Chana
Waterboy
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 72
- Reaction score
- 61
Hey Bulldogs supporters!
Its been a long time since I posted something on the kennel although I peak into it often
I have been holding off in saying anything about the dogs for a long while as I have always stood by the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything". However, I am so frustrated and everyday I find bulldogs fans are as frustrated as myself!
A lot of people I speak with or comments I read on socials are frustrated in our halves, backs, forwards, coach and even the CEO and board due to recent performances but I as many others have been witnessing the Bulldogs slowly disintegrate since 2012.
Back then we had Ben Barba and love him or hate him, he was basically the only spark that we had to our negligent attack. We were terrible back then as we are terrible now, the only difference now is that the last 4 to 5 years! Yes its been that long, everything is coming to a head. The only player with the ability to spark something and that shows the true bulldogs spirit is Reynolds and he may not be the most gifted player but is one that never gives up and due to the great recruitment strategy the club can't match the money being thrown around by other teams.
In my opinion we have put to much faith in Hasler and like legends of the club have stated, he just doesn't get our culture. He has come from a club that has no juniors and were renowned for poaching players, just ask south sydney. This is why we neglected our juniors, what happened to bred not bought! We have recruited terribly and we consistently reward inconsistency. Slowly any of our players with any skills have been turned into robots, slowly talented juniors snapped up by rival clubs, slowly a once proud club in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
I know people look at this and say, yep we heard it but just needed to vent my frustration with other supporters who feel the same. We all know we can't always win, that the competition is tight and that titles are hard to come by, but to see a team so slow, with no will to win, who show no respect to the fans is beyond belief.
A coach that has a knack for constantly picking players out of position, constantly doing the same thing over and over, constantly picking the same player (not this week) that don't perform. But what did it for me was picking a winger on the bench! The guy has lost it. Stats and statistics that are now even commented on by Dib, "but Graham look at his stats Graham, they speak for themselves Graham". A CEO who has the audacity to say "its not all about wining" hello yes it is! Its all about wining, sports is about wining not having a fuzzy feeling inside for community work, that is just an extension of the clubs responsibilities. Fans don't pay to watch there team lose and if the team does lose we leave a little down in spirit knowing that they have tried, but no this team.
As bullfrog would say, everyone is accountable! Everyone that has made the decisions that have led us to where we are today is responsible, even though these may have been made whole heartily. All my respect for the leadership diminished when they have the backs against the wall and rush to sign Montoya a local junior so that people forget the real issues. Wow.
Anyway enough of my rambling or it will turn into a novel, hopefully all that is going on this year allows us to move forward and not return but move forward and become another generation that has pride in the jersey. A jersey that has always stood up to the hierarchy, that stood by other teams in their time of need, but most of all a team that strikes fear in the opposition. The mighty bulldogs!
Its been a long time since I posted something on the kennel although I peak into it often
I have been holding off in saying anything about the dogs for a long while as I have always stood by the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything". However, I am so frustrated and everyday I find bulldogs fans are as frustrated as myself!
A lot of people I speak with or comments I read on socials are frustrated in our halves, backs, forwards, coach and even the CEO and board due to recent performances but I as many others have been witnessing the Bulldogs slowly disintegrate since 2012.
Back then we had Ben Barba and love him or hate him, he was basically the only spark that we had to our negligent attack. We were terrible back then as we are terrible now, the only difference now is that the last 4 to 5 years! Yes its been that long, everything is coming to a head. The only player with the ability to spark something and that shows the true bulldogs spirit is Reynolds and he may not be the most gifted player but is one that never gives up and due to the great recruitment strategy the club can't match the money being thrown around by other teams.
In my opinion we have put to much faith in Hasler and like legends of the club have stated, he just doesn't get our culture. He has come from a club that has no juniors and were renowned for poaching players, just ask south sydney. This is why we neglected our juniors, what happened to bred not bought! We have recruited terribly and we consistently reward inconsistency. Slowly any of our players with any skills have been turned into robots, slowly talented juniors snapped up by rival clubs, slowly a once proud club in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
I know people look at this and say, yep we heard it but just needed to vent my frustration with other supporters who feel the same. We all know we can't always win, that the competition is tight and that titles are hard to come by, but to see a team so slow, with no will to win, who show no respect to the fans is beyond belief.
A coach that has a knack for constantly picking players out of position, constantly doing the same thing over and over, constantly picking the same player (not this week) that don't perform. But what did it for me was picking a winger on the bench! The guy has lost it. Stats and statistics that are now even commented on by Dib, "but Graham look at his stats Graham, they speak for themselves Graham". A CEO who has the audacity to say "its not all about wining" hello yes it is! Its all about wining, sports is about wining not having a fuzzy feeling inside for community work, that is just an extension of the clubs responsibilities. Fans don't pay to watch there team lose and if the team does lose we leave a little down in spirit knowing that they have tried, but no this team.
As bullfrog would say, everyone is accountable! Everyone that has made the decisions that have led us to where we are today is responsible, even though these may have been made whole heartily. All my respect for the leadership diminished when they have the backs against the wall and rush to sign Montoya a local junior so that people forget the real issues. Wow.
Anyway enough of my rambling or it will turn into a novel, hopefully all that is going on this year allows us to move forward and not return but move forward and become another generation that has pride in the jersey. A jersey that has always stood up to the hierarchy, that stood by other teams in their time of need, but most of all a team that strikes fear in the opposition. The mighty bulldogs!
