What should the cheer squad do differently

[firstdogonthemoon]

No seriously - the on field stuff is all well and good. But in the stands we dont seem to have developed any particular advantage.

Interstate teams playing at home have huge help. The Essenpie Collingbombs seem to have willing armies of zombie helpers.

We are just a bit luke warm - like some of the "smaller" vic teams.

What should the cheer squad do differently to engage everyone else? they seem a bit limp most of the time

remember a fish rots from the head

[Dry Rot]

Perhaps should the question be asked in reverse?

ie what should the average Dogs fan be doing in the crowd to bolster the efforts of the cheer squad and bring the house down?

[bresker]

I'm very loud and vocal, I can lead the chants up on level 3.

If anyone wants to join me I sit at aisle 40...something, I forget. I'll let you know when the season starts.

I've tried getting alternatives going to "Bulldogs...clap clap clap.....Bulldogs." I grew up watching soccer in Europe and I've attempted stuff like "GRANT_EEEEEY" on the great man's 330th, but it's alien to most folks, I suppose, because not many join in.

I've no real interest in joining the cheersquad but I like chanting. And shouting.

[bornadog]

What about if the cheer squad adapted something like what the Barmie Armie did during the cricket? They were fantastic. They are very organized and they have a number of songs that try to intimidate the opposition players. They hand out the words so every one can sing. They also have their anthem which we already have ie the club song, but we could have one for during the game.

[The Coon Dog]

Obviously our game is VERY different to soccer. I've been to many of the Melbourne Victory games & the atmosphere generated is unbelievable. Part of this could be that Australian Rules is so much quicker & perhaps doesn't need the crowd to generate the atmosphere to the same degree.

Perhaps some simple little songs about our players, tho they need to be clever, short & catchy, for example if Brad Johnson kicked a goal the cheer squad could sing:

Brad,
Braddy Johnson,
Ooooh, aaaaah,
I wanna know,
How did you score that goal?

(The above is from a song my 8 y.o. son goes around singing all the time, not too sure who sings it, but it's very catchy).

Or as the Barmy Army sing for Freddie Flintoff:

Soooo-per
Super Brad
Super Braddy Johnson!

Be good if they had a dozen or so little songs that could be put up on a website where fans could listen to them & learn them.

Just a thought.

[Billy Blogger]

FWIW, I think the AFL should shut the Cheer Squads down. While they are terrific and loyal supporters who travel all around to watch their club I just don't see that running through the banners adds too much to the spectacle of a game. Let them have an area to sit behind the goals and support the players but don't have them on the ground.

[GVGjr]

FWIW, I think the AFL should shut the Cheer Squads down. While they are terrific and loyal supporters who travel all around to watch their club I just don't see that running through the banners adds too much to the spectacle of a game. Let them have an area to sit behind the goals and support the players but don't have them on the ground.

A bit tough there BB. One of the great traditions from the good old days.

[Twodogs]

FWIW, I think the AFL should shut the Cheer Squads down. While they are terrific and loyal supporters who travel all around to watch their club I just don't see that running through the banners adds too much to the spectacle of a game. Let them have an area to sit behind the goals and support the players but don't have them on the ground.


I'm not a cheer squad fan but I really like the banners. Thery add something unique to our game0.

[Billy Blogger]

I'm not a cheer squad fan but I really like the banners. Thery add something unique to our game0.

To me it is just a waste. I think I would prefer the National Anthem to be played than having to watch the Cheer Squad struggle to get the banner up. While we are at it, I'm not a fan of having the players bring their children onto the ground for milestone games either.

Perhaps I'm just having a bad day.

[aker39]

To me it is just a waste. I think I would prefer the National Anthem to be played than having to watch the Cheer Squad struggle to get the banner up. While we are at it, I'm not a fan of having the players bring their children onto the ground for milestone games either.

Perhaps I'm just having a bad day.

you're just having a bad day

[Twodogs]

To me it is just a waste. I think I would prefer the National Anthem to be played than having to watch the Cheer Squad struggle to get the banner up. While we are at it, I'm not a fan of having the players bring their children onto the ground for milestone games either.

Perhaps I'm just having a bad day.




Like I say I could quite happily do without the cheer squad so long as someone else takes the responsibility for making the run throughs.


The pointlessness of spending hours making something, decorating it and carrying it vast distances with the intention of letting a bunch of grown men smash it to pieces in seconds appeals to my perverse sense of fun.

[Dry Rot]

The pointlessness of spending hours making something, decorating it and carrying it vast distances with the intention of letting a bunch of grown men smash it to pieces in seconds appeals to my perverse sense of fun.

Are you talking about Carlton? Sometimes they last at least a quarter.

[Twodogs]

Are you talking about Carlton? Sometimes they last at least a quarter.



Very good.

[alwaysadog]

Without being critical of the cheer squad, it seems to need a recruitment drive. It's some years since I had anything to do with it. In those days it was full of some very nice and very earnest people. Cheer squads need extroverts and show offs and lots of supporters in their teens and early twenties.


IMHO they need to cash in on the increasing number of young people wearing our colours at games. If it were me I'd organise them to be at entrances to the ground with invites to come and sit and cheer with us.

When I lived in London, a few years ago now, in fact quite a few years ago, all right a bloody long time ago, I used to go and watch Chelsea play. The crowd had a brief song to greet each player. Often it was just the players name sung several times to a popular tune. We could coordinate it with the scoreboard guy so that everyone knew about it.

The cheer squad should get that going, the whole crown at least the Bulldog supporters would join in. It just needs someone to get it started.

[Billy Blogger]

I really do not see the value in the Cheer squad being allowed onto the ground. It was a great idea at the time but it is now very much an outdated part of the game.

[alwaysadog]

I like it when it's a special occasion, when there is a presentation, but not every week. It loses it's impact and it's got so far from its origins.

It has a ritual element to it now, it's done because it once had a meaning and a context but we keep doing it although we aren't sure why. I think it's more to do with cheer squad rivalry than anything much else.

When I was first watching the game the cheer squad or its equivalent would place a crepe barrier in the club's colours across the exit of the Player's race, so that they burst through it to emerge on the ground. It was only done for big games. There was a great sense of theatre and anticipation created.

Seeing the guys run through something when you already have seen them enter the arena is a bit pointless. Whats more they get bigger every year and being inside at the phone dome doesn't even have the wind to discipline outrageousness.

[Hard Ball Get]

Obviously our game is VERY different to soccer. I've been to many of the Melbourne Victory games & the atmosphere generated is unbelievable. Part of this could be that Australian Rules is so much quicker & perhaps doesn't need the crowd to generate the atmosphere to the same degree.

Perhaps some simple little songs about our players, tho they need to be clever, short & catchy, for example if Brad Johnson kicked a goal the cheer squad could sing:

Brad,
Braddy Johnson,
Ooooh, aaaaah,
I wanna know,
How did you score that goal?

(The above is from a song my 8 y.o. son goes around singing all the time, not too sure who sings it, but it's very catchy).

Or as the Barmy Army sing for Freddie Flintoff:

Soooo-per
Super Brad
Super Braddy Johnson!

Be good if they had a dozen or so little songs that could be put up on a website where fans could listen to them & learn them.

Just a thought.

I like this idea.
I think something like the Premier League how the fans have songs that they sing about players would be really good.
Just a shhort gingle, it would catch on pretty quickly I think.

[bornadog]

I like this idea.
I think something like the Premier League how the fans have songs that they sing about players would be really good.
Just a shhort gingle, it would catch on pretty quickly I think.

How does one get this going? Should some one contact the cheer squad and suggest it?

[The Coon Dog]

Ideally, there should be something on the club website inviting supporters to send in songs/ditties & then the cheer squad could pick the best ones out, put them up on the website for everyone or print them & hand them out like they do at Melbourne Victory games.

[Mofra]

What about utilising the screen during home games? The words of any song (sung to a tune everyone knows) could be displayed on the screen a few times a quarter to start a chant.

Bulldog Army sounds pretty close to Barmy Army if chanted, so there's an easy one to start.

We could also start a "Tha Ak-A" chant to drown out that bruddy annoying "Snakata" ad they play 50 times a game at TD.

[mjp]

To me it is just a waste. I think I would prefer the National Anthem to be played than having to watch the Cheer Squad struggle to get the banner up. While we are at it, I'm not a fan of having the players bring their children onto the ground for milestone games either.

Perhaps I'm just having a bad day.


Nope. You are right on the money. Theme songs as the run out. Line-up for the anthem. Bounce ball.

Kids? Well, I get why they do it, but it has gotten to the stage where it is obligatory now. I pity the next childless player who reaches the 300game milestone...whatever will he do?

As for the whole cheering thing, well, my 8year old loves it - spends more time watching Phil in his sequined jacket/hat combo so she knows when to chant 'Bulldogs, BULL-dogs...' than the actual footy. I just want to watch the game to be truthful.

[metal]

Tradition. Very important. Lets not tear down colourful aspects of our unique game and reduce it to the sterile or replace it with soccer or cricket. We want to be different. Let's ask the cheer squad if it's a problem, and if it is, work around it, not just get rid of it.

[alwaysadog]

Some great ideas already. It's an interesting exercise keep the ideas flowing

[The Coon Dog]

Now that we've put some good ideas forward how do we introduce those ideas to the mafia that controls (with an iron fist) the Cheer Squad?

[Billy Blogger]

Good luck with that TCD. Part of the reason why I think Cheers Squads are an outdated feature of the game is the people I have met within this group.
They are basically an unwelcoming bunch who either dictate they way the group is run for their own advantage or simply tolerate the behavior by those chosen few.

I admire strong leadership and at times you have to get on with things but this group is not as productive as it should be and does little to encourage new folk.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Good luck with that TCD. Part of the reason why I think Cheers Squads are an outdated feature of the game is the people I have met within this group.
They are basically an unwelcoming bunch who either dictate they way the group is run for their own advantage or simply tolerate the behavior by those chosen few.

I admire strong leadership and at times you have to get on with things but this group is not as productive as it should be and does little to encourage new folk.

So THIS is what the cheer squad should do differently. Every time I ask about the cheer squad i get a few mumbles about "politics" and "personalities" - it has clearly been placed in the too hard basket. It sounds to me like it needs an injection of new something but there is resistance and reaction.

So what do we do about it?

I have always been a sh1t stirrer - it is a great australian tradition - and I am not hearing anyone say "Geez they do a great job and blah blah" - I am hearing people either say "it sucks" or the like the idea of the cheer squad (just not our one).

I do think it needs lots of teens/twenties young persons to join, however they wont if the atmosphere is unwelcoming.

It sounds like the cheer squad needs a rocket (no pun intended) or some friendly competition.

Any suggestions?

[bresker]

Yes, get a rival squad of cheerers and get them to sit in a certain part of the ground. Hand out flyers advertising where you are sitting outside the ground. Tell people to get there early to get a seat. You'll have to do this on level 3. If we could a part of the upper deck filled with Bulldog fans before the match starts it would discourage opposition fans from sitting there.

[Hard Ball Get]

How does one get this going? Should some one contact the cheer squad and suggest it?

No idea to be honest.
I guess that would be the best way. They could type up the words and pass them round the squad. Once they are learnt they could sing it and it wouldnt take long for the other fans to catch on.

Or the words could be posted somewhere on the dogs website or something like that. I wouldnt know how to organise it though.

[Billy Blogger]

Yes, get a rival squad of cheerers and get them to sit in a certain part of the ground. Hand out flyers advertising where you are sitting outside the ground. Tell people to get there early to get a seat. You'll have to do this on level 3. If we could a part of the upper deck filled with Bulldog fans before the match starts it would discourage opposition fans from sitting there.

Thats not a bad idea. My guess is though if the current cheer squad wasn't allowed into the ground they would just be standard members.
I think what you are suggesting is more of a supporters club.

[westdog54]

Is anyone here (or does anyone know of) a former member of the "Barkly Street Boys" that used to watch from the Heatley Terrace at Optus Oval? They were ok.

Some of the stuff they came up with wasn't exactly G rated, but I'm sure they'd be able to tone things down a little.