It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after a 62-year wait, this was clear in the aftermath of the Western Bulldogs’ amazing grand final victory.
The Western Bulldogs had been in only two grand finals in their previous 91 seasons, and for the majority of their history have struggled to shake their underdog status. They have managed to produce champion after champion, including many Brownlow medallists, but only one premiership until this year.
They have also previously had to fight for their survival, both on and off the field.
In 1989, with declining membership and rising debt, the future looked bleak.
The Bulldogs faced the very real prospect of a merger with Fitzroy – an idea supported by the then VFL. A merger, however, for most Bulldogs fans at the time would have felt like the death of the club.
It wasn’t over yet, however, as the club rallied its supporters like never before in their now famous ‘Fightback’ campaign.
They held rallies, embarked on a door knock campaign, wooed new sponsors and somehow managed to survive.
Put simply, they never gave up.
The campaign was based on grass root supporters and community members pitching in to save something that they loved dearly, and in the process, they raised over $1 million. While more was needed, it was enough to produce hope that the club could survive and it provided a platform for accessing sponsorship support.
With an amazing community approach, the club defied the odds in managing to survive and continue to stand alone.
Within a few years, the Bulldogs were playing finals football and had another Brownlow medallist, Scott Wynd, in 1992. Lazarus would have been proud of this comeback.
The Bulldogs’ ‘Fightback’ campaign showed that football clubs are about more than just the game.
Football clubs are about people, loyalty, belonging and community. They are about the character of people, learning to work together to achieve a common goal – and about never giving up.
In 2016, the Bulldogs again had to overcome adversity, this time on the field, with several star players suffering heartbreaking, and at times blood curdling, season-ending injuries.
Coming from seventh position, having ended the home-and-away season with a whimper rather than a bang, they managed to win two interstate finals and knock off last season’s premiers in between, to become the first side ever to make a grand final from so far back.
That they then followed this up with their inspiring grand final win, meant that they had achieved what many – probably even within their own ranks – would have perceived as impossible, just a few weeks earlier.
The emotional scenes after the game with players, officials, fans and those at the Whitten Oval, were something to behold.
Everyone in the football world had a lump in their throat when Luke Beveridge put his own medal around injured captain Bob Murphy’s neck.
Some aging Bulldogs fans may have given up hope that they would ever see a premiership again within their lifetime. In a transient age, the Bulldogs are a unique club in Victoria, as they have such a strong fan-base connected to a specific geographic area, with Geelong being the only other.
This win means so much to the whole western suburbs region.
The way the players have responded to adversity this year has been outstanding. The passion for the club, and the desire to play for both teammate and coach, was clear. The sheer joy displayed by Murphy – despite not being in the team on the day – exemplified how all of the players seem to so clearly understand the meaning of the word ‘team’.
The Bulldogs have stunned the football world with they have achieved this year and they have done it playing a very exciting brand of football. As the ABC’s Gerard Whateley commented at the end of the game, this win by the Bulldogs showed us that “in sport, anything is possible”.
This win surely ranks as one of the greatest stories in VFL/AFL history.
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