Bulldogs legend Doug Hawkins labels upset elimination final win the best in the club’s history
BULLDOGS legend Doug Hawkins was bursting with pride when he phoned in radio talkback the morning after the Dogs’ huge upset win.
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BULLDOGS legend Doug Hawkins has labelled Thursday night’s upset elimination final win over the Eagles as the best in the club’s history.
Rank outsiders heading into the clash at Subiaco, the Western Bulldogs produced arguably their best performance of the year to smash West Coast by 47 points to advance to the semi-final.
Hawkins was bursting with pride when he phoned in a talkback segment on radio station SEN on Friday morning.
“I played for the Bulldogs for 17 years, 329 games, I’ve watched as a spectator for 22 years and I cannot recall a better team performance and individual performances as well in that period,” Hawkins said.
“This has to be the best win against the odds in the club’s history in my opinion.
“I didn’t see this coming, it was just a brilliant team performance. Probably the best in my whole time as a Bulldog.”
Coach Luke Beveridge threw everything at the game, including rolling the dice on returning stars Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae who’d missed the last month with injury.
He also recalled Jake Stringer after dropping the All-Australian for the final two games of the home-and-away season, while Easton Wood and Jordan Roughead also returned from injury.
The five inclusions for the clash were vital in the victory.
Hawkins praised Beveridge’s gutsy call and now believes the sky is the limit for this exciting Bullodgs team.
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“You roll the dice, you take in young Libba and Macrae, there’s no doubt they were underdone ... and he’s rolled the dice in that area thinking ‘well let’s have a good crack at it’,” he said.
“This is something that the footy club will remember for a long, long time.
“Who knows what they can do now. They’ve got a bit of a sniff.”
Luke Dahlhaus was best on ground with 29 disposals and nine tackles, while Rising Star runner-up Caleb Daniel was inspiring as he racked up 33 disposals.
Beveridge said post-match his team’s performance was the stuff of dreams, declaring “we didn’t in our wildest dreams think we were going to play that well.”
And Hawkins was lost for words watching it.
“Their passion for each other, their ability to work for each other (is what I love),” Hawkins said.
Just last night the pressure they put on West Coast Eagles was just enormous all over the ground.
“The thing I love about this group that Luke Beveridge has brought to the team is that they do their job. They just do their job, there’s not a lot of thrills and spills and all that sort of stuff, it’s just blokes that work for each other and actually do their job for each other.
“To watch it last night against the odds ... I’m sort of lost for words in a way.”
Originally published as Bulldogs legend Doug Hawkins labels upset elimination final win the best in the club’s history
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