The great teams all play with force, and last Thursday night the Bulldogs signalled that they’re going to be a great team, if they’re not already.
One of the beauties of sport is that avenues to victory are as diverse as they are winding. Some teams win in spite of themselves, other teams are handed gifts. You can win with finesse or brawn, or combine the two like Hawthorn tend to in their grand finals.
In Perth, the Bulldogs had the most classical and most beautiful of victories – they imposed their collective will on the game and made the unilateral decision that they just weren’t going to lose.
It’s hard to recall a more impressive finals victory in the past few years or beyond that, the past decade, although the Giants made their own case less than 48 hours later.
Hawthorn’s 2014 grand final was breathtaking, but their brilliance was almost blighted by how inept their opponents were – it was a first round knockout and barely a fight.
Fremantle toppling Geelong at Simonds Stadium in 2013 comes to mind too. That was a win that more closely followed the archetypical underdog route to victory. The Dockers stuck around, leveraging their one clear advantage – 53 hitouts to 16 – all day long and then punished their opponent’s profligacy (9.18) with a late flurry.
The Bulldogs’ win in Perth did not follow such a path. The Dogs didn’t stick around and sneak to victory – they carried out a funeral and smashed in the coffin with a sledgehammer until there was nothing left.
I can’t remember a game where the story of an upset victory had so little to do with the beaten favourite. The Eagles were powerless on Thursday night, bystanders to their own annihilation. They showed up, and they didn’t wilt so much as they were put on their knees.
It seems impossible to say that a 16-win team that just lost a home final by eight goals and went home home before the first weekend of finals even properly kicked off has nothing to be ashamed of, but I’m not sure the Eagles can lament their elimination final too wistfully.
This wasn’t last year’s grand final, a loud, magnificent disgrace where they never gave themselves a shot. West Coast competed against the Dogs, they just weren’t allowed to be competitive.
Nothing about the game made sense. The script was burned the moment the ball was bounced. The Dogs looked their age early on, the first two goals of the game gifted to the Eagles by errant, hesitant Bulldog kicks looking to exit defensive 50. But they regrouped like they have all year long, and what followed was as shocking as it was marvellous.
The Dogs turned convention on its head. There are certain things you can’t do in football in 2016, like take a mark in your back 50, see that movement is stagnant ahead, and then just kick it to an even contest in the centre square. But the Dogs did that, and they were rewarded for their endeavour time and time again. They executed those kicks, which were rarely marked, like they just knew that when the ball hit the ground they were going to be harder and faster and cleaner than the Eagles and win it almost every time. And they did.
There was no singular transcendent performance or tactical masterstroke that won that game. There was no Aaron Sandilands monstering Nathan Vardy over and over. Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer, the team’s two most dynamic players, were virtually unsighted with the game in the balance.
(If the Bulldogs should have one concern coming out of last Thursday, aside from Lin Jong’s collarbone, it should be Stringer’s no-show, aside from that stunning goal in the final term. With his spot in the team on the line, he played with no fire, gutlessly pulling out of contests on the near wing late in the first quarter, and offering no physical presence. It was a performance amplified by how incongruous it was to the rest of his teammates.)
The team prospered as a team, It was the silky delivery and opportunism of Caleb Daniel and Luke Dahlhaus, the hardness and perfectly weighted handballs out into space of Tom Liberatore, the dash of Jason Johannisen, the clinical finishing of Tory Dickson, and, as everyone predicted, the contested marking inside 50 from Liam Picken.
A lot has happened in football since last Thursday. The Hawks and Cats played out another classic, in a rivalry so magnificent it makes you wonder if some sort of wonderful cosmic determinism has to be driving it at this stage. If it is, so be it – to hell with free will.
The Kangaroos completed their exit stage right, something they’ve been signalling their intent to do for the better part of three months. The Crows escaped unscathed, and the Swans weren’t nearly so lucky.
And then GWS showed us that the football apocalypse may indeed be ahead of schedule. But still, Thursday night lingers, and with it the thought that another giant might have been born outside of New South Wales.
Friday night the Dogs get to prove it. And what better way to climb to greatness than by beating maybe the greatest team of all time?(Click to Tweet)
Don Freo
Guest
You only have ro look at their 7 (ahem) "close" games. They were no better than St Kilda and Melbourne with actual wins.
Pete
Guest
A premature announcement. Of the other 5 teams left they have only beaten 2 this year. One of them by 15 points and the other by 4 points. There's just not enough evidence to date to show they have arrived as a force.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Captain Captain
Roar Rookie
The Footscray train is presently at a platform in Spencer St station, still a few stations short of Jolimont. We have a good head of steam but the journey has some way to go yet. We are, at least, going 'direct via Flinders St' this September. Last season we got onto the loop line and went straight back home. This year's results have shown a steady improvement again. We have a chance tomorrow night to make further progress; but regardless of the outcome ( barring an absolute shellacking) we have made that necessary incremental improvement from last year, Given the youth, depth (39 senior players) and inexperience of the team, we look to be positioning ourselves to be a force in the next couple of years. Very few teams arrive without notice, most show signs in advance and I think that is what the dogs have done the past two years. We are not a force yet though. To my mind, a run of consecutive victories in September(s) is the only valid method for labelling a team a 'force'.
mattyb
Guest
That's inaccurate and untrue. I say that the premierships are certainly obtained unfairly but I also say that there are ten Victorian clubs given this unfair advantage at the beginning of every given season. I'm a non asterisks believer,I also oppose people giving asterisks to Sydney and Brisbane. But yes I do hope Footscray achieve their premierships against another Victorian club or at least finish higher on the ladder if playing an interstate side in Victoria. I'm for winning fair and square,nothing wrong with that. While I believe blatantly cheating to be far worse being awarded some sort of advantage because of my clubs birthplace certainly isn't my cup of tea. I'd like to see the doggies win a legitimate AFL premiership rather than one of these hybrid VFL/AFL things we are still playing for. In actual fact I want my club to be an innovative player in this new era. I've seen,as I think we all have what has happened to some of the VFL clubs that have failed to embrace the new era and are stuck in the past, and it's not pretty.
mattyb
Guest
That's not true,I specifically say to asterisk givers that you can't apply asterisks because the Victorian clubs winning on a unfair basis are playing by the VFL centric rules that are in place and that the other Victorian clubs are given the same unfair advantage. But yes,I certainly do hope Footscray play another Victorian side or at least finish higher on the ladder if they receive a home GF against an interstate side,and why wouldn't anyone. For me it's a natural feeling to want to win fair and square on a level playing field,cheating to achieve victory would obviously be far worse but I'd like to win an AFL GF fair and square rather than one of these hybrid VFL/AFL things we have currently on offer.
me too
Guest
Been walking the low road and keeping up despite a limp. Made the shortlist to climb the mountain.Then surprised us all by leaping with energy over the first boulder. Still three obstacles to get past, but should they stumble and fall, they'll be better for the experience. If arrival means making the foot of the mountain, then they've arrived, but i reckon they would consider it as just the next leg of the journey. We'll see how far they've come in the coming week/s.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Cat, the Bulldogs have arrived as a finals team just like Fremantle, St Kilda and West Coast previously did but unfortunately left empty handed. I am with you that arriving is just one step and unless you achieve ie win a grand final what really have you achieved. I just hope for mattyb's sake that if and when the Doggies win a grand final at the MCG it is against a Victorian team as he has previously stated any premierships won by Victorian teams against Interstate teams has an asterisk against it.
I hate pies
Guest
Are you saying a team that's arrived is not a force? Do you they have to arrive, win a premiership, and then become a force? Or do you win a premiership before you arrive, and then become a force?
Don Freo
Guest
Great to have you hanging on my every word. I just missed your prediction, Eric. Could you copy and paste it here?
Cat
Roar Guru
I'll make this simple for you mattyb, you seem to need simple, where exactly have the Dogs 'arrived'?
eric
Roar Rookie
Don Freo said | August 29th 2016 @ 8:56am | "I think the team that wins the First Elimination Final wins the flag. That team will be West Coast."
bilo
Guest
I disagree Cat. In 1994 I knew North were a force to be reckoned with, after enduring the hidings of 1992 and the sacking of Schimma they were in disarray but the emergence of Carey, Archer and co had me convinced in 94 we were suddenly a 'force', until you guys were gifted 26 free kicks to 13 in the 94 prelim and the hand of God reached out past Mick Martyn.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
That game against North you're talking about, we had one of our weakest sides in for the year. T.Boyd and Redpath didn't play and we tried to make do with our two Rucks (Roughy and Campbell) alternating into the forward line. Clay Smith and Zaine Cordy didn't play. Bob Murphy, Matt Suckling and Jason Johannisson didn't play. In fact, there's 9 players who played that day who didn't play last weekend. So you can't really compare the team now against the team in Round 6. Our scoring ability and ability to transition the ball quickly has been curtailed for lengthy periods of this year due to the absence out of our backline of quick, skilled ball users - Bob Murphy, JJ, Suckling, Wood, and the absence in our forward line of T.Boyd, who reliably brings the ball to ground for our small guys. Z. Cordy is assisting in that department now too. Then we've also missed Dahlhaus and Mitch Wallis for large chunks of the season, as well as Libber and Macrae to a lesser extent, who bring that frenetic energy.
mattyb
Guest
Gene Anderson-Conklin,you seem to be confusing the arrival the article is about and then comparing it to the end achievement. The arrival is an achievement in itself and not withstanding there are further achievements to be reached it is an achievement nonetheless. Going with your interpretation one could argue Geelong have achieved nothing in the modern era because Brisbane and and Hawthorn have achieved far more.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
I agree with you Cat that we haven't "arrived" just yet. We need to at least get to the GF before I'd suggest we arrived, and we're a long way from that. Still 6 teams in it. But don't write us off! Every single team has holes in its list ... well maybe not GWS. Our holes, CHB and Ruck have been well covered this year. In fact, Roughead in the Ruck has done a very underrated job - to the point I don't conisder it a hole anymore. And your old mate, Hambling, was surprisingly superb last week against Josh Kennedy. Up forward, I'm pretty excited about the combination in 2017 of Stringer, T.Boyd, Dickson, Crameri, Clay Smith, Dahlhaus, Bont, McLean, Cordy, Mitch Wallis, etc. A gun CHF would be nice, but having a flexible arsenal is sometimes more dangerous.
Cat
Roar Guru
Congratulations you won a game. As someone mentioned earlier, Port Adelaide allegedly 'arrived' in 2014, not sure where they arrived to either, it certainly wasn't into any 'force' to be worries about. Arrivals of great teams are only known about in hindsight, you can look back and say, 'Yeah, that's when Brisbane arrived' but no one knew it then, just like you don't know the Dogs have arrived at anything now. I guess for a side that's never won a flag, just playing finals is 'arriving' somewhere, but it really isn't. Finals is the start of a journey, not the destination.
Cat
Roar Guru
A force of what? Is every team that plays finals a force?
mattyb
Guest
Gene Anderson-Conklin,I think your confusing arrival with destination,for one to reach their destination they must first arrive at the arrival point. I think the victories against Sydney in Sydney over the past two seasons showed the Dogs were ready to arrive and by defeating West Coast in Perth the arrival is there and possibly well before the scheduled departure,WC being soundly beaten at home,in a final,is not a common story,which in itself is a major achievement. This story,a story that will be a spellbinding epic,is still a young story,and like journeys stories need a beginning before they can end. You seem to be wanting this story to conclude while not enjoying or acknowledging the ride. Brisbane for example arrived when they achieved the feat of defeating Essendon and then made their journey to being the greatest side of the modern era. The dogs achieved a great deal against WC and if they happen to defeat Hawthorn on the weekend that will be another achievement in this unfolding story. While the Dogs can still achieve a lot more it's a bit simplistic to say they have achieved nothing,especially when both the team and it's story are so young.
I hate pies
Guest
Are you saying a team can only be a force if they've won a premiership? Can we only have one force in the comp each year?