Scott
7. English, Daniel, Bont
6. Libba, Macrae
5. Treloar
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Smith
2. Hannan,
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, West

Astro maintains his lead while Flea slips past Lobby into 3rd. Can Flea make a late season surge to the top? He will if we play Port every week. Jack Macrae continues his move up the leaderboard and has now caught Libba. Macrae is now having his equal 3rd best goal kicking season. He only has to kick 4 more this season with 9 more games to go + hopefully finals to have his best year. Come on Jack, I know you're reading this, you can do it. I'll name a weekly goal kicking award in your honour if you do! We welcome Rhylee West to the leaderboard.

Did you know Stewart Crameri was originally recruited by the Bummers at pick 43 in the 2009 rookie draft? We had 2 picks ahead of him and went for Brodie Moles & Andrew Hooper instead. Also available were James Podsiadly & Levi Casboult but never mind we also picked up later in that draft Eddie Prato & Pat Rose. We also picked up in the main draft prior to this, Howard, Tutt, Markovic & Thorne and upgraded James Mulligan to the senior list. Wow, what a haul! To be fair & for balance we also upgraded someone called Liam Picken!

Crameri is still playing having joined North Ballarat. Maybe we should recruit him back to help boost our membership drive in the area. But we might have to fight off Geelong as at the age of 34 he would be firmly in their sights.

[EasternWest]

Jesse Stringer oh my.

[Grantysghost]

Also the Crameri pick we gave to Essendon (26) was used on their current captain.

Zach Merrett.

[The Doctor]

Also the Crameri pick we gave to Essendon (26) was used on their current captain.

Zach Merrett.

I deliberately left that out because I was trying to cheer everybody up!

[The Doctor]

Jesse Stringer oh my.

Did you know that 'the' Jesse Stringer was taken in the same rookie draft as Crameri? 18 picks later at 61 just 2 picks after the great Eddie Prato!

[Grantysghost]

I deliberately left that out because I was trying to cheer everybody up!

Haha oh sorry! Ignore me like normal.

[The Doctor]

For the Round 14 goal kicking award we honour one of the most exhiliarating forwards I have seen in my lifetime of watching the mighty Bulldogs, the legendary Les 'Lelly' Bamblett.

Lelly........ the memories are rushing back, I'm getting a bit emotional! I'll try again, Lelly......joined the Bulldogs in 1984 after Shane O'Sullivan had completed yet another successful raid on WA. Lelly had been playing at Claremont having previously played at Melbourne where he won the Morrish medal (best player in the U/19's for you younger folk) in 1982. He would only play 37 games for 59 goals but what an impact he made. He was a star in our 1985 season where he kicked 51 goals and formed a dynamic partnership with Buster Beazer. Lelly could rip a game to pieces in a blink of an eye as the mighty Essendon side of that era found out when he rammed home 4 early goals as we flogged them by 7 goals. Lelly & Beasley combined to kick 11 v Pies & 12 v Geelong at Kardinia Park or whatever stupid name they have for it these days. Lelly kicked 5 in both those games. Like Eddie Betts of the modern era he was a brilliant opportunist and his burst acceleration left defenders clutching at thin air. He made defenders look completely stupid. As stupid as a gaggle of poorly dressed mannequins in a Myer store as he ran riot around them.


Goalkickers for Round 14 v LolNorf

Weightman 6, Bontempelli 3, Naughton 2, Daniel, Lobb, Treloar, English,


The Lelly Bamblett medal goes to Cody Weightman


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 14

26. Naughton
19. Weightman
16. Jamarra
13. Lobb
10. Bont
9. Williams, Scott
8. English, Daniel
6. Libba, Macrae, Treloar
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Smith
2. Hannan,
1. Garcia, McComb, McNeil, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, West

It's getting serious now folks. The big guns are making their move as Flea bursts into 2nd place closing the gap on Astro and Bont charges into 5th spot. These 2 clearly want to win the Beazer award and I would not be at all surpised if they both slipped Bevo a fiver to move Astro to the backline this week. Daniel & Treloar continue to quietly move up the board but don't be surprised if one of them does a Lelly and kick 5 next week!

Did you know I loved Lelly so much that as a young man with very long hair (I wouldn't have looked out of place on a Staus Quo poster) I drove my 78 Ford XC panel van from Sydney to Western Oval the day before a match and slept in the van in the car park at WO. I was confronted by a WO official the next morning who asked me what I was doing there. I replied "Sir, I have just driven from Sydney to see Lelly Bamblett'. He let me stay there and waived the parking fee.

Here is an exclusive Woof interview with Lelly by The Coon Dog

https://www.woof.net.au/forum/archive/index.php/t-5540.html

[EasternWest]

Excellent again Doc.

[bornadog]

Did you know I loved Lelly so much that as a young man with very long hair (I wouldn't have looked out of place on a Staus Quo poster) I drove my 78 Ford XC panel van from Sydney to Western Oval the day before a match and slept in the van in the car park at WO. I was confronted by a WO official the next morning who asked me what I was doing there. I replied "Sir, I have just driven from Sydney to see Lelly Bamblett'. He let me stay there and waived the parking fee.

Here is an exclusive Woof interview with Lelly by The Coon Dog

https://www.woof.net.au/forum/archive/index.php/t-5540.html

Great Story Doc. Lally was a great player and one of the original small forwards of the game.

[GVGjr]

Let me add this to Doc's terrific post about his love for Les 'Lelly' Bamblett

The year Les ‘Lelly’ Bamblett lit up for Footscray, before injuries and racism curtailed his career (https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/western-bulldogs/the-year-les-lelly-bamblett-lit-up-for-footscray-before-injuries-and-racism-curtailed-his-career/news-story/db777df10861fb9b5c0b490ba8fa7888)

Les ‘Lelly’ Bamblett’s 1985 playing season is one for the record books. Yet injuries and racism led to him losing his passion for footy and he still sees significant problems, writes PAUL AMY.

https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/bb7bfd4f7fe829e7ee29c34e336cb137?width=1024

The mere mention of his name is enough to bring memories rushing back to long-fastened Bulldogs supporters and one stirring season.

1985!

What a year for the Dogs, when they rose to 16-6 in the home-and-away rounds and reached the preliminary final under young coach Mick Malthouse.

And what a year for their twinkle-toed Indigenous forward Les Bamblett.

Spearhead Simon Beasley booted a century of goals that season and, hitting packs at pace, his sidekick ‘Lelly’ Bamblett kicked 51.

In fact, he kicked 51.35.

“That many points? That’s almost 90 shots at goal,’’ Bamblett, now 58, says. “Not a bad year.’’

Forty years after he won the Morrish Medal as best and fairest in the VFL Under 19 competition, Bamblett says the 1985 season was the “big highlight’’ of his career.

Truth is, there was little to come after it.

Injuries got the better of him, physically and mentally, and he was finished with league football by the end of 1988.

Forty-eight games and that was it, game over for a player who had played at the highest level brilliantly, but all too briefly.

“I love Les Bamblett!’’ says Shane O’Sullivan, long part of the furniture at Carlton, but who had the chair as general manager of Footscray from 1982-86.

It was O’Sullivan who brought Bamblett to the Bulldogs in 1984, after he had agreed to play for Claremont in the WAFL.

“Oh God, I remember finding him in a caravan park right on the other side of town in Perth,’’ O’Sullivan says.

“And I said to him, ‘Les, how would you like to come back to Melbourne and play with Footscray?’ And straight away he said, ‘Come on, let’s go’. He was such a talent, Les. Boy he was a talent.’’

*****

His father a Wiradjuri man from Narrandera and his mother a Warlpiri woman from Tennant Creek, Bamblett was the eldest of nine children.

He grew up in Shepparton, started in under-age teams at Nathalia and then joined the Lemnos club (now the Shepparton Swans).

Zoned to Melbourne, he showed sufficient promise to be picked in a Norm Smith scholarship squad and a few games into the 1982 season joined the Demons’ Under 19s, playing under the legendary Ray ‘Slug’ Jordon.

“A very interesting man,’’ Bamblett says of Jordon. “He was sort of down to earth, pretty stern, and for a little man he was very loud. A very good junior coach.’’

The Dees made the grand final, losing to Fitzroy. Bamblett won the Morrish – “A little bonus for myself,’’ he says – and he won a senior debut for the Demons in Round 1 of 1983.

Melbourne played Collingwood at the MCG. Ron Barassi was his coach and Robbie Flower his captain.

“First game, more than 70,000 people there,’’ he says. “I lined up on a bloke named Phillip Walsh. He was playing his first game for Collingwood. We had a bit of a battle on a wing. It was great, an eye-opener, just with the crowd and running out with blokes like Robert Flower, Brian Wilson, who’d won the Brownlow the year before, Steven Icke, Peter Giles.’’

Bamblett had 20 touches and kicked two goals in a 10-point loss. The following week he had 22 possessions and kicked one goal in a nine-point victory over Richmond. He played in nine of the next 10 games, then “fell away’’.

“I sort of got homesick,’’ he says.

“I was a bit overawed probably. Just wanted to go back to the country for a little while. Yeah, fell away. Best way to put it.’’

Bamblett was the only Indigenous player on the Melbourne list – at that time, he says, he counted fewer than 10 in the VFL, the most notable Maurice Rioli, the Krakouer brothers and Michael ‘Magic’ McLean – and racism was rife.

He first encountered it when he was playing for Lemnos and it continued when he hit league football.

He says he tried to treat the racial abuse as “water off a duck’s back’’, regarding it as a tactic to put him off his game.

“Being Aboriginal and being one-out at Melbourne, I struggled a little bit,’’ Bamblett says.

“You think about it now and it was a pretty big thing for a young bloke to go through.

“There probably wasn’t that support around me.’’

Ahead of the 1984 season Bamblett sought a clearance to Richmond, keen to play alongside the great Rioli and another Indigenous player, Phil Egan.

The clubs couldn’t come to an arrangement for the transfer. Meanwhile Brownlow medallist Graham Moss, coaching Claremont, flew to Melbourne intent on signing Bamblett.

He decided to go west. Bamblett trained with Claremont but he says there was a wrangle over his clearance. Lemnos might have got involved, he says.

O’Sullivan swooped, working out an agreement with Melbourne that sent a young ruckman, Steve O’Dwyer, to the Demons. O’Dwyer had been zoned to the Bulldogs.

O’Sullivan says he had to act fast after Melbourne secretary Dick Seddon gave him 24 hours to get the deal done.

“We wanted Les pretty badly,’’ he says. “Everyone knew about him. He’d showed that potential at Melbourne in his first year. We were pretty rapt to get hold of him.’’

Bamblett played four senior games for Footscray late in the 1984 season, kicking three goals against Carlton in Round 21.

Then came 1985.

“Exploded,’’ is how he puts his season.

Bamblett failed to kick a goal in only two of his 24 matches.

There were bags of five against Hawthorn, Collingwood and Geelong, and he slipped in for four goals against Essendon, Fitzroy and Sydney.

His performance against the Bombers earned him the Jack Daniel’s player-of-the-week gong in The Football Record.

Seventh with 11 wins and 11 losses in 1984, the Bulldogs jumped to second with a 16-6 record 12 months later. They hadn’t played finals since 1976. There was a buzz about them.

“Look at the team we had,’’ Bamblett says. “Brad Hardie in a back pocket, Doug Hawkins on a wing, Brian Royal roving, Simon Beasley and Jimmy Edmond in the forward line. Plenty of others as well. Real good team.’’

Bamblett enjoyed playing under Malthouse – “He told it as it was, Mick, never beat around the bush with things’’. And he liked playing alongside McLean, teammates becoming great mates.

Bamblett acknowledges he wasn’t the greatest trainer, saying he always struggled with the running. He was a footballer. He left shows of fitness to others.

“The long-distance stuff, that wasn’t my go, but the short stuff, I was always around the mark,’’ he says.

In fact, he was superbly quick off the mark and as elusive as campfire smoke. Defenders intent on tackling were instead often left groping.

Hawthorn spanked the Bulldogs by 97 points in the qualifying final, but they rallied with a 30-point victory over North Melbourne in the semi-final, Hawkins their inspiration with 25 kicks, 13 handballs and 10 marks.

That brought Footscray and Hawthorn together for the preliminary final and the right to play Essendon in the grand final.

t was a classic match at Waverley Park, Hawkins and Robert DiPierdomenico playing their own game on a wing, Hawkins as skilled as ‘Dipper’ was willed.

The Dogs led by eight points at quarter time, the Hawks by four points at the half and one point at the final change. They won by 10 points after a burst from Leigh Matthews.

O’Sullivan regards that season as one of his most enjoyable in his many years in football.

He particularly recalls the round five match at Western Oval, when the Bulldogs defeated Essendon on a bright, sunny day before a crowd of more than 33,000.
Coach Michael Malthouse celebrates with Footscray players after defeating reigning premiers Essendon at the Western Oval.
Coach Michael Malthouse celebrates with Footscray players after defeating reigning premiers Essendon at the Western Oval.

“I’ve had a good run in footy. That’s one of my best years, just for pure enjoyment on people’s faces at a club that hadn’t had much success,’’ O’Sullivan says.

“To see them coming to the footy thinking they were a real good chance to win every week, that was fantastic.’’

He says the Beasley-Bamblett forward combination was as productive as it was exciting.

They were opposites “but they got on like a house on fire’’.

“He was funny, Les. I’ve never seen a bloke standing with his legs crossed waiting for the play to come to him,’’ O’Sullivan chuckles.

“He always had his legs crossed then all of a sudden, whoosh, away he’d go.’’

He laughs again as he adds: “He didn’t like pre-season training, Les. He only liked training when the balls were out. Then he’d do his stuff.’’

Les Bamblett was 22 at the end of the 1985 season.

His future looked boundless. He was one of the best small forwards in the VFL.

But it turned out football had seen the best of him.

He injured his left knee in a practice match in the 1986 pre-season, played three games, then hurt the same knee in the quarter-final of a Foster’s Cup fixture against Fitzroy.

The 1987 season brought more injuries – knee trouble and then damage to an Achilles tendon – and again only three matches.

Ahead of 1988 ace Sun football reporter Penny Crisp noted Bamblett had trimmed down from 93kg to 84.5kg and had a “large streak of determination to have an injury-free run’’.

It didn’t happen. That season he again played only three games. And he never played again, leaving league football at the age of 25 with some words from Footscray team manager Steve Nash: “He was a fantastic player if and when he could get himself right.’’

Bamblett says he didn’t deal with his injuries well. He’d never had them until 1986 and they sapped his enjoyment of the game.

With each visit to the medical room he became less motivated.

“I’d never had an injury in my life and then all of a sudden I’m doing my Achilles and doing my knees … it was a hard time,’’ Bamblett says.

“Michael McLean was always good to be around but there wasn’t much for me from the club, the help sort of thing. But it had a lot to do with myself. I didn’t want to be around at that time. I sort of lost interest in footy. I found it hard to get going again.’’

He sometimes wonders how many games he would have played and how many goals he would have kicked if he stayed on the ground.

Money was starting to come into the game; there could have been a big contract for him down the road.

In 2019 Hawkins told the Herald Sun that Bamblett was “the only bloke to kick 50 goals in the VFL (when he was) only half-fit’’.

“His awareness was freakish, his speed lightning and his balance something else. Had he stayed fit, he could have been anything.’’

Teammate Steve MacPherson says Bamblett should be regarded as a “pioneering’’ footballer, noting he was one of the first Indigenous small forwards in the game.

The likes of Cyril Rioli and Eddie Betts played with the same spirit and sense of adventure, he says.

“Lightning quick, great goal sense, very hard to contain, ‘Lelly’,’’ MacPherson says.

“Everything he did was exciting. He was such an excitement machine.’’

[GVGjr]

Continued

Three weeks ago Michael McLean spoke about the racism he suffered in football. It made for rugged reading.

Les Bamblett copped “a fair bit of it’’, from opponents and from over the fence.

“It was one of those things, people trying to get under your skin and stop you playing well,’’ he says.

Where Jimmy Krakouer burned with anger about it, Bamblett met it with silence.

Krakouer bunched his fists to retaliate. Bamblett tried to strike his blows on the scoreboard.

But on the smaller suburban grounds, he heard the put-downs about the colour of his skin.

“Like I said, water off a duck’s back sort of thing, but in real terms it hurt. It really hurt you. I don’t think I did deal with it all that well. The only Aboriginal young man at Melbourne … it shouldn’t have been happening. Some weeks it was worse than others. Depended where you were playing. Somewhere like Collingwood, it was terrible.’’

He adds: “I didn’t take it to heart back then. I do now. Main thing was back them, I was playing VFL footy. Because I loved footy, I really did.’’

Bamblett is a quiet and modest man, but he leans forward and raises his voice slightly at the suggestion the game long ago embraced Indigenous footballers.

“Has it happened like that?’’ he says. “How many Indigenous coaches or assistant coaches are there? How many Indigenous recruiters are there? How many Indigenous people are involved in the clubs offices or the Under 18 system? Not many.

“People in what I call the ‘mainstream football’ don’t understand how our young kids work or think.

“If we want to keep taking the game forward, you would hope it could change for the better.’’

*****

Les Bamblett played little football after leaving Footscray.

One year a mate got him to play a few games for Maldon in country Victoria. He kicked three goals in one of them, enough to put his name back in the newspapers.

Ten years ago, in between working as a community sports development officer for Victorian Aboriginal Community Services and being the father to six children, he coached Fitzroy Stars in the Northern league and enjoyed it. They made the finals.

He is a Bulldogs supporter and follows them closely, just as supporters followed him closely – and joyously – in 1985, the year ‘Lelly’ Bamblett lit it up for Footscray.

[Ozza]

Cody Weightman is the 13th most accurate kick for goal in the game's history - for players who have had 50 shots or more.
He's kicked 84.35 for his career.

Tory Dickson is 2nd all time. Nick Larkey is 4th.

[EasternWest]

Cody Weightman is the 13th most accurate kick for goal in the game's history - for players who have had 50 shots or more.
He's kicked 84.35 for his career.

Tory Dickson is 2nd all time. Nick Larkey is 4th.

Tory Dickson, what a steal.

[Ozza]

Tory Dickson, what a steal.

Absolutely. 181.61 for Tory.

I'd also say with Cody....you don't see him missed the lot (ie. not scoring at all - which misses these stats altogether). He knows his distance/capabilities really well, and also almost never completely shanks one.

Would love for others to look more like Cody on their set shot approach.

[Sedat]

Would love for others to look more like Cody on their set shot approach.
I like the way he always seems to take his full allotment and catch his breath before making a shot at goal. He normally runs 100m to get to the ball and would be exhausted most times whenever he takes a shot. Some of our other players don't do this and rush their kicks while still sucking in the big breaths.

[GVGjr]

Tory Dickson, what a steal.

The amount of bagging he copped in the early days was unrelenting. A victim of being one of B-Macs picks.

[The Doctor]

The Round 16 goal kicking award is named after one of our favourite sons and 2017 equal leading goal kicker, Liam Picken.

Picken arrived at the Whitten Oval via the 2009 rookie draft where he was taken at pick 30. He had done pre-seasons previously with the Bulldogs and Collingwood where he was overlooked as a father/son recruit. He spent 4 years at Williamstown winning their B&F before coming to the Bulldogs at the mature age of 23. He would go on to play 198 games for us and kick 87 goals. For most of his career he was played in more dour defensive roles and by the end of 2014 I thought he was cooked. Enter Bevo who changed everything and turned him into a superstar proving what a genius he is and what a nong I am. In my view no one characterised the spirit and brilliance of our 2016 premiership more than Liam Picken. He kicked 8 goals in our 2016 finals series and for this supporter has indelibly stamped some of my favourite football memories in a lifetime of watching the Bulldogs. These include;

The Picken from behind mark. I thought he was going to fly out of the stadium. It happened right in front of me.
The crucial goal in the last 1/4 after the Wall of Biggs play.
The run down tackle on Rampe
The "It's Over, its all over" goal as he ran into the open goal in front of 1000's of delirious and adoring fans in a sea of red, white and blue at the Punt Rd end.

In case you need reminding, here is Mr September Liam Picken

https://www.google.com/search?q=liam+picken+mvp+2016&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU903AU903&oq=liam+picken+mvp+2016&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546i649.15232j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:aad48ddb,vid:SWcwDhYTh2U

Goalkickers for Round 16 v Fremantle Shockers

Ugle-Hagan 4, Weightman 2, Naughton 2, English, Hannan, Bontempelli, Williams, Lobb, Macrae, McNeil, Dale

The Liam Picken medal goes to Jamarra


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 16

28. Naughton
21. Weightman
20. Jamarra
14. Lobb
11. Bont
10. Williams
9. Scott, English
8. Daniel
7. Macrae
6. Libba, Treloar
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Smith, Hannan
2. McNeil
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, West, Dale

Astro still leads but Flea and Jamarra are coming for him as they breakaway from the chasing pack. What a site it was to see Jamarra play like that. Those marks on the lead at full tilt. The mark over Darcy, Wow! Jack Macrae blasts past Libba & Adz and is now having his 3rd best ever goal kicking season. Go Jack! We, at last, welcome Bailey Dale to the leaderboard. Hopefully the floodgates open for him and he kicks 7 next week v Pies.

Did you know that late great Shane Warne ranked Liam Picken as his favourite player? So did our former CEO David Stevenson (now NBL CEO). Picken was also a 'Hard Nuts' ambassador for Australian Almonds. Here he is speaking about it and mercifully he doesn't sound anything like his cousin Jonathon Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YUKg2efJJ8

Finally, I fondly recall the following day after our premiership being at the Whitten Oval. I dont know how I got there. My last memory before arriving was being at the casino at some ungodly hour and next thing you know I'm at WO with 30000 ecstatic Bulldogs fans. I know I didn't go home! The ovation Picken received when presented to the crowd was as magnificent as it was loud.

Thank you Billy.

[EasternWest]

Definitely our best player over the course of the four finals.

Another ripper write up, Doc.

[The Doctor]

For the Round 17 goal kicking award we go back down the time tunnel to the late 40's & early 50's. This week we honour another great full forward from the past, the great Bill Wood.

Bill Wood made his debut in Round 1 of the 1944 season and what a debut it was. He kicked 9.1 against those freakin toothless gits, Collingwood. Still the best goal kicking debut in our history. We could have used him last weekend against the same mob of toothless gits! He would go on to play 115 games and boot 294 goals. His best season was in 1947 when he kicked 75 majors from just 16 games. Wood would * (see below) also played centre when he felt his goal kicking wasn't right which he did for extended periods. So now I expect Jamarra to play centre next week. By the time his career ended in 1951 he was considered Footscray's greatest ever full forward until the legendary Jack Collins came along. Some ol' timers reckon Bill was better than Jack. Wood, despite the 70+ years since his retirement is ranked 11th on our all time goal kicking list.


Goalkickers for Round 17 v Toothless Gits

Weightman 4, Naughton 4, Ugle-Hagan 2, Poulter


The Bill Wood medal is shared by Aaron Naughton & Cody Weightman


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 17

32. Naughton
25. Weightman
22. Jamarra
14. Lobb
11. Bont
10. Williams
9. Scott, English
8. Daniel
7. Macrae
6. Libba, Treloar
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Smith, Hannan
2. McNeil
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, West, Dale, Poulter


Our top 3 have broken right away and the question now is can Flea or Jamarra catch Astro with 6 rounds to play & hopefully finals. So who will finish 4th? Can the Bont run down the Lobb? We welcome to the leader board Caleb Poulter. I just loved his tactic of running the wrong way early in the game. This confused his opponents so they let him run. Then later when he gathered heading towards goal his opponents obviously thought he would do a U-turn and so backed off. Realising he had them fooled he drilled it. Brilliant!

Did you know Bill Wood once kicked 28 goals out of 31 for his team in a game? Not for us but for South Sydney. It was during the war years. In those years Bill and many other Footscray players joined South Sydney or other teams. Football in Sydney surged in popularity as a result and as many as 10,000 people would rock up to Trumper Park in Paddington. Even war time Prime Minister John Curtin, a Footscray supporter, would attend games. I also have fond memories of Trumper Park. My son booted 4 goals on debut for the mighty East Sydney Bulldogs Auskick team!

* I like the 'Wood would' part of the sentence. It made me think of Edward Woodward, the actor who appeared in the movie Breaker Morant. Did you know that if you took the D away from his name it would be E-war Woo-war?

[bulldogtragic]

Geez, Bont kicks straight and he’s comfortably above Lobb! Not great reading for Rory.

[bornadog]

Top three with 79 goals - fantastic

[Go_Dogs]

Top three with 79 goals - fantastic

Naughton should end up around mid to high 40’s again which is great and Cody / Marra as younger players doing well too.

Lobb hasn’t quite had the impact I’d hoped he would.

Great stat that Naughton has foaled in each game. Feels like he’s had a “down” year based on vibe, but he’s probably been ok to good on balance. Maybe a big bag against WCE gets him to 50.

[EasternWest]

Great stat that Naughton has foaled in each game.

That sounds uncomfortable but aligns with what I've heard about AFL players getting around.

[Grantysghost]

That sounds uncomfortable but aligns with what I've heard about AFL players getting around.

Like the pony with the sore throat.

He sounds pretty crook...!

No he's just a little hoarse.

(thankyou thankyou).

[The Doctor]

For the Round 18 goal kicking award we honour Richard Osborne who was our leading goalscorer in 1995 with 53 majors.

Osborne, aka "Tricky Dicky" by Lou Richards came to the Bulldogs after 11 years at Fitzroy and one season at Sydney. He played 51 matches for us and booted 98 goals. He was a very clever player who usually lined up on a half forward flank where he regularly displayed what great mark, kick & brilliant opportunist he was. In a 1/3rd of his games with us he kicked 3 goals or more. Tricky Dicky particularly like dining out on St Kilda helping himself to 18 goals in the 4 games he played for us against the Aints.


Goalkickers for Round 18 v Shitney

Naughton 3, Bontempelli 2, Liberatore, Vandermeer, Poulter, Weightman, Scott, Ugle-Hagan

The Richard Osborne medal is won by Aaron Naughton


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 18

35. Naughton
26. Weightman
23. Jamarra
14. Lobb
13. Bont
10. Williams, Scott
9. English
8. Daniel
7. Macrae, Libba
6. Treloar
4. JJ, Arty
3. Baker, Smith, Hannan
2. McNeil, Poulter
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, West, Dale, Vandermeer

It's now Astro breaking away and leads by 9. I thought Astro was awesome and was considering giving him an extra goal for his valiant efforts. It's going to take a couple of big bags from Flea or Jamarra to catch him now. Bont is closing in on 4th spot. Meanwhile Libba is now having it out with Macrae. Poulter doubles his season tally and we welcome Vandermeer to the leaderboard. I liked how Vanders confidently pointed at goal to let everyone know his intention then blasted it in.

Did you know that Richard Osborne's career tally of 574 goals has him ranked 43rd on the all time AFL leading goalkickers? One behind our very own Buster Beazer!

So Tricky Dicky played for 4 clubs; Fitzroy, Sydney, Footscray and Collingwood. There was another player from the same era who played for the first 3 (not in the same order) and then finished his career at a 4th club. His last game at the 4th club was in a losing Grand Final. Who am I? (not me, the player).

[Grantysghost]

Only player I can think of is Pike?

[The Doctor]

Only player I can think of is Pike?

Pike didn't play for us or Sydney.

[JanLorMill]

Coleman?

[The Doctor]

Coleman?

Good guess

He played for us, Fitzroy & Sydney, but didn't play his last game at another club in a losing Grand final

[bulldogtragic]

Good guess

He layed for us, Fitzroy & Sydney, but didn't play his last game at another club in a losing Grand final

Athorn? I’m trying to rack my brain for Fitzroy & Sydney players. I thought I’d my old fav Matty Dent, so that was good.

[Sedat]

Athorn? I’m trying to rack my brain for Fitzroy & Sydney players. I thought I’d my old fav Matty Dent, so that was good.
I think we have a winner

[GVGjr]

I thought it was Stuart Wigney but it does sound like its Mark Athorn

[The Doctor]

Athorn? I’m trying to rack my brain for Fitzroy & Sydney players. I thought I’d my old fav Matty Dent, so that was good.

we do have a winner!

[bulldogtragic]

we do have a winner!

Oh wow. I really didn’t expect this, I don’t have a speech. It’s just an honour to post with all of these fine members. I want to thank God. And Jebus for inventing bread and wine. I love carbs and alcohol. I want to thank my family for teaching me how to use a computer. I want to thank my admin moderator, he knows who he is. I want to thank Noho Hank for inspiring me to live my dreams. I want all the little boys and girls out there to know that you too can grow up to join an anonymous online footy forum and and use your useless information too to change the world. Dream big, you live once so make it count. Thank you again.

[Axe Man]

I was wondering how Athorn at only 25 was deemed good enough to make a grand final side but then never played AFL again?

Then I read he tagged Michael Long in that final game who of course won the Norm Smith and it made sense.

[Sedat]

I was wondering how Athorn at only 25 was deemed good enough to make a grand final side but then never played AFL again?

Then I read he tagged Michael Long in that final game who of course won the Norm Smith and it made sense.
How did Mark Bairstow feel after his direct opponent won the Normie in 1992 (Matera) and 1994 (Kemp)? Not a great deal of two-way running by the Geelong midfield under Blighty.

[The Doctor]

The Round 19 goal kicking award this week is named after another 2016 premiership hero, Jake 'Jesse' Stringer. He topped our goal kicking for three successive years in 2015, 2016 & 2017 (shared with Picken)

The Package as he is also known played 89 games for the Bulldogs and kicked 160 goals. He arrived at the Bulldogs as pick 5 in the 2012 AFL draft ands wore the number 9. There is no doubt he played his best football in 2015 and the first half of 2016 when he was at his explosive best. His best haul came against the Crows when he kicked 6. My favourite performance from him however was against the Lions at Docklands in 2015. He was devastating that day booting 5 as we smashed them by 72 points. He would kick 5 or more goals seven times for us. At the Bummers in 99 games he has only done it twice against mighty foes like Gold Coast and lolNorf. I also loved that he provided the final pass to Dickson in the 2016 PF and to Picken in the GF to seal those fantastic games.


Goalkickers for Round 19 v Essendope

Ugle-Hagan 3, Weightman 3, Bontempelli 2, Scott, Naughton, West, Baker, Treloar


The Jesse Jack Jase Jake (try saying that fast 3 times) Stringer medal is shared between Jamarra and Flea


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 19

36. Naughton
29. Weightman
26. Jamarra
15. Bont
14. Lobb
11. Scott
10. Williams
9. English
8. Daniel
7. Macrae, Libba, Treloar
4. JJ, Arty, Baker
3. Smith, Hannan
2. McNeil, Poulter, West
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, Dale, Vandermeer

It's not over yet folks. Flea & Jamarra make up some ground on Naughty as Bont bursts into 4th place. Whenever Bont kicks 25 goals or more in a season we make the Grand final. Only 10 to go! Scott deftly moves into 6th spot. Treloar joins Libba & Macrae in the battle of the midfielders. Should these 3 draw equal with Daniel I propose they have a cage wrestling match to determine the winner. I'd back Libba in that one.

Did you know in the Bevo era Stringer in his only game for the Bulldogs v Essendrugs he booted 4 goals. In his 6 games for Essington vs the Bulldogs he has kicked a total of 4 goals.

Feast your eyes on these numbers for a moment. 41, 32, 49, 42, 104, 21, 30, 40 & 87. We have won 9 of our last 10 matches v Essendung and these were the margins. Jakey boy played in 6 of those losses. But he is still a Bullgod!


This week's report was brought to you by the number 9, the letter J and Dermot Brereton

[EasternWest]

Good work Doc.

Jesse Stringer. Never gets old. Like his girlfriends.

[Sedat]

Good work Doc.

Jesse Stringer. Never gets old. Like his girlfriends.
He reminds me of Booger from Revenge of the Nerds who was "combing the high schools all day" looking for dates

[The Doctor]

Sorry for being a bit late this week. The Bulldogs have been in my naughty corner and just allowed out!

This week we have a very special nomination for our weekly honorary goal kicking award. Special because he was one of my favourite players. The Round 20 goal kicking award honours the colossal Ilija Grgic.

Grgic was a behemoth of the competition during his time with us. He played for us from 1993-96 for a total of 62 games and slotted 92 goals. He was huge! He played as the 2nd Ruck/Forward for most of his career at the Bulldogs but would often take over as No.1 ruck in the absence of the legendary Scott Wynd. He kicked quite a few bags which was a monumental effort for someone playing that kind of role. He kicked 6 against The Demons in R8, 1994 but my fave was when he teamed up with his partner in crime Ben Sexton in only his 9th game in the 1993 season. They slammed 6 each against the rising Kangas. They kicked most of them in the first half too. What a sight that was. Whereas the the much vaunted Kangas combo of Carey & Longmire could only manage 4 between them. Grgic & Sexton made Carey & Longmire look like Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum that day. Now thats something they can tell their grand kids about when gathered around the fire at story time.


Goalkickers for Round 20 v AFL Love Children

English 2, Treloar 2, B.Smith, Johannisen, West, Naughton, Weightman, Dale


The Ilija Grgic medal is shared between English & Treloar


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 20

37. Naughton
30. Weightman
26. Jamarra
15. Bont
14. Lobb
11. Scott, English
10. Williams
9. Treloar
8. Daniel
7. Macrae, Libba
5. JJ
4. Arty, Baker, B.Smith
3. Hannan, West
2. McNeil, Poulter, Dale
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, Vandermeer

Well what can I say about this weeks goal kicking? Not much really. But I did watch a replay of the 2016 Grand Final this week and oh my God I could prattle on about that for hours, days even. Don't get me started on Zaine Cordy kicking the opening goal and his demolition of the Plastics in the prelim!

Did you know that on at least 2 occassions Ilija Grgic kicked bags in low scoring games to help us to victory? He booted 5 out of 9 when we sunk Brisbane in 95 & snagged 4 out of 8 to dismiss the Dawks.

I'm throwing it out there. That if Wallace had of got hold of Grgic in 97 he would have got the best out of him and he would have replaced Darcy in the team and we would have won our 2nd GF. Then add in Southern, Kolyniuk & Dimattina and we would have won by 150 points.

[bornadog]

How good is Weightman with 30 goals to date. Had a shocker last week, but bobs up for a goal every now and then

[Danjul]

Sorry for being a bit late this week. The Bulldogs have been in my naughty corner and just allowed out!

This week we have a very special nomination for our weekly honorary goal kicking award. Special because he was one of my favourite players. The Round 20 goal kicking award honours the colossal Ilija Grgic.

Grgic was a behemoth of the competition during his time with us. He played for us from 1993-96 for a total of 62 games and slotted 92 goals. He was huge! He played as the 2nd Ruck/Forward for most of his career at the Bulldogs but would often take over as No.1 ruck in the absence of the legendary Scott Wynd. He kicked quite a few bags which was a monumental effort for someone playing that kind of role. He kicked 6 against The Demons in R8, 1994 but my fave was when he teamed up with his partner in crime Ben Sexton in only his 9th game in the 1993 season. They slammed 6 each against the rising Kangas. They kicked most of them in the first half too. What a sight that was. Whereas the the much vaunted Kangas combo of Carey & Longmire could only manage 4 between them. Grgic & Sexton made Carey & Longmire look like Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum that day. Now thats something they can tell their grand kids about when gathered around the fire at story time.


Goalkickers for Round 20 v AFL Love Children

English 2, Treloar 2, B.Smith, Johannisen, West, Naughton, Weightman, Dale



I'm throwing it out there. That if Wallace had of got hold of Grgic in 97 he would have got the best out of him and he would have replaced Darcy in the team and we would have won our 2nd GF. Then add in Southern, Kolyniuk & Dimattina and we would have won by 150 points.

Why was his career only 4 seasons?

[bulldogtragic]

Why was his career only 4 seasons?

Got traded to WCE, and later Essendon. We picked up (all time favourite) Matty Dent with the pick.

[Go_Dogs]

Good one Doc. One player I liked / stands out in my memory I would’ve been 8 or so when he started and we didn’t get much Dogs coverage back in Adelaide in those days. He often played with a glove which was quite novel at the time. Never quite amounted to what I thought he might.

[GVGjr]

How good is Weightman with 30 goals to date. Had a shocker last week, but bobs up for a goal every now and then

He got off to a slow start to the season as well. Needs to finish the season off strongly.

[The Doctor]

How good is Weightman with 30 goals to date. Had a shocker last week, but bobs up for a goal every now and then

Flea kicked 36.10 last year from 21 games

This year so far 30.17 from 15

So statistically he is having his best goal scoring season. He has already had more shots at goal than last year.

[bornadog]

Flea kicked 36.10 last year from 21 games

This year so far 30.17 from 15

So statistically he is having his best goal scoring season. He has already had more shots at goal than last year.

Hopefully he kicks a few tonight

[The Doctor]

The Round 21 goal kicking award honours another favourite son in Rohan Smith who topped our goal kicking in 2000 with 42 majors.

Smith made his debut for the Bulldogs in round 1, 1992 as a skinny winger with a mullet Caleb Poulter would have been proud of. He had come up through the u/19's and went on to have a long distinguished career. He played 300 games for the Bulldogs and kicked 254 goals and would twice earn All Australian honours. He is best remembered as a marauding hard running half back who loved to bomb magnificent long range goals from outside 50 on the run. He was a very versatile player and would often be swung forward particularly during the Wallace era even lining up at full forward in big matches. 4 times in his career he would kick a bag of 5. A super player who has is now on the coaching panel at the dogs. Smithy is no doubt a Bulldog through and through.


Goalkickers for Round 21 v Tiggers

Ugle-Hagan 5, Bontempelli 3, Naughton 3, Lobb 2, West 2, Daniel 2, Weightman, English

The Rohan Smith medal is won by Jamarra


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 21

40. Naughton
31. Weightman, Jamarra
18. Bont
16. Lobb
12. English
11. Scott
10. Williams, Daniel
9. Treloar
7. Macrae, Libba
5. JJ, West
4. Arty, Baker, B.Smith
3. Hannan
2. McNeil, Poulter, Dale
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, Vandermeer

Wasn't it great to see the return of the 4 headed monster v Richmond. It looked a little different to the one we started the season with when we had Astro, Jamarra, Lobb & Darcy. This time it was Astro, Jamarra, Lobb and Daniel. How about Daniel taking that fantastic contested overhead mark to boot his first. The way he used his body in that contest to out manoeuvre his opponent would have made Buster Beazer proud. Jamarra's rampant 1st 1/4 helps him back into = 2nd spot. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when Bont kicks 25+ a season we make the Grand final. He's moving into position with another 3 and holds 4th spot.

The Bulldogs are the only team this season to have 3 players kick more than 30 goals who are all 23 or younger!

Did you know Rohan Smith ranks 14th for most career goals at the Dogs? Not bad for a half back flanker!

[bulldogtragic]

The top three brought up their century!

Our ruck and second ruck average over 1.5 goals a game (allowing for the VFL stint if two games). I wonder where that situates us in the league.

Jack Macrae Watch: his season best is 9 goals. He’s on 7.

Great work as usual Doc!

[bornadog]

love these posts each week Doc. Thankyou

[The Doctor]

The Round 22 goal kicking award honours another Footscray champion from the past, the legendary Merv Hobbs.

Merv Hobbs came to the Doggies from Daylesford. He made his debut against the Dawks in Round 8, 1961 and would quickly establish himself as the 1st rover and then rest in the forward pocket where he proved to be a clever goal sneak. Hobbs played 74 games for us and booted an impressive 115 goals. Twice he topped our goal kicking. Firstly with a mammoth 16 goals in 1963 when he tied with Georgie Bisset and then won it outright in 1965 with 24. However his best season was his first in 61 when he snagged 30, including 3 in the preliminary final drubbing of Melbourne (we used to own them in big games back then). This was the game where he took the real mark of the century. Ted Whitten described it as "like a rocket taking off at Cape Canaverel". His best haul in a game was 8 v South Melbourne in 62. His VFL career however came to an abrupt end when he smashed his knee and retired at the tender age of 23.

Here is Merv doing his thing in the 61 Grand final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=292Ak5_fK-Q


Goalkickers for Round 22 v The Dawks (I really hate Hawthorn, they were the first opposition team I ever hated and not just because their colours are of pee and poo, but my Dad supported them and used to carry on about Hudson, then I started hating all the other teams)

Ugle-Hagan 2, Lobb 2, Williams, West, Treloar, English, Baker

The Merv Hobbs medal is shared between Jamarra & The Lobbster.


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 22

40. Naughton
33. Jamarra
31. Weightman
18. Bont, Lobb
13. English
11. Williams
10. Daniel, Treloar
7. Macrae, Libba
6. West
5. JJ, Baker
4. Arty, B.Smith
3. Hannan
2. McNeil, Poulter, Dale
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, Vandermeer

It's not over yet folks. Jamarra reclaims 2nd spot and closes in on Astro who didn't snag one for the first time this season. Flea also going through a bit of a drought after we sung his praises a couple of weeks back. Maybe best not to do that! The Lobbster is starting to fire up and catches the Bont. My nomination for goal of the year is for Rhylee West's magnificent take down of Sicily when he was kicking in. That should be on our highlights reel for the season and should be played on the big screen whenever we play those miserable Dawks.

Did you know Merv Hobbs applied for the Footscray coaching position in 72 only to miss out to Bob Rose. He later became Chairman of selectors in 76. Perhaps he should make a comeback.

I think, in all seriousness, that the major reason we are so inconsistent at the moment is that we don't have a Merv in our team and haven't had one for years. Imagine if we had a Merv Bontempelli or a Merv Lobb or Merv Liberatore what a difference it would make. How about Merv West? Couldn't get much more Bulldog than that!

[Grantysghost]

Thanks doc love these.

23 wow that's so young!

[bornadog]

Thanks doc love these.

23 wow that's so young!

So many retired young when doing a knee back then.

[The Doctor]

Has everyone calmed down yet? Ive been thinking that the Bulldogs need more bad ass. So! The Round 23 goal kicking award honours Big Bad Barry Hall

Big Bad Baz (BBB) joined us in 2010 although Rocket Eade did try hard to get him for the 2009 season. BBB gave us 2 terrific seasons and topped the goal kicking in both year's in the twighlight of his career. He played 39 games for us and slotted 135 goals. He was a very accurate shot at goal with a 70% accuracy rating in his time with us. We should get him down to the kennel to help some of our guys! 21 times he kicked 4 or more goals in a game for us including his last 8 games. Thats quite a strike rate. Pity he didn't play another year with the way he finished in 2011. His best game came in the infamous clash with lolNorf in R18, 2010 when he kicked 7 opposed to Scott Thompson in a 71 point drubbing.

Here is BBB being a bad ass. Even Scott Thompson's mum went on radio and said her son was stupid, lol!

https://www.google.com/search?q=barry+town+hall+v+north+&sca_esv=559765737&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU903AU903&biw=1363&bih=699&tbm=vid&ei=VafnZJP8G7ucseMPzdef-A4&ved=0ahUKEwjT-r6I_PWAAxU7TmwGHc3rB-8Q4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=barry+town+hall+v+north+&gs_lp=Eg1nd3Mtd2l6LXZpZGVvIhhiYXJyeSB0b3duIGhhbGwgdiBub3J0aC AyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigAUiuZlDeF1iVX3 AAeACQAQCYAZkDoAHzDaoBCTAuNy4xLjAuMbgBA8gBAPgBAcICBRAAGIAEwg IGEAAYFhgewgIIEAAYigUYhgPCAggQIRgWGB4YHcICBxAhGKABGArCAgQQIR gViAYB&sclient=gws-wiz-video#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:41fa9daf,vid:CFPCqWnV3ks


Goalkickers for Round 23 v The Wiggles

Lobb 3, West, Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Treloar, Scott, Naughton, English, Bontempelli, Baker

The BBB medal is awarded to The Lobbster.


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 23

41. Naughton
34. Jamarra
32. Weightman
21. Lobb
19. Bont
14. English
12. Scott
11. Williams, Treloar
10. Daniel
7. Macrae, Libba, West
6. Baker
5. JJ
4. Arty, B.Smith
3. Hannan
2. McNeil, Poulter, Dale
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell, Vandermeer

The Lobbster continues his fine late season form and now is outright 4th. He is having his 3rd best goalkicking season and the season isn't over, yet! I don't know why Bevo and the MC aren't listening to me. I'll say it again. When Bont kicks 25+ in a season we make the GF. SO PUT BONT AT FULL FORWARD! he'll kick 6 and we will be on our way. Rhylee West is also in good scoring form with at least 1 goal in his past 5 games. So to beat the Handbaggers our full forward line should read; F: Lobb, Bont, West and at CHF we should bring back BBB. We can't lose!

Did you know in 2010 when BBB kicked 80.41 for that year it was his equal highest tally in a season? He also kicked 80.41 for the Swans in their premiership year 2005. But statistically his 2010 year was better because he achieved the feat in 2 less games.

Who on our list could be a bad ass like BBB? How about these BBB's?

Big Bad Bont?
Big Bad Bazlenka?
Big Bad Bailey?
Big Bad Buku?
Big Bad Baker Boy (BBBB)?
Big Bad OBrien (B-BOB)?

any takers?

[EasternWest]

Doc, another masterful performance.

[Grantysghost]

Big Bad Buku ha love it.

Big bad Bevo?

[The Doctor]

Big bad Bevo?

Lol good one GG

[The Doctor]

Time to wrap it up folks. The Round 24 and final goal kicking award for 2023 honours sharp shooting medium forward Paul Hudson.

Hudson, joined the Bulldogs via the pre season draft. He played 108 games for us between 1997-2001 and booted 214 goals. Twice he topped our goal kicking with 61 in 98 and made All Australian, then backed it up in 99 with 51. His best game came in R4, 2001 when he slammed home 8 in our 53 point smacking of eventual premier, Brisbane Lions. He was a beautiful kick of the footy and superb reader of the ball in flight. He knew when to mark or when to peel off and crumb. Flea watch his video's if you're reading this. I’d have Paul in my top 5 kicks for goal at our club.


Goalkickers for Round 24 v The Handbaggers

Lobb 3, Naughton 3, English 2, Treloar 2, Weightman 2, Poulter, Vandermeer, Liberatore, Ugle-Hagan


The Paul Hudson medal is shared by The Lobbster & Astro.


The Buster Beazer Leaderboard after Round 24

44. Naughton
35. Jamarra
34. Weightman
24. Lobb
19. Bont
16. English
13. Treloar
12. Scott
11. Williams
10. Daniel,
8. Libba
7. Macrae, West
6. Baker
5. JJ
4. Arty, B.Smith
3. Hannan, Poulter
2. McNeil, Dale, Vandermeer
1. Garcia, McComb, Gardner, Richards, O'Donnell,

Congratulations to Astro Naughton for taking out the 2023 Buster Beazer medal with 44 goals for the year. This is the 2nd time he has won the goalkicking. Congrats also to Jamarra on his stellar rise to take out 2nd place. Watch out for him in 2024. In 3rd place is Flea Weightman who did so well after missing those early games.

Also well done to these players for having their best goalkicking season (ist year players not included)

Bailey Williams, Oscar Baker, Jamarra, Anthony Scott, Caleb Poulter,


So back in Round 6 I had a slight dig at Peter Hudson because he claimed the title of best, ever Tasmanian goal kicker from its’ rightful owner, North Hobart and Footscray legend Alan Rait. Well now I’m going to have a serious dig.

Did you know Paul’s dad, Peter Hudson, was the owner/manager of the Granada Tavern in Hobart? The Granada was the epitome of Australian kitsch in the mid 70’s. With its’ ‘Spanish themes and archways interspersed with hideous purple and orange swirls in the carpet and the monstrous red velvet floor to ceiling curtains. The Granada stood peerless as a beacon of Tasmanian schlock. But the Hobart housewives loved it. None more so than my mother who I’m sure was so influenced by the Granada’s decor she schlocked our house with it along with a few illuminous yellow lava lamps.

cont..

[The Doctor]

The Granada however was also about the only venue in pre casino Hobart that could hold about 500 in a cabaret style setting. It was the entertainment mecca of Hobart in the mid 70’s. Liberace would play there if he ever came to town. He would have fitted right in.

Problem was, hardly any A list entertainers came to Hobart in those days and certainly no headline international acts. If you wanted to see John Denver or Nana Mouskouri you had to leave on a jet plane and go to Melbourne or Sydney to see them. If any A list Aussie entertainers came it was huge news. Norman Gunston appeared at the Granada and it was splashed in the social pages of The Mockery (Mercury Newspaper) forever afterwards.

I mean for evening entertainment in Hobart the only major attractions I ever saw as a kid was the World Championship Wrestling, when King Curtis beat Bulldog Brower in a cage match, or seeing The Irish Rovers at the Theatre Royal with Hobart’s blue rinse set. We all happily sang ‘What Shall We do With A Drunken Sailor’ all the way home. Otherwise, it was the Scottish Military Tattoo at North Hobart Oval or the Tasmanian Youth Brass Band at the Salamanca markets on a Saturday afternoon. That’s about it folks.

Still, The Granada attracted the Hobart glitterati and B grade celebrities. Men would dress in their safari suits with a brown tie or brown suits with wide shirt collars with the top button undone and a tuft of chest hair sprouting out at the top. While the Women still wearing their beehive hairdos from the 60’s would wear their lovely evening gowns of bright orange or yellow or some lilac thing. All of them heavily laden with as much jewellery as their heads and arms could support. It was like all the Mum’s had just come from a Cash Converters sale. Some women wore outfits with the same colours that blended in perfectly with the Granada’s decor. They would have been perfectly camouflaged if it wasn’t for their heads, beehive hairdo’s & jewellery seemingly floating in thin air giving them away. The heavy stench of after shave and perfume mixed made the air inside the Granada so thick your soft drink could almost float on it.

One late afternoon my Mum came up to my sister and I and excitedly declared “Kids, we’re going out tonight, hurry up and get dressed in your best.” Wow this was weird. This never happened. It would take something monumental to drag my Dad away from the Saturday night spaghetti western on Channel 6. The only times I can recall going out on a Saturday night was either to a function at my Dad’s soccer club or to Uncle Sid’s house. But why did we have to dress up in our best? Were we going to church?

“Where are we going” my sister and I asked in unison with reciprocated excitement?

“It’s a big surprise! We’re going to see a show” she proudly announced with her face beaming.

“A show?” My sister and I in perfect synchronicity replied with voices several semitones and decibels higher in raised levels of anticipation

“Who, who, who??????” we spat out in rapid succession. We must have sounded like owls on heat.

“Is it AC-DC mum? Skyhooks? What about the Sweet?” I asked hopefully. I would have settled for Bay city Rollers, but definitely not, The Osmonds.

“We’re not going to see those long-haired louts” responded my still beaming mother.

“Abba?” enquired my sister with equal optimism. I whispered to her they were also long-haired louts.

“Ok enough, It’s a big surprise, now go on get ready” With that Mum fled to get ready herself before us kids could interrogate her any further.

cont...

[The Doctor]

My first thought was we heading to to my Dad’s soccer club to see one of his mates singing Eastern European folk songs we had never heard of while squeezing the life out of a piano accordion. Mum’s excitement suggested it was going to be better than that. Really? So, who could it be?

The Sherlock in me decided that Mum would have instigated this. It would be someone she liked but also my Dad would have had to approve. My immediate thought was it was Elvis. But we would have heard all about it if Elvis was coming? Mum would have drilled this news into us with monotonous regularity.

Then I thought of Billy Vaughan and his Orchestra. Mum used to play the song ‘La Paloma’ every Saturday when doing the domestics. I swear Benny and Bjorn from Abba used the sax riff in it for I do I do I do. The album cover had a lovely white dove on it with a blue sky background. Very lovely. I had doubts it would be them.

Then I thought of Engelbert Humperdinck because he sang ‘Spanish Eyes” which my Mum must have played to us about 10,000 times. My Dad however loved the song “Una Paloma Blanca” because he thought it was a song dedicated to the freedom fighters who stood up against communism in Eastern Europe. Whoever that band was, it could be them. I was now totally convinced it had to be someone with Spanish connotations or who could appease my parents’ obsession with white doves.

We arrived at the Granada and once I had my first look inside I was convinced that this was exactly the kind of place Engelbert Humperdinck would appear at. I overheard someone say the entertainment “should be funny” I now thought it was going to be Benny Hill. I hoped he would sing the song about Ernie, who drove the fastest milk cart in the west!

Suddenly there was a hush and the great man arrived, standing proudly at the stage door entrance was Peter Hudson himself. As the spotlight focussed on him the lights dimmed. He was like a God to the men and a movie star to the Hobart ladies. He was there in his tux with a giant bow tie of a hideous mossy green colour that looked as though some alien moth had latched onto his throat. Huddo seemed very pleased with himself.

The moment arrived and the excitement levels at the Granada were about to lift the roof off the place. Who was about to come out of that stage door? Elvis? No! Billy Vaughan? No! Englebert? Nope! The Una Paloma Blanca band? Nup! Bounding out of that stage as though he was driving the fastest milk cart in the west came none other than ERNIE SIGLEY.

We spent the evening with Ernie Sigley (well 45 minutes of it) he told us a couple of lame jokes. Sang Hound Dog which fired up my Mum and that was about it. He didn’t even bring Ding Dong with him. Well at least he was a Footscray supporter I consoled myself with.

So Peter Hudson, entrepreneur and mover and shaker in the Hobart entertainment industry gave us Ernie when I really wanted AC DC. I won’t forgive him for that. I still stand by that Alan Rait of North Hobart & Footscray is the greatest Tasmanian goal kicker of all time and that our full forwards of the 70’s, Mel Arnold, Fuzzy Manson and our own BBB, Big Bad Bob Smith were also much better and I won’t be convinced otherwise.

Many years later after we had moved away to the mainland I returned, as a long haired lout, and stopped by the Granada for a nostalgic moment. It had retained all its’ kitsch and I couldn’t help but have a chuckle. Was that a young Paul Hudson I saw hanging about? I do admit being grateful to Peter for giving us Paul.

cont...

[The Doctor]

P.S. For your listening and viewing pleasure



The Irish Rovers – What Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk2y_j-XrIM


Billy Vaughan and La Paloma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmsUi1_0FeI


Englebert Humperdinck and Spanish Eyes

https://www.google.com/search?q=englebert+humperdinck+spanish+eyes&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU903AU903&oq=englebert+humperdinck+spanish+eyes&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i13i512j69i64j0i13i512l4j0i22i30.2823604 208j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:af29b891,vid:-X0U9ssKvRs


Benny Hill and Ernie (The Fastest Milk Cart in the West)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI


And the best for last. The greatest film clip ever made. You can thank my Dad for this. Una Paloma Blanca

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


See you next year, Goodbye. The End

[bulldogtragic]

Love it, awesome, brilliant. That could be the story of 2023 ‘wanted AC/DC, got Ernie Sigley’.

I love woof!

[JanLorMill]

And the best for last. The greatest film clip ever made. You can thank my Dad for this. Una Paloma Blanca

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


See you next year, Goodbye. The End
Sorry I had to stop it once I saw the silver flared one piece tackle mashers.
I thought the George Baker selection version was bad

[bornadog]

Thanks Doc for this thread this year, I have really enjoyed reading it each week.

[josie]

P.S. For your listening and viewing pleasure



The Irish Rovers ? What Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk2y_j-XrIM


Billy Vaughan and La Paloma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmsUi1_0FeI


Englebert Humperdinck and Spanish Eyes

https://www.google.com/search?q=englebert+humperdinck+spanish+eyes&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU903AU903&oq=englebert+humperdinck+spanish+eyes&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i13i512j69i64j0i13i512l4j0i22i30.2823604 208j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:af29b891,vid:-X0U9ssKvRs


Benny Hill and Ernie (The Fastest Milk Cart in the West)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI


And the best for last. The greatest film clip ever made. You can thank my Dad for this. Una Paloma Blanca

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


See you next year, Goodbye. The End

Great list. Thanks Doc.

How about Tony Orlando?s ?Tie a Yellow Ribbon??

[The Doctor]

Great list. Thanks Doc.

How about Tony Orlando?s ?Tie a Yellow Ribbon??

Don't get me started Josie!

I'll raise you Knock 3 times

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0zEgxN60yMkwxYPQSzM7LT85WKMkoSk1VKM nMTS0GAK2TCtQ&q=knock+three+times&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU903AU903&oq=knock+thre&aqs=chrome.1.0i131i355i433i512j46i131i433i512j69i57j0i512l2j 46i512j0i512l2j46i512j0i512.10378j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d0c8c0ee,vid:uw2eitx9Ly0

[josie]

Ahh-drum roll Benny Hill music, regarding songs about knockers, I’ll trump Tony Orlando with our very own home grown Liv Maessen:

“Knock Knock, Who’s There….”.

And as I show myself out, my all time fave Lynne Randell (who ended up as Molly Meldrum’s personal secretary):

“Ciao Baby”.

[EasternWest]

Doc this is your magnum opus.

Can't wait to see what you bring us next year but it's gonna be hard to top.

[The Doctor]

The 2023 Buster Beazer Honour Board

Round 4 Aaron Naughton medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 5 The Jason Watts medal goes to Cody Weightman

Round 6 The Alan Rait medal is shared by Bailey Williams & Aaron Naughton

Round 7 The Laurie Sandilands medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 8 The Simon Minton-Connell medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 9 The Darren Collins medal goes to Anthony Scott

Round 10 The Danny Delre medal is shared by Anthony Scott & Jack Macrae

Round 11 The Alby Morrison medal is won by Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

Round 12 The Allen Jakovich medal is shared by; Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Treloar, Smith, Richards, O'Donnell, Naughton, Macrae, Lobb, Daniel

Round 13 The Stewart Crameri medal has been snapped up by Cody Weightman

Round 14 The Lelly Bamblett medal goes to Cody Weightman

Round 16 The Liam Picken medal goes to Jamarra

Round 17 The Bill Wood medal is shared by Aaron Naughton & Cody Weightman

Round 18 The Richard Osborne medal is won by Aaron Naughton

Round 19 The Jesse Jack Jase Jake (try saying that fast 3 times) Stringer medal is shared between Jamarra and Flea

Round 20 The Ilija Grgic medal is shared between English & Treloar

Round 21 The Rohan Smith medal is won by Jamarra

Round 22 The Merv Hobbs medal is shared between Jamarra & The Lobbster.

Round 23 The BBB medal is awarded to The Lobbster.

Round 24 The Paul Hudson Medal goes to The Lobbster & Astro Naughton


Congrats to all the winners. Who new will be among the weekly winners in 2024? Despite finishing top 5 on the Buster Beazer leaderboard The Bont has yet to win a weekly goalkicking award named after one of our past greats. Ive heard he has vowed to fix this anomaly and this will be a considerable motivating force for him 2024.

[Sedat]

No love for Shane Loveless, Adrian Campbell, Sam Lloyd or Billy Gowers?

[DadBod]

Reckon it'll be close but my money's on Marra. The amount of games he kicked 0.3, 1.3, 2.2 etc. Could've almost kicked a bag half a dozen times.

[The Doctor]

No love for Shane Loveless, Adrian Campbell, Sam Lloyd or Billy Gowers?

We haven't started the 24 Buster Beazer Leaderboard yet. Coming soon!!

[ledge]

Oops I thought it was for 2024, so I voted JUH.

[EasternWest]

We haven't started the 24 Buster Beazer Leaderboard yet. Coming soon!!

Absolutely sterling work Doc possibly my favourite thread. Can't wait for this year.

[DadBod]

Oops I thought it was for 2024, so I voted JUH.

You and me both.

[Twodogs]

The 2023 Buster Beazer Honour Board

Round 4 Aaron Naughton medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 5 The Jason Watts medal goes to Cody Weightman

Round 6 The Alan Rait medal is shared by Bailey Williams & Aaron Naughton

Round 7 The Laurie Sandilands medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 8 The Simon Minton-Connell medal goes to Aaron Naughton

Round 9 The Darren Collins medal goes to Anthony Scott

Round 10 The Danny Delre medal is shared by Anthony Scott & Jack Macrae

Round 11 The Alby Morrison medal is won by Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

Round 12 The Allen Jakovich medal is shared by; Weightman, Ugle-Hagan, Treloar, Smith, Richards, O'Donnell, Naughton, Macrae, Lobb, Daniel

Round 13 The Stewart Crameri medal has been snapped up by Cody Weightman

Round 14 The Lelly Bamblett medal goes to Cody Weightman

Round 16 The Liam Picken medal goes to Jamarra

Round 17 The Bill Wood medal is shared by Aaron Naughton & Cody Weightman

Round 18 The Richard Osborne medal is won by Aaron Naughton

Round 19 The Jesse Jack Jase Jake (try saying that fast 3 times) Stringer medal is shared between Jamarra and Flea

Round 20 The Ilija Grgic medal is shared between English & Treloar

Round 21 The Rohan Smith medal is won by Jamarra

Round 22 The Merv Hobbs medal is shared between Jamarra & The Lobbster.

Round 23 The BBB medal is awarded to The Lobbster.

Round 24 The Paul Hudson Medal goes to The Lobbster & Astro Naughton


Congrats to all the winners. Who new will be among the weekly winners in 2024? Despite finishing top 5 on the Buster Beazer leaderboard The Bont has yet to win a weekly goalkicking award named after one of our past greats. Ive heard he has vowed to fix this anomaly and this will be a considerable motivating force for him 2024.

No Kelvin Templeton?

That's as bad as his continued absence from the AFL HOF!

[EasternWest]

No Kelvin Templeton?

That's as bad as his continued absence from the AFL HOF!

Why have you never mentioned this before?

[Twodogs]

Why have you never mentioned this before?

I obviously don't rate KT enough