Dogs to turn Premiership Joy into Legacy of Success

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...a0e4ea74a7a153

Later tonight at a dinner party Kate Gray is hosting in Melbourne’s inner west, she will excuse herself to flick on the television.

She knows this is a social faux pas in some circles, particularly as the program to be screened is a footy match.

But these are different times in Melbourne’s west and Gray, for one, is certain the viewing will make this gathering one to remember. Her screening is of last year’s remarkable grand final between the Western Bulldogs and Sydney. Among the dozens of memorable moments will be ‐several dear to the hearts of Gray and any other Bulldogs fan who waited decades to see their club win a second premiership.

In no particular order, they include stand-in skipper Easton Wood soaring courageously into a pack to spoil and Tom Boyd standing tall when it counted most, initially when snapping a left-foot goal from the boundary, then landing the long shot from the centre square in the frenzied, frantic finale.

There’s Liam Picken, who blossomed into Mr September, pumping both fists after another moment of brilliance. And Dale Morris launching at Lance Franklin to bring down the superstar Swan.

Finally, the tearjerker, as coach Luke Beveridge places his own premiership medallion around the neck of injured captain Bob Murphy, before the red, white and blue ticker tape shower begins as they embrace Easton Wood.

Almost every Bulldogs fan will know those moments by rote. As former president David Smorgon said yesterday, “anything to do with us winning a grand final I can watch again and again and again”.

Gray is certain some of her guests — well, those with no allegiance — will scatter to her backyard when the game is replayed.

But having been too spent at the end of a fraught finals campaign to watch until now, she is determined to celebrate the Bulldogs premiership one last time before the new season begins on Thursday. “It might seem odd, but I just had nothing left in the tank at all,” she said. “It went from a promising season to one that was not promising. It was a total rollercoaster to the end of the finals series. It just all seemed to happen so fast over that four-week period.

“But (the celebrations) will stop now for me and that is why we are having this party before the first game of the new season, because we want to celebrate it one last time.”

It is the first time since 1955 that the Western Bulldogs enter a season as reigning premiers. For some, the celebrations have continued through spring and summer and into autumn. And Gray is not the only fan to give the 2016 grand final an extra screening.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire noted in commentary during a pre-season match that he had recently bumped into Peter Gordon, his Western Bulldogs counterpart and one-time club saviour, and it was clear nothing could wipe the smile from his face.

Gordon said his wife, Kerri O’Toole, refused to let guests leave their house over summer until they had sat through the final term one more time.

Only last week the Western Bulldogs president was in Monterrey, Mexico, visiting the headquarters of Gruma, a company whose subsidiary Mission Foods has been a major sponsor of the club since 2009.

The company’s chief executive Juan Gonzalez Moreno, who celebrated on the MCG after the win, told Gordon he had arranged a special sitting for Gruma’s 2500-strong workforce in Monterrey to watch the replay on his return to Mexico last October.

Never a man to let an opportunity slip when it comes to advancing the Bulldogs’ cause, Gordon said the club was exploring whether a “Mexico specific” membership might be possible.

“It is obviously a tremendous time in the history of the football club and everyone who has supported the Bulldogs for a long, long time,” Gordon told The Weekend Australian. “We had spent a long time having never seen a premiership or a grand final (and) some were unsure as to whether that time would ever come.”

Smorgon noted he had been fortunate to play golf with Beveridge at a Bulldogs club day just prior to Christmas.

At a function afterwards, he said the coach “got up and said, ‘Guys, we are the reigning premiers until the last weekend of 2017, so let’s enjoy the moment’.

“So I have been taking his word literally,” Smorgon said.

The emotion of Western Bulldogs supporters is understandable given the previous lack of success and the fight the club endured just to survive.

At the AFL’s season launch on Thursday night, filmmaker Peter Dickson unveiled his latest project titled Into The Fury, which entwined aspects of that history with the remarkable success of 2016.

Early in the piece, legendary Bulldog Ted Whitten is shown talking about the spirit of the club’s fans in the days after the fightback campaign against the 1989 merger.

“I virtually did accept that fact, that they were gone. But you forget about the quality of the people from the western suburbs and how they live and die for the football club,” Whitten said.

Yet for all the joy the club has experienced since the first Saturday of last October, the football department and administration is firmly focused on ensuring the premiership success does not prove another blip in time.

Smorgon, who was a child when the Bulldogs won in 1954, said history showed the club squandered an opportunity to firmly establish itself after the maiden triumph, a mistake that nearly killed it.

“If you look back at 1956 and ’57, the club imploded after that year of success,” he said.

“The big issue was (after the 1954 premiership) they thought the job was over, that they had won the flag. Administrators retired. Our best players left.

“If you look back at the time, the club (did not) make the most of the success we had.”

Off the field, Gordon says the benefits that have flown from the success last October are positive.

They are well ahead of previous benchmarks in terms of memberships sold at this time of the year, corporate support is at a record high and most of the club’s coterie support groups are full.

The support from donors has remained strong which, Gordon says, remains vital as the Bulldogs strive to become a competition leader. “I was a little bit concerned that people would breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘My job is done’.”

Murphy, who is fit to play again after a knee injury in the season opener against Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night, said the football department under Beveridge had been firm in ensuring the focus was on defending the premiership. “I think, to put it into perspective, it is more the last couple of years (where it has felt) like there is an undeniable momentum in the footy club. Having l- there for so long, I can feel that.

“I think the premiership has definitely given that momentum a shove along, but it is not just the premiership. It is the women’s team as well. The supporter base has grown.”

Throughout his coaching history, Beveridge has been involved with clubs that have shown an ability to sustain success.

Competition for a spot in the senior 22 should also ensure players are on their mettle.

Among those who did not play in the grand final are Murphy, Marcus Adams, Stewart Crameri, Mitch Wallis, Jack Redpath, Lin Jong and Matt Suckling, while the club has added former Collingwood star Travis Cloke among new draftees.

In his final address before last year’s grand final, portrayed in the film made by Dickson, Beveridge told his players they had already “run through some fire, into the fury, into the coals and where the heat is”.

He implored them to “bring your gifts, bring your instruments, your song, your noise.”

A Mexican membership? We are so lucky to have Peter Gordon.

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Originally Posted by Twodogs

A Mexican membership? We are so lucky to have Peter Gordon.

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maybe do a deal with the tequila company. $1 for every bottle sold goes to the club :-) ,just keep away from any drug companies.

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Originally Posted by ledge

maybe do a deal with the tequila company. $1 for every bottle sold goes to the club :-) ,just keep away from any drug companies.

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Not the easiest thing to do in Mexico I understand.;)

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Originally Posted by redders70

Smorgon, who was a child when the Bulldogs won in 1954, said history showed the club squandered an opportunity to firmly establish itself after the maiden triumph, a mistake that nearly killed it.

“If you look back at 1956 and ’57, the club imploded after that year of success,” he said.

“The big issue was (after the 1954 premiership) they thought the job was over, that they had won the flag. Administrators retired. Our best players left.

“If you look back at the time, the club (did not) make the most of the success we had.”

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We really heavily on our supporters now and despite record membership levels it could still be an issue if they don't attend games like last season.

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Originally Posted by redders70

Off the field, Gordon says the benefits that have flown from the success last October are positive.

They are well ahead of previous benchmarks in terms of memberships sold at this time of the year, corporate support is at a record high and most of the club’s coterie support groups are full.

The support from donors has remained strong which, Gordon says, remains vital as the Bulldogs strive to become a competition leader. “I was a little bit concerned that people would breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘My job is done’.”

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This is the time to keep up the momentum rather than sliding back to the pack.

Who wrote the article

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Originally Posted by aker39

Who wrote the article

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@walshcee

COURTNEY WALSH

Sports reporter