Western Bulldogs have proved any club can win the premiership
LUKE Beveridge and his players have provided hope for fans of every other team. But there is one that stands out when searching for the next footy fairytale, writes JON RALPH.
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ALL bets are off.
Those flimsy excuses have been ripped to shreds.
On October 1 last year Luke Beveridge turfed the so-called premiership clock from the top of the EJ Whitten Stand and consigned it to irrelevancy.
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He proved last year any team can win the flag from anywhere.
The Bulldogs won from seventh, with a bunch of kids, with a second-year coach, without their captain, without any recent finals success.
With no-names and pups like Zaine Cordy (11 AFL games), Josh Dunkley (17), Toby McLean (19), Fletcher Roberts (37) and Joel Hamling (23).
They did it with a breakout game from Tom Boyd, whose massive contract was the previous year described as the worst in the history of football.
Now the likes of Tyrone Vickery and Lindsay Thomas and Travis Cloke can dream about redefining themselves on the biggest stage.
Melbourne football boss Josh Mahoney expanded on the theme this week when he noted the fairytales of Leicester and the Chicago Cubs.
History says the Demons are too raw, too lacking in finals experience and have two key talls — Oscar McDonald and Sam Weideman — who just aren’t ready.
Yet one rival coach at the pointy end of the ladder instructed his opposition scout to spend the last month watching only Melbourne. He believes they can be the 2017 version of the Bulldogs.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan took up the theme at the AFL season launch on Thursday night when he spoke of the shock value of the Doggies’ win.
“It was so improbable. Six rookie-listed players, five of the starting 18 unavailable, only six first-round picks which is the second-lowest in the competition,’’ he said.
“Their spiritual leader Bob Murphy injured, coming from seventh place. The Western Bulldogs beat history last year and handed us something that has been elusive in recent years — hope.
“Fans of every club have taken note. This could happen to us ...”
Once sheer fatigue was an enemy of the underdog, as rested top-four sides beat up on them if they did make it through to a preliminary final.
But the brilliance of the bye preceding the finals is that it is a reset which soothes aching limbs and sets up outsiders for a sustained four-week assault.
Beveridge calls his club’s approach running towards the flame, with his Dogs fearless in one of the great four-weeks bursts this game has seen.
The Dogs turned feral, smashing every opponent in contested possession, inside-50 differential and time in forward half.
It won the ball at the contest — in what Simon Goodwin calls “one metre warcraft” — then kept the ball locked in the forward half.
In other words play to your strengths, be it Collingwood’s supercharged midfield, or St Kilda’s array of versatile forwards, or Port Adelaide’s inside bulls.
The Bulldogs have not only brought grown men to tears with a drought-ending premiership, they have opened up a world of possibilities for their 17 rivals.
WHAT A MONTH: BULLDOGS’ 2016 FINALS
West Coast Hawthorn GWS Sydney
Contested Possessions: +23, +50, +17, +23,
Inside-50 diff: +12, +12, +23, +18
Time in forward half: +9:31, +19:02, +14:24, +15:02
Source: CHAMPION DATA
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