Dogs' inner magpie to take flight

[bornadog]

Jake Niall

COMPARISONS between the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood tend to focus on a vast disparity in size and resources. When lined up against the monolithic Magpies, the Doggies can seem like chihuahuas.

But on the field, there's reason for optimism that the Bulldogs can replicate what Collingwood did last year, when it vaulted from distant fourth to the premiership. There are striking parallels between the Doggies of 2011 and the Pies of 2010, who won the flag on the back of personnel changes over summer and a gameplan said to be inspired by the Roman legions and Erwin Rommel.

As with Collingwood last year, the Bulldogs enter 2011 with a team that has been a consistent finalist but couldn't cut the mustard with the grand finalists last September. The Dogs were demolished by Collingwood in week one of the finals, and after early resistance, succumbed to St Kilda in the penultimate final.

Check the fine print of what happened to the Dogs last year, though, and one can see their proximity to Collingwood 12 months earlier, and cause for hope that they can improve significantly. I would contend that the Bulldogs are the only top-four team from last year that has major upside, given Geelong's demographics and the loss of Gary Ablett, and St Kilda's limited depth.

The first and most obvious similarity with the Pies of 2010 is the discarding of rusting oldies. Collingwood's ruthless willingness to jettison Shane O'Bree, Tarkyn Lockyer and Josh Fraser from the best 22 — and to keep an ailing Paul Medhurst in the VFL — was crucial last year. It allowed youngsters such as Brent Macaffer, Chris Dawes, Jarryd Blair, Ben Reid and Steele Sidebottom to cement spots and drastically change the team DNA.

Brad Johnson and Jason Akermanis were once great, while Mitch Hahn and Nathan Eagleton had performed important specialist roles in their heyday. But none of those old Dogs made meaningful contributions last year; collectively, they were a handbrake.

Akermanis was a distraction and Johnson's creaking body made him marginal. Eagleton was only in the team by default. Hahn has been redrafted as a mature rookie, but shouldn't play much. Akermanis and Johnson were below par for what has become the primary responsibility of smallish forwards — defensive pressure.

Then, there's the injury factor. In 2009, Scott Pendlebury broke his leg in the opening minutes of the first final, while Dane Swan's gluteus was far from maximus in September. Last year, the Dogs entered finals Adam Cooney, and their most crucial player, Brian Lake, was on one leg. Dale Morris, too, was hurt. A sore Ryan Griffen raised his game in September in what might represent a belated coming of age.

But the greatest upside isn't Cooney or even the prospect of a fitter Lake. It's Shaun Higgins and Callan Ward, gifted emerging players crippled by injury and illness last year. The club is treating them as recruits. Easton Wood and Jordan Roughead can improve the team along the lines of Collingwood's kids.

Recruits Justin Sherman, Nathan Djerrkura and Patrick Veszpremi aren't of the calibre of Collingwood's Darren Jolly and Luke Ball, but they add depth and leg speed. The father-sons Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis will, at the least, place pressure on mature midfielders.

If the Dogs shape as the potential Collingwood in utero, there are two major queries. The first is resources. Whereas Collingwood had the most expensive football department last year, the Dogs were mired in the bottom quartile for footy spend, and will be in the bottom four again in 2011 despite adding a physio and player welfare manager. As Richmond recently observed, no club has reached a grand final from the bottom quarter in football spending since Melbourne in 2000.

Bulldogs president David Smorgon recognises the resources gap as a factor. On Wednesday, Smorgon outlined the divide between rich and poor clubs in a speech to the RACV club in which he showed what the Dogs were up against. Smorgon, however, reckons the club has sufficient resources to bring home the bacon. "We're going in with the attitude of having no excuses," he said yesterday. The club had enough "to achieve what we want to achieve".

The final query isn't money but mettle. The Bulldogs, for whatever reason, haven't had the self-confidence that Collingwood discovered, via Nick Maxwell's leadership. The club is conscious of the foible, with the appointment of captain Matthew Boyd seen as a potential circuit breaker.

"Waiting for Cronulla to win the premiership is like leaving the porch light on for Harold Holt," the late rugby league super coach Jack Gibson famously said. In the Dogs' case, the light is on and we're waiting for them merely to reach a grand final, much less win one.

It's not easy to believe in the Dogs, given what John Elliott called "their tragic history". The real question, though, is whether they believe.

[LostDoggy]

It's not easy to believe in the Dogs, given what John Elliott called "their tragic history". The real question, though, is whether they believe.


I Do

[Bulldog Joe]

I believe but we do need the playing group to believe.

[Ghost Dog]

Our Inner Magpie?? I felt a bit queasy and had trouble reading past the headline...

[LostDoggy]

Our Inner Magpie?? I felt a bit queasy and had trouble reading past the headline...

I used to have a Curly Retriever (RIP Shad) and he used to have inner magpies. Well when I stopped Duck hunting he still had the need to Fetch, and sometimes he crunched and swallowed.

Not quite sure if that is what the writer implied tho

[Remi Moses]

That Jack Gibson quote was a classic!