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As the title says which is your best team that didn't win the comp? I'm going to mainly focus on teams post 1990 but feel free to add any team you want.
1993 (minor premiers) - Terry Lamb managed to lead a very youthful team to the minor premiership. A lot of the premiership winning Presidents Cup team of 91 were starting to establish themselves as first graders. Martin Bella and Mark Brokenshire were the hard heads up front with a youthful backrow of Jim Dymock, Smith brothers and Dean Pay made up a intimidating pack. Craig Polla Mounter played every game at was our leading try scorer. Unfortunately we went out in straight sets to the Dragons and Broncos. We were blown off the park against the Dragons and very unlucky to go down to the eventual premiers in Brisbane.
1994 (minor premiers) - Despite Terry Lamb missing 8 weeks with a broken arm the team still managed to be minor premiers. New buys Darren Britt, Daryl Halligan and Jason Hetherington strengthened the team and they only lost 4 games in the regular season. Dean Pay and the Smith brothers went to another level and made their rep debuts. They won their major semi against the Raiders in one of the best finals games of all time but ran into a buzz saw in the grand final. That Raiders team was phenomenal and it shows you how this Bulldogs team was to beat them twice that year.
1999 (5th place) - On the back of a grand final appearance in 98 and the addition of Ricky Stuart, Brad Clyde and Darren Smith big things were expected. A shock round 1 loss to Souths set the tone for a inconsistent start to the year including getting blown off the park against the Roosters at the SFS. They finished the season string winning 6 from 8 including a grinding win against minor primer Cronulla. The Dogs disposed of the Roosters in a brutal game in their first final before being knocked out by the Storm in week 2 of the finals by a very ill placed kick from Stuart.
2006 (2nd place) - After a injury interrupted 2005 the majority of the 2004 team was back together and fit and firing. Daniel Holdsworth replaced Braith Anasta as the only major change to the roster. With an all star pack this team could dominate anyone when they wanted to as demonstrated by a annihilation of the Dragons at Kogarah. They cruised to 2nd place and and beat Canberra convincingly in a rain soaked week 1 final. This set up a grand qualifier against Brisbane at the SFS and leading 20-6 at halftime a grand final was in sight however a second half collapse lead to one of the most painful losses in Bulldogs history.
2009 (2nd place) - A new coach and massive roster changes in 2009 should have lead the club to another minor premiership if it wasn't for a milkman at Kogarah. Kevin Moore rebuilt the Dogs and had instant success with veterans Brett Kimmorley and David Stagg being joined by Micheal Ennis, Josh Morris and Greg Eastwood. A great round 1 against reigning premiers Manly got the team off to a great start losing only 6 games. after finsihing in second spot the Dogs knocked off Newcastle in the first week of the finals to set up a blockbuster grand final qualifier against the Eels. Despite Brett Kimmorley being rushed back into the side back from injury it wasn't enough with Parra ending out season.
2012 (minor premiers) - Des Hasler led the Dogs to the minor premiership ridding on the back of a new style of play and magical season from Ben Barba. New recruit James Graham also left his mark with his aggression and ball playing. The Dogs rode a wave of free flowing football in the last half of the year only losing once after round 10. Josh Morris established himself as one of the games premier centres. The Dogs made it fairly comfortably into the GF but couldn't grind out a win against the Storm. Sisa Waqa played the game of his life and managed to shut down the block play for Barba which had proved so successful during the year.
1993 (minor premiers) - Terry Lamb managed to lead a very youthful team to the minor premiership. A lot of the premiership winning Presidents Cup team of 91 were starting to establish themselves as first graders. Martin Bella and Mark Brokenshire were the hard heads up front with a youthful backrow of Jim Dymock, Smith brothers and Dean Pay made up a intimidating pack. Craig Polla Mounter played every game at was our leading try scorer. Unfortunately we went out in straight sets to the Dragons and Broncos. We were blown off the park against the Dragons and very unlucky to go down to the eventual premiers in Brisbane.
1994 (minor premiers) - Despite Terry Lamb missing 8 weeks with a broken arm the team still managed to be minor premiers. New buys Darren Britt, Daryl Halligan and Jason Hetherington strengthened the team and they only lost 4 games in the regular season. Dean Pay and the Smith brothers went to another level and made their rep debuts. They won their major semi against the Raiders in one of the best finals games of all time but ran into a buzz saw in the grand final. That Raiders team was phenomenal and it shows you how this Bulldogs team was to beat them twice that year.
1999 (5th place) - On the back of a grand final appearance in 98 and the addition of Ricky Stuart, Brad Clyde and Darren Smith big things were expected. A shock round 1 loss to Souths set the tone for a inconsistent start to the year including getting blown off the park against the Roosters at the SFS. They finished the season string winning 6 from 8 including a grinding win against minor primer Cronulla. The Dogs disposed of the Roosters in a brutal game in their first final before being knocked out by the Storm in week 2 of the finals by a very ill placed kick from Stuart.
2006 (2nd place) - After a injury interrupted 2005 the majority of the 2004 team was back together and fit and firing. Daniel Holdsworth replaced Braith Anasta as the only major change to the roster. With an all star pack this team could dominate anyone when they wanted to as demonstrated by a annihilation of the Dragons at Kogarah. They cruised to 2nd place and and beat Canberra convincingly in a rain soaked week 1 final. This set up a grand qualifier against Brisbane at the SFS and leading 20-6 at halftime a grand final was in sight however a second half collapse lead to one of the most painful losses in Bulldogs history.
2009 (2nd place) - A new coach and massive roster changes in 2009 should have lead the club to another minor premiership if it wasn't for a milkman at Kogarah. Kevin Moore rebuilt the Dogs and had instant success with veterans Brett Kimmorley and David Stagg being joined by Micheal Ennis, Josh Morris and Greg Eastwood. A great round 1 against reigning premiers Manly got the team off to a great start losing only 6 games. after finsihing in second spot the Dogs knocked off Newcastle in the first week of the finals to set up a blockbuster grand final qualifier against the Eels. Despite Brett Kimmorley being rushed back into the side back from injury it wasn't enough with Parra ending out season.
2012 (minor premiers) - Des Hasler led the Dogs to the minor premiership ridding on the back of a new style of play and magical season from Ben Barba. New recruit James Graham also left his mark with his aggression and ball playing. The Dogs rode a wave of free flowing football in the last half of the year only losing once after round 10. Josh Morris established himself as one of the games premier centres. The Dogs made it fairly comfortably into the GF but couldn't grind out a win against the Storm. Sisa Waqa played the game of his life and managed to shut down the block play for Barba which had proved so successful during the year.
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