The Bulldogs have had the somewhat embarrassing situation arise this week of seeing coach Kevin Moore – son of famed Bulldogs patriarch Peter “Bullfrog” Moore – resign as head coach after being told his services would not be required in 2012.
Long referred to as ‘the Family Club’, this moniker came from Bullfrog’s time as club CEO, during which the club won four premierships.
Bullfrog’s final appointment as a head coach during his time at the Kennel was Chris Anderson, his son-in-law, which began a line of succession that has seen the Dogs shift away from being the Family Club to ‘the Moore Family Club’.
Following Anderson’s eight seasons at the helm came Steve Folkes, another son-in-law to Bullfrog, who held the blue and white clipboard for 11 seasons before handing it over to Bullfrog’s son Kevin.
Though nepotism may be claimed, in the cases of both Anderson and Folkes it certainly could not be proven.
Anderson came with a coaching pedigree from time in England (which included a championship and challenge cup) while at the Kennel he had a 60 percent ratio of victories, and brought home the 1995 premiership.
Folkes, meanwhile, took the Dogs to the grand final in his first season, and in those that followed he managed three semis, two preliminaries, the 2002 minor premiership (stripped due to the salary cap scandal) and the 2004 premiership.
Unfortunately Bullfrog’s flesh and blood – a man the club admitted to appointing without so much as interviewing other candidates – has not had anything near the success of his predecessors.
Though many point to his Dally M award as coach of the year in 2009 – his inaugural season – saying you don’t go from winning a coaching award of that stature to being worthy of the sack so soon, could it be Moore’s first season was the exception, rather than the rule?
Though no one would discount the efforts of 2009, a year in which Moore took 2008’s wooden spooners to within one game of the grand final, perhaps it was just beginner’s luck.
2010 wasn’t a bad year for signings, with the likes of Steve Turner, Dene Halatau and Mickey Paea thought to be quality players who would help see the Dogs go two victories better than the previous year. Instead they choked their way to 13th.
2011 had some even bigger signings, including Aiden Tolman, Frank Pritchard, Trent Hodkinson, Kris Keating and the return of Greg Eastwood from Leeds but, though the season is not yet over, none of these players were enough to spark the kind of form from the Dogs that would have seen Moore spared the chop, instead seeing them sitting 11th when he walked.
Chris Anderson has come out swinging on his brother-in-law’s behalf, saying his sacking was like ”telling Terry Lamb halfway through the season that he’s over the hill and it’s time to go”.
He may have been a dedicated servant over the years but how many premierships has Moore actively been a part of bringing home? One – as Folkes’s assistant in 2004. He’s hardly Terry Lamb.
Being loyal to someone due to their family’s service is a beautiful notion but rugby league is an ugly game (ask the bloke named Bullfrog) and results speak much louder than having history as the club’s ballboy thirty years ago.
Jim Dymock now takes on the role of head coach, albeit in a caretaker role, and the club finds itself for the first time in 21 years with someone not directly related to Bullfrog calling the shots.
Perhaps they will return to their winning ways as the Family Club, having dropped Moore in both position and unofficial title.
And surely their fans would prefer to see more premierships rather than Moore of the same.
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