Bulldogs By the Numbers

[merantau]

Another # 21, Mathew Dent arrived in '97 from Fitzroy and stayed for four seasons and 61 games. A hard-nosed half back he made his opponents earn eveey kick. Popular player with those in the outer ... and the stands.

[merantau]

In 2007 Jason Akermanis arrived. He wore the #21 for four seasons, played 77 games and kicked 114 goals.

He certainly played some great football with us but it ended in turmoil - again - which was a great pity.

[merantau]

In 2011 Tom Liberatore arrived and took on the #21. He has now played 148 games and kicked 50 goals. He missed the entire 2015 season. He came back brilliantly in 2016 and was a key player the Finals. He overcame a serious late season injury just to get to the start line - the apple didn't fall far from the tree! Tough? Is the Pope a Catholic!

Tom is one of my favourite players. What he did to Heath Shaw in the Prelim was priceless. I imagine Tom is hugely respected by his team mates.

[merantau]

In 2011 Tom Liberatore arrived and took on the #21. He has now played 148 games and kicked 50 goals. He missed the entire 2015 season. He came back brilliantly in 2016 and was a key player the Finals. He overcame a serious late season injury just to get to the start line - the apple didn't fall far from the tree! Tough? Is the Pope a Catholic!

Tom is one of my favourite players. What he did to Heath Shaw in the Prelim was priceless. I imagine Tom is hugely respected by his team mates. B&F winner in 2014.

https://youtu.be/7R4YjVylTxM

[bornadog]

I don't remember that. Any further info?

Ran into the behind post down at the Barkley st end and it snapped in two.

[Grantysghost]

I don't remember that. Any further info?

I tried to find the footage but the archives are incomplete.

[Bulldog4life]

Another # 21, Mathew Dent arrived in '97 from Fitzroy and stayed for four seasons and 61 games. A hard-nosed half back he made his opponents earn eveey kick. Popular player with those in the outer ... and the stands.

If I remember correctly his nickname was The psycho chicken.

[Mofra]

Ran into the behind post down at the Barkley st end and it snapped in two.

Unlike Leigh Matthews (whose post snapped halfway indicating some sort of structure weakness), Galaxy snapped it clean from the ground.
I do remember laughing at the poor ground staff trying to bang the little league point post into the same spot.
The post fell into the crowd too, lucky nobody got hurt.

[merantau]

Wish I'd seen that. Does anyone remember the first game at Western Oval after the 50mt line was introduced? The groundsman marked out a 50m line alright. But it went straight across the ground. The groundsman was inspired by Sheedy and the windsock maybe!

[bornadog]

Wish I'd seen that. Does anyone remember the first game at Western Oval after the 50mt line was introduced? The groundsman marked out a 50m line alright. But it went straight across the ground. The groundsman was inspired by Sheedy and the windsock maybe!

Yes, I was there. Was very strange having a line straight across on an oval shaped playing field.

[merantau]

Wally Donald debuted in 1946 wearing #22. By the time he retired in '58 he had played 205 games and kicked 1 goal. I saw him play and he was an excellent player. Ex-Braybrook.

I am indebted to Chris Colonies on Wikipedia who wrote this comprehensive portrait of Wally's career.

"Although Donald played only one senior game in the 1946 season from 1947 to 1957 he was a fixture of the Footscray team and missed only eight of 206 games. Recruited by Footscray as a versatile player, he was originally seen as part of the team's midfield; he was moved to defence as his defensive abilities became apparent, and by 1948 he was established on the half-back flank. Donald played his first final in 1948, named on the half-back flank in the first semi-final against Collingwood.

He played full back at the start of the 1949 season, despite his height—5 feet 8 inches (173 cm)—conceding reach and strength to his opponents. Donald moved to the back pocket in 1951, his best-known position throughout his career. This was due to the recruitment of full-back Herb Henderson, who—at 188 centimetres (6 ft 2 in)—was more typical in size for a fullback. The position change would have been sooner, since Henderson's first season at Footscray was 1950. Since he only played one game, the position changes were not noticeable; Donald's output was undiminished, as he and Henderson quickly established a bond on the last defensive line. The improvement was quick; the Bulldogs conceded 1,608 points in 1950 (an average of 89.3 points per game) and 1,105 points in 1951 (an average of 64.7 per game). Thanks to the defensive partnership, Footscray again made the finals. They fell short against Essendon, however, losing by eight points in the first semifinal. Donald was voted Footscray's most valuable player.

He kicked the only goal of his career in 1952, in round eight against St Kilda at Yallourn Oval during the National Day Round. After Footscray kicked only two goals by three-quarter time in poor conditions, Donald was sent forward in the last quarter and kicked a left-footed goal. Although Footscray outscored St Kilda in the second half, they lost the game by 15 points.[1][2][3][4] The goal made Donald the only player with two streaks of 100 games without a goal; the Yallourn game was his 102nd. 1952 was a good season for Donald, who was runner-up for the club's best and fairest award.

Donald's rapport with Henderson continued to develop during the early 1950s, as they (with defensive staples Dave Bryden and Jim Gallagher) conceding only 959 points in the 1953 season. Statistically, it was the greatest defence since the introduction of 12-team competition in 1925 and the greatest defence of all time since 1920. Footscray again made the finals in 1953, and was victorious (against Essendon, by eight points) for the first time in club history. Donald was again named one of Footscray's best players. It was John Coleman's last-ever final, since he sustained a career-ending knee injury midway during the following season. Coleman, well-held by Donald and Henderson, kicked only one goal that day. Footscray faced Geelong in the preliminary final, needing to win to make their first-ever grand final. Although they led at halftime, Footscray lost by 26 points. Donald was again named Footscray's most valuable player, and was the club's best and fairest runner-up for the second consecutive year.

Footscray won their first VFL premiership in 1954. After finishing the home-and-away season in second place, they played Geelong for the second straight season for a spot in the grand final. With captain Charlie Sutton sidelined by injury, Donald captained the club to victory. With the score tied at three-quarter time, Footscray kicked 4.9 to 1.4 in the final quarter to win by 23 points and advance to their first grand final. Donald was carried off the field after the game ended. Sutton returned for the 1954 VFL Grand Final and Donald was again vice-captain as Footscray easily defeated Melbourne with a final score of 15.12.102 to 7.9.51. The game was Donald's 150th game for Footscray, who was again runner-up for the club's best and fairest award. The following season, Footscray missed a spot in the finals by 0.6 percent.

With Sutton announcing his retirement at the conclusion of round five of the 1956 VFL season, Donald became the full-time captain for the remainder of the season. Footscray returned to the finals, finishing in fourth place at the end of the home-and-away season, and again faced Geelong in the first semi-final. The club played well for the aging Donald, coming from behind to defeat Geelong by two points. In difficult conditions, in front of almost 80,000 people, only 11 goals were scored in the whole game (just one in the second half). Footscray trailed the Cats by two points at three-quarter time, but kicked 0.5.5 to 0.1.1 in the final quarter to advance to the preliminary final. They were defeated by Collingwood by 39 points, despite more scoring shots.

At the start of the 1957 VFL season, Donald resigned as captain (as Footscray opted for youthful leadership) and stepped down from all leadership positions in the club as his career drew to a close. The team's oldest player, he played 17 of 18 games and played his 200th VFL game late in the season. Although Donald wanted to play one more season, he retired two rounds into the 1958 season after playing 205 games for Footscray. He played in eight finals (winning four), one premiership and represented Victoria three times during his career. When Donald retired, only Arthur Olliver and Alby Morrison had played more games for Footscray and only more games at the Western Oval; Donald is now sixth on that list. Only two players have played more VFL-AFL games with just one career goal."

[merantau]

From '65 to '72 Ron McGowan frasom North Hobart played 92 games and kicked 2 goals wearing #22. He was a strong marking half back who later played in South Australia.

[merantau]

Ted Whitten Jnr. wore #22 from '74 to '82, played 144 games and kicked 133 goals. He was a beautiful kick and delivered many pin point pass to Kelvin Templeton.

This tribute to Ted was published on the Bulldogs Club website to celebrate his 60th Birthday. He would have played 250 plus games had injury not intervened.
**********************

"As the son of one of the greatest players to pull on a pair of footy boots, Ted Whitten Junior's life as a footballer was always going to be heavily scrutinised.

But the younger Whitten, who today celebrates his 60th birthday, was made to feel at ease about forging his own career by the great man himself. Speaking in a radio interview on SEN late last year, Whitten Junior said his father's advice to ignore external expectations stayed with him throughout his playing days.

"The old man was fantastic,” said Whitten Junior. “He always said don’t worry about what anyone else says, just make sure you do what your coach says and if he’s happy and the club is happy - as long as you’re giving 100 per cent - that’s fine."

Notwithstanding the at times unrealistic expectations placed on him when he joined the Bulldogs as a 17-year-old in 1974, young Ted carved out a fine career in his own right before it was ended by injury early in 1983, when he was still only 25 years old.

Whitten Junior had a solid debut against South Melbourne in round 4 of the 1974 season, picking up 16 touches in a win at the ground that now bears his father's name, but he found himself in and out of the side until late in the 1975 season when he had a breakout match - also against the Swans - kicking five goals and collecting 25 possessions.

From that point on, Whitten Junior was to become one of the first picked at the Footscray selection table each week, and his talent and consistency were rewarded in later seasons with selection in Victoria's State of Origin side, an achievement of which his famous father - who viewed interstate representation as the pinnacle of Australian football - was rightly very proud.

Whitten Junior had played 144 games and kicked 133 goals across nine impressive seasons at the Bulldogs when his career came to an abrupt and unfortunate end. Playing against Collingwood in a curtain-raiser to an Ash Wednesday bushfire charity match in early 1983, Whitten had a seemingly innocuous collision with a Magpie that was to end his playing days.

“I just went head-to-head with a Collingwood player, which is something you do every game, but came off second best – as it turned out it was a posterior cruciate ligament I did. Didn’t know it for a while, but that was basically the end of my footy career."

Whitten Junior underwent three reconstructive operations to no avail.

“After the third one I’d just had enough and wanted to play golf, do the fitness stuff and just try to live a general life playing a bit of sport.”

While his playing days were over, the game and the Bulldogs remained in the hearts of Ted Whitten Junior and Senior until the famous "E.J." passed away aged 62 as the result of prostate cancer in 1995. After his father's passing, Ted Junior established the E.J. Whitten Foundation to help raise awareness of prostate cancer and fund research into the disease.

Whitten Junior remains the Executive Director of the Foundation to this day."

[merantau]

In 1986 Mark Cullen played one game wearing #54. In '87 he appeared in #22 and wore that number for another 34 games and 25 goals up to his last appearance in 1991.

I actually played on him in a staff student football match at Sunshine North Tech. He was too good for me ... but that's not saying much!

[merantau]

From '93 to '97 Peter Quill from East Fremantle played 67 games in the #22 and kicked 20 goals.