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Who are the best Bulldogs premiers?

24th July, 2017
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Former NSW Blues captain Steve Mortimer was made for Origin. (AAP Image/Action Photographics)
Roar Guru
24th July, 2017
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1230 Reads

In a dire season for Bulldogs fans, it’s time to look to better days and ask which of their past Premiership sides is the best.

Canterbury has won eight grand finals. I’m going to choose four of those sides to fight it out: the teams from 1980, 1984, 1995, and 2004. I’m ignoring the teams from 1938 and 1942 as it’s too long ago, and 1985 and ’88 as they’re too close to the ’84 side. So here are our four contenders with a brief description.

1980 – The Entertainers
From 1976-80, this team played some of the most attractive football ever seen in rugby league. A lightweight forward pack was compensated by brilliant backs, and Steve Mortimer was perhaps the most freakish attacking player to ever play the game.

Mortimer was quicksilver and unpredictable. Not even he knew what was coming next. Lightning darts through the defensive line, chips over the top, and backing up to finish amazing tries.

The side contains two sets of brothers; the Mortimers and the Hughes, and this helped create an instinctive style of play honed in backyard footy.

The other backs weren’t mugs either, as you can see from the classic Greg Brentall-Steve Gearin try from the 1980 grand final.

Led by then-Australian captain, Dr George Peponis, this may be the most fondly remembered of any Canterbury team.

1984 – The Dogs of War
On to the Warren Ryan era, and a very different sort of team, the Dogs of War had one of the toughest ever forward packs. Peter Kelly, David Gillespie, Peter Tunks, Steve Folkes and co intimidated rivals with their defence. And if you got past that lot, Andrew Farrar and Chris Mortimer were waiting to smash you in the backs.

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Terry Lamb had now joined Steve Mortimer to form the club’s best ever halves pairing, and under Ryan’s coaching, the Dogs were able to end Parramatta’s reign by winning the 1984 grand final.

1995 – Lamb’s Miracle Boys
On paper, this may be the weakest of the four, but they were a tough and talented team from 1993-95. Don’t forget this was the era of super clubs, Canberra and Brisbane.

In 1995, Canterbury went on an amazing semi-final run from sixth spot and knocked off both those powerhouses, then minor premiers Manly, to claim a miraculous title.

With skilful ball-playing forwards Dean Pay, Jason Smith, and Jim Dymock, as well as the inspiring leadership of Terry Lamb, this was a very good team indeed.

2004 – Interchange Immortals
So called because of future immortal, Johnathan Thurston was on the subs bench, right next to Sonny Bill Williams, probably the best league player to come out of New Zealand.

Some bench!

The 2004 side had a powerful pack of forwards led by Steve Price and Willy Mason, clever halves in Braith Anasta and Brent ‘Shifty’ Sherwin, and point-scoring freak Hazem El Masri in the backs.

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Let’s not forget club legends like Luke Patten and Andrew Ryan. This was a star studded team as is clear, once again, by the quality of that bench.

It shows how good that Roosters side was, that the Dogs only just beat them in the 2004 grand final, after three years of rivalry.

So who are the best Bulldogs’ Premiers? Here are my top four, in reverse order.

4th Place – Lamb’s Miracle Boys
The strength of this side is the ball playing forwards and Terry Lamb’s captaincy. By now, Lamb’s body was held together by bits of tape and string, but he got through on sheer willpower and toughness.

Don’t forget those Brisbane and Canberra sides they beat were virtually state of origin teams. The 1995 premiership was one out of left field and no one saw it coming.

3rd Place – The Entertainers
Many Canterbury fans would name this their favourite era. This team was pure attacking brilliance.

The forwards were always punching above their weight but they never took a backwards step. Exhibit A – Geoff Robinson.

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But that backline was the star attraction, led by Steve ‘Turvey’ Mortimer. While I’d like to think they would beat the 84 side, I’m not sure they would. Besides, Steve would have to defeat his own future self, who was on the verge of State of Origin glory with NSW!

2nd Place – The Dogs of War
You would hate to take the field against this mob simply for the intimidation factor. Getting smashed time after time would leave you wondering why you didn’t take up an easier sport … like mountaineering.

They also had Terry Lamb in his prime and Steve Mortimer, albeit with his genius dialled back a notch under Warren Ryan’s coaching. But 84 was Ryan’s first year and they were still working together as coach and captain.

1st Place – Interchange Immortals
Ultimately, the most well rounded of the four teams, I tip the Interchange Immortals to win the battle of the Bulldogs premiers. Power in the forwards, classy halves and backs, and “I-Never-Miss” El Masri turning every four points into six.

Brent Sherwin is underrated, but at his peak, his kicking game was not far behind what Cooper Cronk’s is now, and in 2004, Braith Anasta was still Fittler-in-waiting.

This was a star studded side and if any given game was going against them, they could always go to Plan B, which was Thurston and Sonny Bill Williams off the bench. Those guys were teenagers then. If the club had kept them together, who knows how good they would have been in a couple of years.

In the end, one premiership for this side was probably an underachievement. What went wrong, who knows? But letting JT go to the Cowboys probably had something to do with it.

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For comparison, here are the four teams, and a ‘best of’ team. My apologies to Brian Battese and Reni Maitua who played in the grand finals. I’ve changed them for the more well known David Gillespie and Steve Price, who didn’t actually play in those games. If I left anyone else out, I’m sorry.

1980 1984 1995 2004
1 Brentnall Potter Silva Patten
2 Anderson O’Brien Williams El Masri
3 Mortimer, C Mortimer, C Timu Harris
4 Mortimer, P Farrar Ryan Tonga
5 Gearin Mortimer, P Halligan Utai
6 Hughes, G Lamb Lamb Anasta
7 Mortimer, S Mortimer, S Polla-Mounter Sherwin
8 Robinson Kelly Britt O’Meally
9 Peponis Bugden Hetherington Perry
10 Coveney Tunks Pay Price
11 Hughes, Gr Gillespie Price Mason
12 Folkes Folkes Gillies Ryan
13 Hughes, M Langmack Dymock Grimaldi

Here is my ‘best of’ team, which no doubt some people will disagree with.

1. Greg Brentnall
2. Hazem El Masri
3. Chris Mortimer
4. Andrew Farrar
5. Chris Anderson
6. Terry Lamb
7. Steve Mortimer
8. Steve Price
9. George Peponis
10. Dean Pay
11. Graeme Hughes
12. David Gillespie
13. Jim Dymock

Interchange: Thurston, Tunks, Mason, SB Williams.

Of those 17 players, it’s worth noting there are six from 1980, six from 1984, four from 1995, and five from 2004. That makes twenty-one players because four are in more than one of the sides.

In what may seem to disprove my claim that the 2004 team is the best, three of the five members here are on the bench, and there are two forwards from 1980. Surely some mistake!

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I’ll leave it to Bulldogs fans to sort that one out.

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