Herald Sun photographer Michael Klein recalls 2010 season embedded with Western Bulldogs
It has been 10 years since veteran Herald Sun photographer Michael Klein spent the season embedded at Whitten Oval, getting a ‘warts and all’ view of Western Bulldogs’ preliminary final campaign. These are the best of an incredible portfolio of pictures.
Bulldogs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bulldogs. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It’s the behind the scenes look at a club that has stayed just that.
Herald Sun photographer Michael Klein’s “Year at the Kennel” in 2010 captured every moment of the Dogs’ preliminary final season, enshrined in a 240-page coffee table style photobook that has sat in the snapper’s bayside garage ever since.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE OF MICHAEL KLEIN’S PICTURES FROM A SEASON AT WHITTEN OVAL
Working full-time at the newspaper, Klein — who has been behind the lens at the Herald Sun for more than 30 years — would swing by Whitten Oval every day between jobs, allowed all-areas access by then-coach Rodney Eade, players and officials for a fly-on-the-wall look at the team and club.
It was warts and all, Klein said.
“I photographed everything from Jason Akermanis sensationally getting the sack, sitting alone outside the room of people that would determine his fate, to Liam Picken’s ankle surgery,” Klein said.
He “scrubbed up” alongside the surgeon at Victoria House and was there to capture the entire procedure from the first scalpel to the final stitches.
There was Mitch Hahn’s huge hit from Barry Hall, which was recalled in the foreword to the book, penned by club great and soon-to-be skipper Bob Murphy.
“The great thing about team sport is all in the name. TEAM,” Murphy wrote.
“You are part of something, you lean on each other through good times and in bad. Yet what I love about this book is how it shows that, sometimes, the brutality of our game is played out in silence, when a player is alone, waging war against himself.”
“(Hahn’s hit) was captured on TV, under those brightly twinkling lights, and Mitch was rightly lauded for his courage … his real battle was played out after the TV crews had packed up and gone home, and the rest of us were sound asleep. With his face all broken up, Mitch spent the night with his own blood filling his face and throat, alone and in the dark.
“(Moments like this) don’t happen every day, but they do happen a lot more than the average punter would realise. It’s a brutal game, and this book captures these battles in a way that’s both glamorous and raw.”
Unfortunately best-laid plans don’t always materialise.
The book was never published.
There is one edition, housed in Klein’s shed and pulled out for a spot of reminiscing this week as he returns to his archives amid isolation procrastination.
There’s been days with Tiger Woods, the Hawaiian Ironman with Turia Pitt, the 1997 NBL Championship win for the Melbourne Tigers and the book that he said he was “lucky” to be able to produce.
“I loved every minute of it,” Klein said.
“I grew up as a Bulldogs supporter, yes, but the access was just unbelievable.
“I might publish it one day, who knows? It took me 10 years to get over it (not being published, but I’ll post a few pics on Instagram from it over the next few weeks.
“It’s not just a Bulldogs fans book, but hopefully a book for all footy lovers.
“But for now, I’ve got the only one.”
MORE AFL NEWS:
Savage AFL staff cuts will take heart and soul from clubs, writes Mark Robinson
AFL sets 25-person limit for football departments as COVID-19 fallout continues
Relive the night Western Bulldogs ended Essendon’s 20-game winning streak with ‘super flood’
A YEAR AT THE KENNEL
