The Bulldogs’ best is electric, their worst catastrophic. When they’re on, their passages slot seamlessly into the 2016 catalogue.
Too often though, they look the team that threw away their season early with inexplicable losses to Gold Coast and Carlton.
Their best and worst is always seen in the same game. They can never string four quarters together but they have too much class not to put in one, two or three.
They crushed the Tigers, handled Brisbane and could have beaten Collingwood. They largely outplayed the Dockers in Perth but kissed the game away with comical errors. They matched the Cats early into the fourth quarter in Geelong and kicked eight goals in a row to demolish Hawthorn from nowhere. Gold Coast beat them in Melbourne and they lost to Carlton by 44 points.
Nothing makes sense with the Dogs, the strangest team in the competition. Their best is exquisite – and betting on or against them is a fruitless exercise in speculating how long that best will sustain in a given week.
They still come in the waves that carried them in 2016. Waves generated by sleek toughness – the hardness to dominate the contest and win the ball, and then the quick-twitch, short-passing genius to get it into space and drive forward.
No team in recent memory has had the in-close, rapid-fire handballing game of the ’16 Dogs. It was telepathic, impossible in its speed and timing.
Players were handballing before they had the ball, to teammates who weren’t there yet. It was like watching a series of quarterbacks throwing timing patterns to receivers anticipating their movement based on the playbook – except the Dogs had no script, just eyes in the backs of their heads.
In space, the short-passing maestros would take over – Jack Macrae, Lachie Hunter and Caleb Daniel, who caress the ball more than kick it.
Jackson Macrae (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
You still get all this in their games. Macrae, Hunter and Daniel are a joy to watch. Marcus Bontempelli is the best player in the league to watch and – when he’s on – Jason Johannisen isn’t far behind him.
But so much of the premiership team has been lost and the pieces of the chain between the stars are rickety. The perfect synchrony of movement is only touched in spurts and it never feels sustainable – more as though strangers are being briefly elevated by someone else’s memory.
Post-premiership, the Bulldogs have been a mess, dragged down by an odd mix of hangovers and strange coaching and team-building decisions. The club is bereft of key position players, a problem that has plagued them for decades – how long did we spend talking ourselves into Mitch Hahn and all the Mitch Hahns who went by other names?
Aaron Naughton’s future is bright but he’s not a consistent focal point yet. Billy Gowers might be the worst player in the AFL – his continued selection is so bizarre it’s almost suspicious.
The team longs for game-changing key defenders beyond the mere workmanlike competence of Zaine Cordy and Jackson Trengove. Failing to replace Joel Hamling and find a successor for Dale Morris is inexplicable. As a result, the Dogs leak goals.
They’re leaking seasons too now. The core of Bontempelli, Macrae, Hunter, Johannisen, Daniel, Josh Dunkley, Toby McLean, Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis is still entirely 27 or younger – there is time for this team to rise again, but this is three precious years they’ve wasted already.
2016 was supposed to give the Bulldogs fan a grace period that might last an eternity – eternity, though, is already beginning to wear thin.
Tom
Roar Rookie
People forget that 3 out of the 4 finals we won easily, we should have had the Swans on toast at 3QT if it weren't for poor goalkicking in the third. Against the Hawks and Eagles we were up by around 50 points in the last quarter, so apart from a classic prelim spare me the 'fluke' aspect of the 2016 finals results. What can be seen as a fluke is injury and consistency prone players (Wood, Smith, Biggs, T Boyd, Dickson etc) putting together the best four weeks of footy of their careers. This comment isn't a direct reply to you, Scribe. Just seemed a good place to put it!
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Both talented players. Would obviously fit in easily into any list. Beveridge?
Zlatan
Roar Rookie
Poor management and poor leadership. Terry Wallace had nastier, less talented players who got the job done through sheer grit . The Bont and Easton Wood are too affable - They need leaders who inspire with fear and anger.
Raimond
Roar Guru
North haven't had a consistently bad patch since the early 70s. Pretty good effort, considering the financial power of other clubs.
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Who is accountable?
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Doc, I’m born and raised west Aussie, rabid WCE supporter until I moved to Sydney for my job in 1995. And you would be familiar with how it was re the big V before that. I still like to see WC successful, but I feel thoroughly informed about my view. Personally I suggest to be completely unapologetic about the WC success in any circumstances, then and now. After all, it was only from about 1975 that the Vic teams were at all if any better than WAFL or SANFL; why? ‘cos the top 6 of the 5 or 6 VFL teams that dominated from that point on were interstate players.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
You are often correct,but not about the Eagles having a State of Origin team at any time.Read what Malthouse says about it.
Tazzie
Guest
Frustrated Dogs supporter, traded Hamling, Adams, Roughead, Stringer for next to nothing, then lost Boyd, and Morris (unavoidable), apart from Naughton the recruitment strategy has been an obsession with more and more good midfielders and flankers. Blind Freddie could have predicted the result, recruiting and coaching at the Dogs unrealistic if not stupid. Hopefully the penny has finally dropped, Wallace had a similar failed undersized strategy, a bit of kicking practice would not go astray either, too small, can't kick, enough said.
Grand-Dag
Guest
I think he meant 'stud'. Feel a little uncomfortable with blokes noting somebody as a 'stud', maybe thats why he wrote "spud".
Grand-Dag
Guest
The game against the Bulldogs on Sunday reminded me of a game at Subiaco in 2011.(round 9) The bullies started slowly then had a good quarter and a half but were still down by 31 at the long break. They then potted two goals and a point early in the third and another one latter in the quarter. The real story was that the Eagles kicked 17:9 in a quarter and a half to run out winners by 123 points. The final score was 26:19 (175) to 8:4 (52) and the Bulldogs were lucky West Coast were somewhat inaccurate 45 scoring shots to 12. In the crowd we were just laughing and laughing as every minute there was some sort of score.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Yep! Whatever. Who cares. Cups are hard to get. Take them any way you can get them.
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Interesting stat. Can it be reset from a 1995 start? That would filter out the state of origin run off at the eagles and the interstate dominant players in the Melb teams. Although, have to admit Geelong and North were decidedly more “local” by then than many others. Swans had no such advantage, having been missed managed hopelessly for some years leading up to then.
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Like cola?
michael RVC
Roar Pro
After a short period of, let’s call it grieving, they’d be back.
Cat
Roar Guru
Sydney is very much looking at the possibility of missing finals for the next 5 years. Not saying it will happen for sure but your list is old, slow and has An aging and weight gaining Franklin soaking up a huge amount of the cap. Your midfield is threadbare. Your forward line is one of the worst. Your coach can’t seem to evolve with the game. It is a recipe for years in the wilderness.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Boyd doing awesome from all reports at the Pies.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
I couldn't care less if the Pies had 43 frees to 2 last years GF if we won the flag. I wouldn't care less what anyone thought about it. Same for those who say Richmond were gifted the flag with home finals. You think the Tiger fans give one iota about it? I expect the Dogs are the same. Once the cup is in the cabinet, anything else is hot air.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
I adjusted the ratios in the original article for the ladder positions at the end of last year. The Pies now seventh. Anything better than 8 means an average of finals every year. Nice to see Saints , Blues, Dogs all ahead of Richmond and the Dees
User
Roar Rookie
Hahaha not bad mate
HedleyLamarr
Roar Rookie
Cull 5 teams in Melbourne, are you serious? The AFL would be in meltdown. Close on 200 thousand payed up members are going to be told they don’t have a club to support tomorrow would be catastrophic. Lets not forget all the other supporters who aren’t payed up members would leave the AFL in droves.