Having been born after 1961, I have never witnessed Footscray/Western Bulldogs in a VFL/AFL Grand Final. That represents almost 50 years of heartbreak for the majority of Bulldog fans.
The old Footscray was quite successful in the night premierships that ran during the 1960s until the early 1970s. Footscray grabbed four of those, seen as a precursor to the current pre-season knockout competition now known as the NAB Cup.
But, alas, I’m too young to remember Footscray’s last victory in 1970.
In truth, the old night series was a little different to the current pre-season series in that only the teams that failed to make the final four would contest it.
This explains why teams like Footscray, North Melbourne, Hawthorn, South Melbourne and Melbourne did a little better than the more successful teams.
A new night series was established in 1977 and this one ran concurrently with the then VFL season, with games being played on a Tuesday.
Sometime during the 1980s, it became apparent that the rigors of modern football conspired against teams being able to play three games in the space of eight days, and since then the competition has been a knockout competition played pre-season.
The NAB Cup has always had a bad press in that the vast majority of footy fans see it as a series of glorified practice matches, and many coaches have treated it as such over the years.
My own team, the Bulldogs, had never even made it to the semi-finals in the modern version of the series, until this year.
And now we find ourselves in the unfamiliar position of being in our very first final, of any description, in 40 years.
All of a sudden, the NAB Cup is interesting to me!
Mr NAB, I take it all back. I love you and the Cup, especially if we are able to win our first trophy in 40 years!
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