tempo
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- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
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Despite the dramas and issues over the years, players love the Bulldogs club.
Recently, we've managed to re-sign Luke Patten, Andrew Ryan and Lee Te Maari and earlier in the off season we re-signed Nick Kouparitsas among others. We lose players too but more often than not, the club sees those losses as part of progress.
The thing that excites me is that the majority of players express how much they love the club in their own words as well as signing contracts. Sonny did it the other night and Michael Sullivan had only been at the club a couple of months and he already felt he could spend a long time at the Bulldogs. He said something along the lines of, "I've been to a few clubs and now I'd like to find a home. The Bulldogs would be a great place to make my home." He also said he was impressed with how all the players didn't shirk their training even when the trainers aren't looking. Now there's a good chance Willie Tonga will re-sign and I hope that he does because he's been a loyal and enthusiastic player that has just had bad luck with injury.
One thing that sets the Bulldogs apart from most other clubs is the environment they provide that makes the vast majority of players want to stay for many years. I doubt there's a club that has as many long serving players as the Bulldogs. Our current squad contains two 10 year serving players and two more about to start their 10th season. There's six more with 5 or more years in the blue and white, plus all the ones over the last 5 years that have left or retired after playing more than 5 years. Many of those also served for 10 years! That's sensational in this era and although we might criticise this player or that for being selected or being re-signed, I think all Bulldogs should be proud of the family club and it's loyalty that goes both ways.
There's been plenty of passion and vitriol in the front office throughout the years but despite all that, most of the players have been instilled with so much pride and passion for the club that they look past it and stick around.
PROUD TO BE A BULLDOG!
Recently, we've managed to re-sign Luke Patten, Andrew Ryan and Lee Te Maari and earlier in the off season we re-signed Nick Kouparitsas among others. We lose players too but more often than not, the club sees those losses as part of progress.
The thing that excites me is that the majority of players express how much they love the club in their own words as well as signing contracts. Sonny did it the other night and Michael Sullivan had only been at the club a couple of months and he already felt he could spend a long time at the Bulldogs. He said something along the lines of, "I've been to a few clubs and now I'd like to find a home. The Bulldogs would be a great place to make my home." He also said he was impressed with how all the players didn't shirk their training even when the trainers aren't looking. Now there's a good chance Willie Tonga will re-sign and I hope that he does because he's been a loyal and enthusiastic player that has just had bad luck with injury.
One thing that sets the Bulldogs apart from most other clubs is the environment they provide that makes the vast majority of players want to stay for many years. I doubt there's a club that has as many long serving players as the Bulldogs. Our current squad contains two 10 year serving players and two more about to start their 10th season. There's six more with 5 or more years in the blue and white, plus all the ones over the last 5 years that have left or retired after playing more than 5 years. Many of those also served for 10 years! That's sensational in this era and although we might criticise this player or that for being selected or being re-signed, I think all Bulldogs should be proud of the family club and it's loyalty that goes both ways.
There's been plenty of passion and vitriol in the front office throughout the years but despite all that, most of the players have been instilled with so much pride and passion for the club that they look past it and stick around.
PROUD TO BE A BULLDOG!
