One game at Optus Oval that sticks out for me was the game against Hawthorn. Plough put up posters in the rooms of all the journos who picked us to get belted that day.
We ended up winning well.
My dad bought me a flag together with a membership that year. Boy did it get a workout. It really was fun to go to the footy that year
had to find out so when I opened up the first box I found a Howard Jones video and I thought 'this can't be good'! How did that make it?
Anyhow, I found the Semi v North and the Hawks game round 21. Thank God.
Found some other classics from the 90's, the semi final win v St Kilda in 92 and the Geelong match from 97 when we went top.
Same as me, really. We weren't as good in '06 as we were in '08-'10, but we played some of the most entertaining footy.
The two games against Geelong in '06 are the two best games from a pure football perspective that I've ever seen; were just beautiful to watch. Also, the first game against Richmond was the first time that I saw us (live) seriously mess up another team. And obviously the final against Collingwood was incredibly special.
The tail end of '05 was pretty great too, the Eagles game where Granty kicked 6 and Brian Harris just put enough resistance on Daniel Chick to stop him running into an open goal before half time is another one of my favourites.
- I'm a visionary - Only here to confirm my biases -
1997 was a brilliant year, could have been one of the most incredible premierships in the history of the game to finish 2nd last to the final season Fitzroy,
2009 was a good year and it felt on prelim night that we had peaked just in time, alas not to be
I'm not old enough to remember 1985, but for me 1997 was the one year I've followed the Bulldogs that I genuinely believed we could win the flag. I remember at 3/4 time my Dad talking with his mates about how they would arrange Grand Final tickets, and we started talking about how we matched up well against St Kilda and felt we'd beat them easily. I still feel sick thinking about it. I've never felt we could win the flag since then, that was the one year I felt we could beat the best teams. As much as Wallace is a pariah on here, he's the only Bulldogs coach we've had in my lifetime who I truly believed could deliver us a premiership.
Do we have any older Woofers, who remember '54 ?
Bit before most of our time but I was sure we had a couple of older posters who seen the flag.
'80 was the first year I really got into the footy and fond memories of KT's year and Brownlow.
Would love to say 97 backed up by 98, but I still treat 97 as an apparition.
There fore for me it's 1985, would be the first time I went to a final, the quality players we had, Pieman's 100 and actually thought we could and would win the flag.
It's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.
I don't remember '54 as I was only 3 at that time but do remember bits and pieces of the '61 season when we came runner up. I used to go with my dad each week and can still visualize the Teddy Whitten led flick pass being used by our team to beat more fancied opponents.
Looking back a number of my footy heroes were from the early 60's.
Getting to the Grand Final was great and we arrived very early that day to watch the under 19's and Reserves Grand Finals too. Although we were in front at half time Hawthorn steam rolled us in the end.
Sadly for the doggies the flick pass was banned within the next few years too.
I went to the Second Semi in '54 but my parents left me home for the grand final because I was too young - 5.
Also went in '61 and sat there without breathing for the whole game. Thorogood from Melbourne got Whitten the week before and he was only half fit. Hawthorn ran through Schultz and Hobbs in the first quarter and that was that.
A team of few skills but enormous drive did a fantastic job to get near the grand final and the Preliminary final victory over Melbourne, who had won five of the previous six premierships remains as the best win I have seen by the Club.