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  1. #1
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    Old news - HS - Western Bulldogs reveal victory dance that helped inspire fairytale Grand Final run

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    Western Bulldogs reveal victory dance that helped inspire fairytale Grand Final run
    JON RALPH and SAM EDMUND, Herald Sun
    October 3, 2016 9:00am
    Subscriber only

    Lachie Hunter, Tory Dickson, Marcus Bontempelli and Caleb Daniel celebrate on the final siren. Picture: Nicole Garmston


    HAWTHORN personally drafted rocker Daryl Braithwaite into their victory celebrations and made his hit ‘Horses’ their anthem of glory.

    Now the lid has been lifted on the secretive victory dance that has taken the Western Bulldogs all the way from the dark days of 2014.

    When the Dogs celebrated their premiership they did so with a carefully selected play list with tunes pumping in a darkened MCG locker room.

    Lockers were slammed, some clothes were shed and the beats of Rolling Stones, Australian Crawl and Earth, Wind and Fire blasted out.

    As Tory Dickson said, it is not so much players dancing to the tunes as jumping up and down in their undies.

    “I wouldn’t say there are too many dancing superstars in there but Bonti (Marcus Bontempelli) and Libba (Tony Liberatore) make the biggest scene,’’ he said.


    Josh Dunkley, Zaine Cordy and Luke Dahlhaus celebrate a goal. Picture: Nicole Garmston

    “They jump up and down like wild men in their jocks. It’s a good feeling.

    “Bonti puts on his phone and chucks it on after every win and the lights go off and a few of the characters jump up and down like crazy men.

    In 2014 we decided any win you get you have to celebrate and savour those moments, whether it’s five minutes and a couple of songs.

    Easton Wood
    “I usually bop up and down in the corner. It’s an amazing feeling.”

    Captain Easton Wood refused to detail the songlist — “It’s very particular and we will keep it to ourselves” - but said the ritual was born out of the tough years of 2014.

    Those three songs are the Stones ‘Satisfaction’, Australian Crawl’s ‘Errol’ and Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘September’.

    “The game is brutal and you endure so many knocks, especially in 2013-14 and we had our fair share,’’ Wood said.


    Bob Murphy and Western Bulldogs staff on the final siren. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

    “In 2014 we decided any win you get you have to celebrate and savour those moments, whether it’s five minutes and a couple of songs.

    “You have to be happy and enjoy it. So much work goes into those wins and it’s what this club has done well — we ride the wave and enjoy each moment as it is.”

    I think the lights off helps the old boys so Matty Boyd and Dale Morris can dance a bit cause they’re not much good on the dance floor.

    Lachie Hunter
    That MCG celebration was as sweet as it gets, but it is known the players love wins at Etihad Stadium because the metal lockers ring out louder than their wooden MCG equivalents.

    Midfield ball magnet Lachie Hunter says the shroud of darkness helps the modest elder statesmen fit in.

    “I think the lights off helps the old boys so Matty Boyd and Dale Morris can dance a bit cause they’re not much good on the dance floor.”

    “Once the lights go out, no one cares how they dance so the shackles come off. It’s fun and something you don’t get to do too much in footy these days and that’s celebrate.


    Bulldogs players and celebrate on the final siren. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

    The club’s Footscray VFL team also share the tradition, with veteran Will Minson thrilled the budget stretches further than the old dark days.

    “We can afford a big enough speaker these days. In the past the old iPod dock wasn’t good enough. We’ve got the full boom box now.

    “The boys carry on like pork chops. There was a point where we'd get a win and in the constant pursuit of perfection they’d go around and point out some things that needed to be improved and we’d be like ‘Hang on a minute, we’ve just won a game of footy, can we just enjoy this moment?’’

    Bontempelli is so measured and assured in his public appearances and yet it is reassuring he has a bit of wild child in him.

    “There’s a part of every win you enjoy and that’s singing the song but we wanted to take it that little bit further and make it our own little one in the rooms,’’ he said on Sunday.

    “It sorts of depends how we feel, we might go something old or something new. But last night (GF night) was Errol.”
    It always seems impossible until it's done. Nelson Mandela

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  3. #2
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    Re: Old news - HS - Western Bulldogs reveal victory dance that helped inspire fairytale Grand Final run

    I love it:


    It ain't over until the boys have danced in their jocks is going to become folklore! It will be our own version of it ain't over until the fat lady sings
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

  4. #3
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    Re: Old news - HS - Western Bulldogs reveal victory dance that helped inspire fairytale Grand Final run

    Read this at the time. It's terrific that they allow themselves the time to actually celebrate wins, rather than robotically move on immediately. Let boys be boys, I say.
    [B][COLOR="#0000CD"]Our club was born in blood and boots, not in AFL focus groups.[/COLOR][/B]

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