Remember 1997

[alwaysadog]

In 1996 after playing in the finals for 3 of the previous years we finished last, all but for the never to be seen again Fitzroy. The Peter Gordon board faded away in the off season and a task force including David Smorgon and Rick Kennedy installed Terry Wallace as the new coach.

He oversaw the most rigorous preseason so far witnessed by an AFL club. The season began slowly with a loss to Freo at our new home at Princes Park, but soon gathered pace and we finished in the top four after the home and away season. In the first final we easily accounted for Sydney. And after a week's break took on Adelaide. We jumped out of the blocks and lead by 32 points at half time. At 3/4 time we were still well in front and looking comfortable. You all know the result.

As we approach a season so full of hope it may be instructive to look back ten years. I wonder if there are obvious similarities and differences between the list of1997 and the list of 2007. The 1997 list should appear below. What do you think?

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s8/alwaysadog/97list3.jpg

[Dry Rot]

Wish I was following AFL that season.

During the H&A games how good were we? Who were the teams to beat? IIRC, the Swans, Dons and North were pretty good the year before.

Still don't understand how we fizzled out in '98.

[bulldogtragic]

That list seems pretty accurate. 1997 - Mark West NO goals.

[Hard Ball Get]

Great year after the horror of 96.
I was only about 11 or 12 so I was still a kid in 96 but I remember hurting a while lot and hating the footy. 97 was the complete opposite.

If I recall correctly we were flag favourites at one stage were we not?

[Twodogs]

Wish I was following AFL that season.

During the H&A games how good were we? Who were the teams to beat? IIRC, the Swans, Dons and North were pretty good the year before.

Still don't understand how we fizzled out in '98.



It was a weird year. It was all doom and gloom in the lead up despite a new administration, new coach and a hlaf decent playing list.

No team really took the year by the scruff of the neck and while we were pretty good for most of the season (after a rocky start) we lost four in a row late in the season-was it rounds 17-20? We got our form back in the last couple of rounds and sowed up a home final, won it to control our own destiny for the rest of the finals and fell at the next hurdle.

[alwaysadog]

Firstly we were flag favourites after we beat Sydney in the first final. St Kilda were a good side that year as well, and Adelaide had been good most of the time.

I borrowed this list and it's accurate to a point; I'm not sure Daniel Hargraves was still with us. What is evident IMO is the number of players who never even got a start and the number of fringe players. There is clearly some class and touighness there but I think overall the list is a bit thin. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, How will we view the current list in 2017?

[Sockeye Salmon]

That list seems pretty accurate. 1997 - Mark West NO goals.

It also says no games. I think these were the stats at the start of the year.

[Twodogs]

Firstly we were flag favourites after we beat Sydney in the first final. St Kilda were a good side that year as well.

I borrowed this list and it's accurate to a point; I'm not sure Daniel Hargraves was still with us. What is evident IMO is the number of players who never even got a start and the number of fringe players. There is clearly some class and touighness there but I think overall the list is a bit thin. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, How will we view the current list in 2017?



He was swapped for Brad Wira so he wouldnt have been.

[alwaysadog]

He was swapped for Brad Wira so he wouldnt have been.

Thanks Twodogs that was my thoughts. Wasn't it Wira and Reimers? I couldn't imagine Daniel and Wallywood would have got on.

Yes Sockeye they are supposed to be start of season stats, I got a set that replicates the time of year.

[alwaysadog]

Wish I was following AFL that season.

During the H&A games how good were we? Who were the teams to beat? IIRC, the Swans, Dons and North were pretty good the year before.

Still don't understand how we fizzled out in '98.

We were good in lots of games and quickly warmed to Optus oval, but 1998 was a better H&A season. It's only a narrow 5 point loss to North in the last game at the G that denied us top spot.

[Dry Rot]

We were good in lots of games and quickly warmed to Optus oval, but 1998 was a better H&A season. It's only a narrow 5 point loss to North in the last game at the G that denied us top spot.

That was a trmendous game (except for the result).

IIRC we went from second last in 1996 to a PF in 1997? That's an amzing turnaround.

[bulldogtragic]

It also says no games. I think these were the stats at the start of the year.
Was an attempt at sarcasm for him missing what would have been the match winner in the pre-lim.

[alwaysadog]

That was a trmendous game (except for the result).

IIRC we went from second last in 1996 to a PF in 1997? That's an amzing turnaround.

Yes, but we went from finalists in 92,94 and 95 to second last in 1996. Joycie had lost the plot and the players wren't listening and weren't fit enough IMO. Wallywood had a walk up start.

[southerncross]

We were good in lots of games and quickly warmed to Optus oval, but 1998 was a better H&A season. It's only a narrow 5 point loss to North in the last game at the G that denied us top spot.

I didn't mind us playing games there. Remember when we had the Dogs Barking over the siren after every goal? The AFL put a stop to that quickly

[alwaysadog]

Optus Oval wasn't designed for the average supporter it specialised in costly seats and corporate packages. That said we supporters managed to fit in. The football we played there was usually exciting and others didn't like facing us there. The Dog Barking just added to the atmosphere as there usually weren't too many spare seats. Except for the Legless stand.

[GVGjr]

That was a trmendous game (except for the result).

IIRC we went from second last in 1996 to a PF in 1997? That's an amzing turnaround.

I won a bit of money that year. I put something like $200 on the Dogs to make the top 6 and got better than 10 to 1. No one rated us much of a chance at all.

[alwaysadog]

He was swapped for Brad Wira so he wouldnt have been.

Daniel has been deleted to the great place for retired Bulldog players.

[LostDoggy]

He was swapped for Brad Wira so he wouldnt have been.

Didn't we trade pick 13 in the 1995 draft to Fremantle for Wira and Reimers?
We used pick 8 that year on Jakovich.

I think we got Mark Alvey for Daniel Hargraves in 1997 because Freo gave us pick 18.
That year we also gave 2 picks (15 and 30 something) to the Cats for Robbins.
We also traded away our 2nd round pick for Garlick and the Lions who got that pick used it on Simon Black.

We did pick up Paul Hudson in the pre-season draft who was excellent for us.

[alwaysadog]

It was a weird year. It was all doom and gloom in the lead up despite a new administration, new coach and a hlaf decent playing list.

All those whose day is not complete unless they have someone to talk down or look down upon had a field day, including many of the so called scribes. Some may hate me for saying it but Wallet gave the lead when he took them on at the post match conference first up. In demanding their respect he was clearly intending to break the cycle of negativity that was bound tightly around our necks and threatening to choke the life out of us.

He then proceded to innovate in ways that have changed the way things are done universally, like on field warm ups, but also it carried the subliminal message keep your eyes on us because we are doing exciting and interesting things. As the players carried their confidence in him on to the field we began to be taken more and more seriously.

That was the upside and needs recording, if you look at the list it has strengths but it has holes a semi would fit through. During his time we didn't start to fill those till his message had ceased to work and he needed to move on even if at the time many of us felt deserted. Then of course the misinfromation began which places a not inconsiderable cloud in the way of appreciating his contribution. But make no mistake, without Wallet we could have gone down very quickly in 1997 whereas we not only floated we sailed close to the sun.

[aker39]

1997 has been erased from my memory, except for the fact that I won my one and only footy tipping competition.

I stuck to my 2 rules of footy tipping.

Always tip the dogs.
Never tip the pies. (They won the wooden spoon from memory)

[bornadog]

In 1997 have a look back and see how many 7 to 8 goal quarters we had during the year, there were a lot. Those quarters really won us a lot of games. We really changed our style dramatically from the previous years, a bit like we did for the past year and end of 2005. I suppoose the coach had a lot to do with it. And yes Wallet did do a lot of good things, the only thing was he only had one game plan, and if that didn't work, we copped a hiding.

[Dry Rot]

If it's not too painful a question, what went wrong in that last quarter of the '97 PF?

IIRC correctly, many blame Wallet like they blame Malthouse in '85 (correct year?)

Is blaming the coaches a copout? Do we have a history of not handling pressure?

[aker39]

If it's not too painful a question, what went wrong in that last quarter of the '97 PF?

IIRC correctly, many blame Wallet like they blame Malthouse in '85 (correct year?)

Is blaming the coaches a copout? Do we have a history of not handling pressure?


I blame Paul Huson and the goal umpire.

[bulldogtragic]

Jarman, bloody Jarman.
The goal umpire - LIbba kicked it fair and square to stitch the game.
Mark West - Should have passed it over to cook (for an open goal) or at least kicked it easily 40 out in front no opposition pressure.

[Dry Rot]

Weren't we well ahead? If so, it was more than a goal umpire stuffing up.

Who was playing on Jarman?

[Sockeye Salmon]

Weren't we well ahead? If so, it was more than a goal umpire stuffing up.

Who was playing on Jarman?

Wallace had to take his fair share of the blame.

Jose Romero should never had played. He had dislocated his shoulder 2 weeks earlier and that's normally a 6 week injury. Romero said he was OK (well, he would, wouldn't he?) and the first bump he got put it out again. Mark West came on and despite missing a bad one late in the game tore it up. West was one of the main reasons we were in front to start with.

Todd Curley was on Jarman while Jarman was in the midfield and did an excellent job (helped by James Cook smashing Jarman and just about knocking him out; Cook got 3 weeks, from memory, for it). When Jarman went to FF, Curley went to FB and Steve Kretiuk was on the bench. After Jarman had kicked a couple on Curley early in the last 1/4 it should have been obvious to Wallace that Krusher was our FB and we needed someone to play FB!

Nigel Smart was the other Crow to go to town in the last at CHF. While he was tearing us a new one, the best CHB of our generation was freezing his arse off in our goalsquare.

Also, Aker39, I think Chris was just as much to blame for that stuff-up next to the goalsquare as Huddo was. Either could have shepherded the other.

Had we won that game, Romero would have missed the grand final along with Cookie and I think Mark West got suspended that game as well.

Rohan Smith got reported for kicking but got off. It hardly made the papers. How big would that story have been had we been in the grannie? The Herald-Sun would have turned it into something massive - back page for 3 days - and the tribunal might have rubbed him out just for appearances sake.

[alwaysadog]

I agree with all you have said Sockeye and while things fell (literally) the Crow's way we also panicked. We were just putting the ball on the boot in defence with little or no thought to what might happen. The result was that it just kept coming back. I'm not sure Kritter was fit in the last 1/4. That said Blight coached the pants off Wallywood that year and the next.

[bornadog]

I agree with all you have said Sockeye and while things fell (literally) the Crow's way we also panicked. We were just putting the ball on the boot in defence with little or no thought to what might happen. The result was that it just kept coming back. I'm not sure Kritter was fit in the last 1/4. That said Blight coached the pants off Wallywood that year and the next.

The boys were very cocky early on in the quarter and they thought it was in the bag and were celebrating when Libba kicked that goal that wasn't a goal. They had played their butts off the whole game and then took their foot off the peddle as they thought they were home. As Adelaide got closer and closer they began to panick and Wallet also woke up from his slumber, as he was most likely plotting the Grand Final, right up till the last ten minutes of the game and all of a sudden, Adealide hit the front.

[alwaysadog]

The boys were very cocky early on in the quarter and they thought it was in the bag and were celebrating when Libba kicked that goal that wasn't a goal. They had played their butts off the whole game and then took their foot off the peddle as they thought they were home. As Adelaide got closer and closer they began to panick and Wallet also woke up from his slumber, as he was most likely plotting the Grand Final, right up till the last ten minutes of the game and all of a sudden, Adealide hit the front.

I'm not one of the Wallace haters but I think at critical times in finals especially he wasn't in control or anything like it. IMHO it's no use having a coach who does well during the easy games. What counts is the ability to pull off the big one. Yes we lacked a killer instinct (mental toughness??) but what input did he have. Blind Freddie could see we were in trouble. I begin to wonder because although well beaten all day Blight kept the Crows self belief in tact and persuaded them they could still win. As we know reality is often what you think it is rathet than any objective represenation of it.

[Go_Dogs]

The players need to be smart enough to adjust as well. Make the move themselves its a matchup is so crucial and your not winning it. I'd like to see them take a bit of responsibility.

[alwaysadog]

The players need to be smart enough to adjust as well. Make the move themselves its a matchup is so crucial and your not winning it. I'd like to see them take a bit of responsibility.

I agree and I don't think the two things are incompatible. In most cases sensible shuffling occurs.

When the S hits the F that's when the coach has to grap the situation. It's no use letting the situation get out of hand as it did in that 4th quarter.

IMO it says either he had been out coached or that he didn't have the player resources to do anything about it. If the latter he needed to make changes to the side for 1998 and if you look at a thread Iv'e just posted "Remember 1998" there were few changes to the list and a greater reliance on the same band of players.

[Sockeye Salmon]

My mate sent his daughter to (non-football person) to queue for grand final tickets at 3/4 time. We had ticket no. 63.

[BulldogBelle]

1997 has been erased from my memory

I have also erased 1997 out of my memory, horrible horrible time that I have no wish to re-live again.