NRL 2024: Fans packing Belmore Stadium represents the renaissance of the Canterbury Bulldogs

Some of the scenes at Belmore Oval on Sunday night represent the greatest things about rugby league. The drums are beating, the Bulldogs are back and its scalp hunting season, writes PAMELA WHALEY.

There’s nothing more dangerous at this time of year than a team with momentum.

The drums are beating, the Bulldogs are back.

And its scalp hunting season.

Some of the scenes at Belmore Oval on Sunday night represent the greatest thing about rugby league.

When long dormant footy fans are reawakened from their slumber.

Hopes are dusted off, jerseys fetched from the bottom of a drawer, hearts thawed.

All of a sudden it doesn’t seem like so much of an effort to spend an afternoon in a cold, under-resourced stadium with a hot, overpriced pie.

Stephen Crichton leads the Bulldogs out at a packed Belmore. Picture: NRL Imagery

That’s the magic of winning.

And when it’s a team like the Bulldogs or the Dragons, it’s contagious.

Old rivalries flare up, and fans remember how much they either love or hate them.

Even neutrals pick a side.

Who would have guessed in March that a Bulldogs v Dragons game at Kogarah on a Saturday night in the dead of winter would be the hottest ticket in rugby league?

Not I, that’s for sure.

And I don’t think I’m alone in severely underestimating the Bulldogs at the start of this season.

There’s something special cooking at the Bulldogs. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

Like the team itself, we got used to them losing.

Fans ventured into each season with a glimmer of optimism that this is the year everything changes, only to have it snuffed out like a coach’s contract.

First Dean Pay, then Trent Barrett.

For a long while there it seemed like the long winter would never end as the churn of coaches who had no luck in fixing the mess seemed to devour all hope in its path.

Like a rugby league Dementor stalking the halls at Belmore Sports Ground.

No wonder the blue-and-white brigade have lost their collective minds this past fortnight.

It’s been a long and miserable wait for fans who haven’t experienced any real hope for a title since Des Hasler was in charge more than eight years ago.

It’s been an exorcism of almost a decade of disappointment.

The signing of Stephen Crichton now looks just as important to the Bulldogs as James Graham was back in 2012.

He is as beloved as quickly, this leader who leaves it all out on the field with a genuine care for the club and respect for the jersey.

It feels like a similar turning point to 2009, when Kevin Moore took over, recruited Greg Eastwood, Mick Ennis and David Staggs, taking the Dogs from the wooden spoon to a preliminary final in the space of a season.

It was a foundation that led to two grand finals over the next five seasons, but fans want more than that.

They want a premiership.

And that’s the real test of Cameron Ciraldo’s special brand of wizardry.

For now, they just have to keep winning and anything is possible.

Originally published as NRL 2024: Fans packing Belmore Stadium represents the renaissance of the Canterbury Bulldogs