Bulldogs could regain 2016 AFL magic: JJ

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There's a touch of 2016 magic in the Western Bulldogs' club rooms, says Jason Johannisen after his team's 104-point thumping of Essendon.
The Bulldogs famously rode a wave of late-season momentum to win the 2016 grand final despite finishing seventh on the ladder - the lowest-ever for an eventual premier.

And Johannisen said there was an element of deja vu now.
"There's a lot of similarities with this team ... we've sort of got our backs against the wall right now," the 26-year-old dasher told RSN927 AM.

"We need to win the last two games and as a group we're excited about the challenge and looking forward to it."
Following the 6.4 percentage boost the Bulldogs received from their rout of the Bombers, Luke Beveridge's men are currently 10th and remain in striking distance of a first finals berth since 2016.
But Johannisen said the Bulldogs, who take on GWS at Giants Stadium on Sunday, had found some special form at the weekend.
"I don't think our ball movement has been that crisp since I've been at the Dogs," he said of the Essendon game.
"You don't expect to kick 21 goals in a row."

I really don't like it when he talks it up. He and the team will have a shocker this week they always do. A few weeks ago he was talking up how we could do damage in September, then we lost that weekend.

That's a particularly good shot of Jakey.

He said the same thing before the Lions game. Stop sending JJ to front the press.

I don't mind a bit of mayo being thrown around.

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Originally Posted by Happy Days

He said the same thing before the Lions game. Stop sending JJ to front the press.

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Yep 100% agree

What you're suggesting is superstition. We aren't going to perform any better or worse this weekend because JJ adds a bit of mayo. He's saying we're confident, look out. It's a positive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bumper Bulldogs

I really don't like it when he talks it up. He and the team will have a shocker this week they always do. A few weeks ago he was talking up how we could do damage in September, then we lost that weekend.

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If you go to the audio, podcast thread, I posted today, you will hear the proper interview. JJ was on RSN and just answering a question

I don't perceive 15/16 as magic or mercurial, despite the fact we haven't really shown that form in any meaningful way since. Across those two seasons we played incredible football that teams found difficult to combat. I was going to the football every week confident that the team was good enough to beat anyone on our day. Our best v your best? We win. Your best v less than optimal from us? We're a chance. Our worst v your worst? We win. Teams had to be on and we had to be off for a really bad day at the footy.

This squad is still good enough that I think our best footy is superior to all challengers. But in my Good Enough matrix, not enough boxes are ticked for me to invoke 15/16 levels of swagger.