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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
I’ll leave it to Bulldogs fans to sort that one out.
Duncan Smith
Guest
He's a legend - should probably come in instead of G. Hughes or Dymock.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Not including Andrew Ryan in your 'best of' side? Can't agree with that.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
wit: 1. the capacity for inventive thought and quick understanding; keen intelligence. 2. a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Pay took it on himself in that whole semi final series to get over the top of his opposite number. Against the Broncos he had eyes for Lazo every time he took a hit up. Didn't just try to contain him but put a hit on him. Anyone that remembers Lazarus from that time knows that didn't happen often, if at all. Pay was brilliant in that series and inspired the forwards to go with him. Then you had Lamb who had no cartilage left in his knee, couldn't train during the week other than on the bike and was coming out week after week and killing it. Lamb won the Dally M players player award in 1995 (for the third time). I believe it was these two inspiring the men around them to be better than they would ordinarily be. It was incredibly special.
bear54
metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Probably but murder, as far as I am aware, is illegal.... :)
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
+ 428
bear54
As a Raiders fan I quite liked the 94' Dogs side we met in the GF. My choice is the 1984 Dogs of War. That forward pack would murder the other 3 sides in this article.
joe
Guest
Steve Mortimer was also a great cover defender,arguably the best of that era to make a try saving cover tackle
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's daft to suggest that SBW couldn't play. Some people confuse their personal assessment of him as a bloke with their assessment of him as a sportsman. Two NRL titles. A super 15 title. Two rugby world cups. Tons of personal awards. Represented NZ at the Olympics. NZ boxing champion. He's played club rugby in three continents. Heaps of ambassador type roles. A positive role model and positive influence to team mates. Not bad for someone that couldn't pass, couldn't tackle or couldn't fight. Ridiculous statement. I was dirty when he left the Dogs but his leaving was a symptom of their problems not a cause. Other than that his achievements in sport have been remarkable. Only a gronk of the highest order would begrudge that.
Duncan Smith
Guest
Marr = legend. SBW ... not so much.
J.C.
Roar Pro
Was Marr any good at what he did??? Cause SBW certainly wasn't, couldn't tackle, pass or fight.
Duncan Smith
Guest
You can call Sonny Bill a mercenary, but in another way he's just the Johnny Marr of sport. Marr played guitar with the Smiths for five years, then he walked out on them and played with five or six different bands over the next decade. Johnny didn't want to be "tied down" to just one band. Different world, of course, but sort of similar.
J.C.
Roar Pro
I think people in general hate SBW, ask any Roosters fan if they are a fan of SBW, theyll probably say no. Plus Im no fan of the Bulldogs, but i still can appreciate your article.
Duncan Smith
Guest
The Barry, What the 95 team did was pretty close to unbelievable. Like you said, torn apart mid-season by the insane super league war, coach and players fighting, and then to come from sixth spot and win ... who'd have thought? Brisbane and Canberra were full of rep players. Brisbane knocked us out in 93, and Canberra smashed us in the 94 grand final. To come out in 95 and knock those two out was great, and then to beat that very strong Manly team as well, even better. I'm still scratching my head how they pulled it off, but your comment about Pay's tackle on Lazarus is a good reminder. Then 1998 semi final run was almost as miraculous, spoiled only by losing the grand final to a team which was close to the Queensland origin side under another name. Those two seasons were where the bulldogs got the reputation for being finals specialists, for a while at least.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Nice one Dunc. As great as all these teams are, the 95 team will always hold a special place for me. The team looked like being torn apart halfway through the season with the club signing with Super League and then four of the teams best switching to the ARL and Parramatta. The Dogs were never out of the eight but weren't great and finished sixth after a late season run. In the semis they had to play the Dragons, Broncos, Raiders and Manly in successive weeks. Have a look at the list of premiers and grand finalists for four or five years either side of 95 and it shows how tough a run it was. There were some very good players in that side: Lamb (albeit it on one leg), Pay, Dymock, Britt, Smith, Hetherington but there were also players who had career best seasons: Timu, Silva, a young Steve Price, Matt Ryan, Williams, Polla-Mounter and best of all Simon Gillies. In that late season run and semi final charge, Gillies was as good as any second rower in the comp. Unfortunately it didn't continue. Coming into the Brisbane game in particular, the Dogs were rated next to no chance. Glenn Lazarus had been in sublime form and everyone thought the Dogs would get out muscled and out classed. The Dogs came out of the gates as hard as anything led by Pay, Britt and Gillies. In about the 10th minute of the game Pay put one of the best hits I've seen on Lazarus. Front on hit, not late, not high and Lazo went off with a sternum injury. The Broncs were shot ducks after that and the Dogs won 24-12 or something. So, I'm sure there's been better teams to win premierships. But there haven't been many that have had to beat better teams to win it. Not many of these guys will be hall of famers but it all just came together perfectly for a month.
Duncan Smith
Guest
Geez, bulldogs fans really hate SBW. We'll never know how good he would have been. Other great kiwi players - Kearney, Jones, Mark Graham.
J.C.
Roar Pro
Sonny Bill Williams, probably the best league player to come out of New Zealand. Sorry mate but your whole article is discrediited in one sentence. SBW was nothing more than a glory hog that did nothing unless he was ten metres out from the try line, there is about fifty guys better than SBW from New Zealand, Mannering, Keanry, Kevin Protcor, just to name a couple, bar that not a bad article.
Steve Wilson
Guest
And don't ever forget, turvey was dynamic in an era when the game was dirty, i played in that era , and many highly talented individuals with tremendous skill, never full filled their ability because they didn't like or couldn't handle the dirt. Im talking eye gouges, elbows, head highs, knees in the back, 20 head butts a game if you played in the front, trying to gain the loose head, guy's standing on your ankles and calfs as the got up to mark you..... the list goes on, and it didnt happen now and then it was every game. He was a champion player Turvey.
kk
Roar Pro
Entertaining piece Duncan. Love 'em all. Maybe 1980 by a nose from 1985?