Also just read Dale Morris played with 2 fractures in his back. Wow what an effort. also any team that finishes 7th, beats WC in Perth then Hawthorn the GWS away and then the minor premiers deserves this win today. I hope our team can find this belief next year. 

  On 01/10/2016 at 09:27, Redleg said:

Then the first thing to do is not draft a Toumpas ahead of a MacRae.

I know I shouldn't be mentioning it, but it is just so damaging to the list going forwards.

What you talkin' bout Mr Leg... The Toump was blisteringly fast! 

  On 01/10/2016 at 09:26, Jaded said:

Fantastic win and a victory for all small foundation clubs who don't get regular AFL handouts and advantages. 

Anything is possible. I have hope after watching this win!

Jaded I'm wondering who you have hope for as I'm almost certain we've had a bit of help over the years from the AFL. Should I be worried?

  On 01/10/2016 at 14:06, Rusty Nails said:

Jaded I'm wondering who you have hope for as I'm almost certain we've had a bit of help over the years from the AFL. Should I be worried?

Everyone has help, but you can't compare the armchair rides that a club like Sydney gets, or GWS, or the favorable draws of Collingwood/Carlton/Essendon etc 

The Dogs lost two key players to GWS, including their gutless captain who walked out on his team. What a lovely vindication to see his replacement dominate today. 

 

  On 01/10/2016 at 14:15, Jaded said:

Everyone has help, but you can't compare the armchair rides that a club like Sydney gets, or GWS, or the favorable draws of Collingwood/Carlton/Essendon etc 

The Dogs lost two key players to GWS, including their gutless captain who walked out on his team. What a lovely vindication to see his replacement dominate today. 

 

Finally justice prevails. Maybe there is a footy God!!?

Without doubt that's the best finals campaign I've ever seen at VFL/AFL level. So glad GWS got booted and there was no pee and poo running around out there today. What a refreshing change!

Did we help The Cats and the Doggies out when we beat the Hawks first up after their 9 in a row? Was it the Demons who showed them the way and gave them a little sniff, some hope, the extra belief and what needed to be done to put the Dawks away?

Boyd or Picken were BOG/Normy for mine though. JJ's second half was better but missed too many targets in the first half IMO.

I believe the push in the back rule has disappeared. How many times do we see players being tackled from behind, carried forward and being flattened with the tackler lying on top. Umpire usually makes a weak ball up decision.

Best grand final I've ever seen.  The underdogs, 7th place finish, havent won a GF in 50 years, decimated by injury all season, lost their former captain and best player to GWS 18 months ago, lost their current captain to an ACL injury, up against the AFL's COLA lovechild.

Just brilliant.

I agree never been so emotionally on board since Swans won in 2005 to break their 72 year drought. Loved the Dogs effort and toughness around the ball, I loved the way Beverage spoke and behaved after winning the big one almost Presidential, bought a tear to the eye. Loved every minute of the game, Swans were beaten but unbowed. I hope that our current batch of players were watching closely, anything is possible if you have the talent and the belief. Magical!!!

  On 01/10/2016 at 14:15, Jaded said:

Everyone has help, but you can't compare the armchair rides that a club like Sydney gets, or GWS, or the favorable draws of Collingwood/Carlton/Essendon etc 

The Dogs lost two key players to GWS, including their gutless captain who walked out on his team. What a lovely vindication to see his replacement dominate today. 

 

What's wrong with Collingwoods draw?

They can draw a crowd (even interstate) as a result all clubs want to play them as their home game. Are you happy for Queens birthday to be their home game every second year?

Richmond (70,000 members this tear?) are set to lose their Friday night games for underperforming this year, as long as that is consistent across all clubs there shouldn't be an issue.

Taking away the feel good factor of the Dogs winning I didn't think it was the greatest game, for mine there were better games throughout the finals series.

  On 01/10/2016 at 13:04, Akum said:

Agree, they had heaps of passengers. Didn't think much of Mills, though he & McVeigh probably weren't fully fit, which makes their selection (& probably leaving out Aliir) a huge blunder. Mitchell got a heap of ball, but barely registered on hurt factor.

Another huge disappointment was Luke Parker - seems perhaps he's got a lot of mileage out of being the 3rd or 4th mid, when oppositions concentrate on Kennedy & Hannebery. However, when the opposition has 4 mids that are better than you, your shortcomings really get shown up, and they did today.

What gets me about the Dogs is they seem to make heaps of disposal mistakes - so often kicking & handballing to the wrong places - but when they do, they just try three times harder to win back the ball. If they handball to someone under pressure, they just scrap harder to keep possession & not give away a free. If they turn it over, their pressure is more relentless than if they'd hit their target. 

And they use the long bomb very differently too. Rather than looking to a big pack mark, they aim to get the ball into a dangerous position and just get it to ground and let their crumbers do the rest. By kicking the ball high and giving it lots of "hang time", their midfielders get lots of time to run towards the drop of the ball.

Aliir wasn't fit so they had to replace him but agree, I don't think Mills or McVeigh were 100% fit either. Bad selections on both fronts, I think.

Parker was in the top 3 or 4 players in the first month of the year but I think opposition coaches have put a lot of time into him since then. Kennedy is nearly unstoppable but Parker is less so.

  On 01/10/2016 at 13:16, Akum said:

Oh yeah, the Dogs got the double - AFL & VFL. Seems to have escaped notice in all the excitement of today.

How long has it been that one club has got the firsts / reserves premiership double?

Hawthorn/Box Hill did it in 2013 I think.

  On 01/10/2016 at 09:49, praha said:

I see what you mean, but "expansion" is a modern term generally referred to the expansion of the league outside of the traditional heartland. Bulldogs I consider a traditional club, not "foundation", but still in the same league as all other VFL teams.

It's a lot different to GWS.

OK fair enough, "just like Port Adelaide did", that's more accurate.

  On 01/10/2016 at 22:35, Fifty-5 said:

OK fair enough, "just like Port Adelaide did", that's more accurate.

Personally, I think the VFL lost is traditional charm when the plastic Richmond expansion team was parachuted in.

  On 01/10/2016 at 14:53, Bobby McKenzie said:

I believe the push in the back rule has disappeared. How many times do we see players being tackled from behind, carried forward and being flattened with the tackler lying on top. Umpire usually makes a weak ball up decision.

Amen to that BM there were at least 30 infringements yesterday. 

  On 01/10/2016 at 14:53, Bobby McKenzie said:

I believe the push in the back rule has disappeared. How many times do we see players being tackled from behind, carried forward and being flattened with the tackler lying on top. Umpire usually makes a weak ball up decision.

on the plus side though, booby, there used to be a lot of players exploiting this by flinging themselves forward and buckling their knees. you don't see that too often now, though i did notice keirin jack try an obvious one which the umpire wisely ignored. seems now the only push in the back tackles paid are those blatant ones. The 50/50 ones seem to be let go. I'd be more worried about the throwing the ball interpretation but i don't think the afl are.

Brilliant effort by all at the kennel. What a great finals series.

Firstly incredible effort by the Bulldogs to beat WestCoast away ( First of the silver spooners eliminated) Then Geelong's denial of second chance for Hawks, tick (Along with GWS forcing Swans to do it the hard way).

Then Beveridges' mob kicked that Hawthorn team (that has been damaging the AFL brand by wining so much) out of the finals, what a bloody relief!!! Then travelling yet again to beat GWS (Loved the Karma bus that hit Stevie Johnson ie both not playing in the prelim AND hence arguably being the reason they lost!) In addition, Swans beating Geelong was the lessor of two eveils as the Cats have had enough recent glory, good riddens!

What a sensational Grand Final, with one point separating the teams so late in the last term. Congratulations by all at 'Footscray', I Cannot recall being so emotionally attached to another team winning!

Finally Bevo demonstrated more Leadership, integrity and positive virtues than most so called world leaders have in recent memory. 

  On 01/10/2016 at 22:35, Fifty-5 said:

OK fair enough, "just like Port Adelaide did", that's more accurate.

Yep.  Adelaide, West Coast and Brisbane (Bears) were also clubs that were 100% manufactured by the AFL. "Expansion clubs" have been popping up for 30 years, I think it's probably time people accepted that the old VFL is gone and isn't coming back.

I just hope the AFL has finished "expanding".

  On 02/10/2016 at 00:12, mauriesy said:

I just hope the AFL has finished "expanding".

nothing is ever finished, maurie.....

....and certainly not where money is concerned

  On 02/10/2016 at 00:07, mauriesy said:

Correct at the time. Then appointed the right Coach and things changed over 2 years.

  On 02/10/2016 at 00:27, daisycutter said:

nothing is ever finished, maurie.....

....and certainly not where money is concerned

Little whisper, the New Guinea Nutcrackers are being considered.

  On 02/10/2016 at 01:35, Redleg said:

Correct at the time. Then appointed the right Coach and things changed over 2 years.

maybe slobbo's salutation of #goodluck did the trick, red?

  On 02/10/2016 at 01:38, daisycutter said:

maybe slobbo's salutation of #goodluck did the trick, red?

He would think so.

  On 01/10/2016 at 11:43, SaberFang said:

How [censored] refreshing was that? Pretty bloody nice when it isn't Hawthorn, or a club who has everything handed to them on a silver platter.

A win for the battlers and there needs to be more of this in years to come if the AFL actually wants to grow, rather than remain stagnant with the same big clubs winning every [censored] year. Maybe the AFL will perk up and actually realise that ALL teams getting to experience success rather than just the rich clubs is actually the best thing for the comp.

Nobody wants to see an endless stream of rich clubs buying themselves a premiership every year. This is a win for the blue-collar clubs of the league who don't have a silver spoon in their mouth.

I agree with the sentiments, but the "rich club" part is a myth.

All of Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney (and South Melbourne) and even Collingwood have had their financial difficulties.

The salary cap and draft (the two single most important mechanisms in the AFL) are there for a reason, they mean that any team can win a premiership, it's just up to those teams to use them properly.