Ask a bulldogs old timer....

[Trafford10]

I started following the dogs as a child from the 1974 gf as the area was bulldogs territory and i was captivated by all the streamers, banners, balloons. Everything seemed surreal seeing many houses with decorations on their front windows.
However the semi final steak of 1979 was when me as a supporter and the way the team was never meant to win came of age.
After coping a thrashing by manly in the final round on a Saturday, all a favourite balmain had to do was dispose a lowly placed souths the next day. Souths win and we sneak into the top 5 by one point.
Every final game was meant to be our last yet we where giant killers. A completely different team. Sadly we lost the gf against the dragons and i was at the game crying. If Steve Gearin had somehow not missed 2 conversion attempts we could of played in extra time and i feel we win as we had all the momentum.
Can't blame Gearin, They where difficult kicks. 12 months later he played brilliantly scoring one of the best gf tries ever and kicking 6 from 6 and all of his kicks never looked like missing.

I started following the dogs or berries in 1974 also.
I was a bit young but by 1976 was hooked.
Dad was blue & white through & through.

Lots of great players mentioned already.
I want to shout out to Andrew Farrar & Chris Mortimer as the outstanding centre combination in the Premiership through the 1980's. Great players both.

 

[MoNkEy]

I wonder what happened to the gold fibreglass bulldog that was atop the terrace roof at the southern end of the ground in the 80's

I remember secretly hoping that kicks for goal would bounce off it - Wayne Portlock did it once.

 

[Pity Fool]

The only response I will give this stupid thread is... you are a moot!

 

[Trafford10]

My first memory was being at the 1980 GF with my parents (Mum is Belmore born and bred).

Whilst I don’t specifically remember the moment of Steve Gearin’s signature try from the Greg Brentnall kick (we’ve all watched a million replays), I do remember Ted Glossop jumping up from his chair on the SCG sideline showing emotion he rarely showed. An exciting day and I’ve been hooked ever since.

At the 1984 GF as we were walking into the Noble Stand at the SCG decked out in our Bulldogs kit, we walked past Bullfrog who pinned a ‘Bulldogs to Win’ ribbon on my sister (who so think still has it).

1985 was a good year as I was at the Origin at the SCG when Turvey was chaired off for Captaining NSW to their first Origin series victory followed by winning the GF at the same ground a couple of months later.

Will never forget watching Ellery Hanley in Disneyland after Baa smashed him in the 1988 GF, the first one at the then new SFS. That sort of hit would see Baa sent off today, but then…also Mike Hagan’s great try that day - who later bought our old house when we moved, I was so happy a Bulldog player bought our house .

Countless Belmore memories from being there when Max Mannix ran the length of the field against Saints and dropped the ball over the line. Funnily enough the bloke who consoled him was Steve Gearin, our 1980 hero then playing for the Dragons. Max was quick but never recovered and didn’t play in the GF that year.

Was also there in ‘89 sitting with then Knights Chairman Michael Hill when Baa potted a field goal and the Dogs lost 12-11. We looked at each other with a ‘What The’ look. Baa swore he thought scores were level but the joke was he was cashing in on FootyTab (when betting was hardly the business it is today).

Was at Belmore in ‘91 when the ‘Welsh Wizard’ Jonathan Davies was playing fullback. Some of his mates from the UK turned up to surprise him and as he walked off the field at half time they were yelling ‘Jiffy!’ to him. He looked surprised and happy to see them and must’ve been thinking about post-game pints at the Belmore Hotel because he looked distracted in the second half, we dropped a lead and lost.

Speaking of Polly, he used to drive to training and had number plates CPM-007, which I’m sure was more his jersey number than for drinking martinis and wearing tuxedos but his team mates teased him mercilessly about that, asking where his ejector seat was etc .

So many memories, but this post is long enough…

Great post mate.
I was at the 1984 Grand Final also.
I was in the members stand and got there very early and watching all the dogs supporters marching into the ground with the blue & white flags & banners.
Great day.

 

[Como Dog]

Is this the game you were thinking of?View attachment 25511

Yep spot on, remember Jason Williams scoring a couple.

 

[Como Dog]

View attachment 25514View attachment 25515View attachment 25515

Sounds like Ryan used the hair as a reason to get rid of him.

 

[dogwhisperer]

I wonder what happened to the gold fibreglass bulldog that was atop the terrace roof at the southern end of the ground in the 80's

I remember secretly hoping that kicks for goal would bounce off it - Wayne Portlock did it once.

After the 1988 GF win our mad supporters brought it down and crashed it into the glass at the leagues club. True story

Later it was replaced with a blue and white bulldog. Maybe the same one repainted

 

[Como Dog]

And then there was Marty Bella dropping the ball from the kick off.

Yep, nothing went right that game, even Mal Meninga getting one back for Ellery Hanley with the illegal take out of Terry Lamb early on. Mal got away with a lot, remember he did the same to Michael O'Connor in Origin with his arm cast that was more like a club.

 

[DinkumDog]

Great post mate.
I was at the 1984 Grand Final also.
I was in the members stand and got there very early and watching all the dogs supporters marching into the ground with the blue & white flags & banners.
Great day.

SOB, Robbo, Hawkie, Turvey, Bugden (try-scorer), Langers, Kel, Chris Mortimer, Baa.

Not sure if it was ‘84 or ‘85 but during the lap of honour we shook Turvey’s hand and the bloke next to me said ‘I’m never washing this hand again!’ .

 

[alchemist]

one of the greatest periods for me as a 'Dogs fan was the 1995 finals run... we were a strong team in the early 90's with Lamb as captain and Chris Anderson as coach in a time of very strong teams (Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Dragons) but I remember watching the 1994 GF implosion vs the Raiders as the end of that premiership window for us

in 1995, we were up and down form wise, there was all that upheaval with the Super League War, McCracken being exiled from the team, the Parra 4 reneging on their Super League deals etc. and so I had no expectations leading into the finals... I wasn't even sure we would qualify

we were 6th and playing the Dragons in the first week of the finals and won 12-8 from memory but there was a point of contention during the game and I remember Roy Masters whinging the whole next week about how the Dragons should have won

next up were the Broncos, the team of the 90's, with Langer, Walters, Renouf etc., master coach Wayne Bennett, back-to-back champions in 1992 & 1993 etc., and we won 24-10

then came the rematch of the previous year's GF vs the Raiders, a team that had lost Meninga and some of the older players from the 1989-90 teams but was still star studded with Stuart, Daley, Clyde, Wiki, Mullen, Lomax etc. and we bullied them and beat them 25-6... sweet revenge

finally, we got the mighty Sea Eagles in the GF coached by immortal Bob Fulton, had lost only 2 games all year, and had a stacked team with Ridge, Hopoate, Terry Hill, Cliff Lyons, Geoff Toovey, Mark Carroll, Des Hasler (we should have known before hiring him), David Gillespie, Ian Roberts, Steve Menzies and Nik Kosef... great team... moreover, Terry Lamb was retiring after the GF... it was the last Winfield Cup... Bullfrog was in poor health... we had had to call ourselves the "Sydney Bulldogs" and play home games from Parramatta Stadium... come the GF though, our jerseys had the proper "Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs" logo on it... and we withstood the Sea Eagles onslaught early including Lamb being sinbinned... and we won 17-4... the only points the Sea Eagles scored were two penalty goals... us and Manly are the only clubs to be NSWRL, ARL and NRL premiers

let those Foxsports and Ch 9 and SMH idiots say and think what they want... we are a great club precisely because of years like 1995 when there were a number of better teams on paper with far better preparations but went home empty handed and the last Winfield Cup went home with Baa

 

[DogDays]

Nasheed here,

Whilst I realise I'm not the longest Bulldog supporting TK member here, I am definitely one of the veterans who has been supporting the dogs from asfar back as the mid nineties.

I still remember the Super league era, the 98 semi. The lead up to our 'enhanced' Grand final win, the heartache the year before, and everything after that.

So Just thought Id start up a memory thread of sorts to go through it all, bygone eras.

For example, we once had a player named Craig Polla Mounter. Melbourne born, QLD childhood, NSW teens. Good little nuggety player. Hard to tell what race he was as he had that look that could have been Leb, Greek, Anglo. Who knows.
he was with us for ten years before going to the cowboys, then returned to say Bye. Once nearly kicked a 50m field goal.

Dogs supporters would also be shocked to know we had a Zimbabwean dude from zimbabwe play for us too, and played 2 games, before pissing off to Rugby. Whats more, he is now the CEO of australian Rugby Union. So the last two CEOs have had dogs links!


These are examples of memories lost in time as the younger generation talk about newer legends like Kimmorley, Pritchard, Graham, DWZ, Mason etc


So thought if open up the floor to ask the old timers here (anyone can pitch in, not just myself) about anything and how things were back in the day.

Simon Gillies and Robert Relf - two underrated, unsung heroes…

 

[DinkumDog]

I don't recall Polly ever playing for the cowboys. Travis Norton leaving to play for them was certainly a sad feeling for me as he was a favorite player at the time.

He didn’t mate, don’t know where that came from. He was a one club man in the NRL.

Agree re: Trav Norton - a great #13 and always a favourite during that era. Tough as teak.

 

[DinkumDog]

And then there was Marty Bella dropping the ball from the kick off.

For me the ‘94 GF was lost on kick-off - we never recovered. Granted the Raiders had a red-hot side and were probably at the peak of their powers at that time.

 

[Cappuccino]

Reading this thread makes me feel sorry for the newer generation of fans. Anyone pre 2014 was pretty spoilt with some great memories of the club and it’s players. The poor bastards these days will be telling their kids about the exploits of the likes of Montoya, Holland and Liccha.

Theres only one bloke who would be sitting around telling Kerrod Holland war stories lol

 

[DinkumDog]

definitely NO cheating Wen, i'd be ever so confident of that..so how do i put this nicely the great man wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed LOL which is why he had a brain "fart" at that moment.

Of course he would never throw a game.
The whole FootyTab thing was a joke.
It was a genuine mistake, he thought it was 10-all. I was talking to him about this and other stories at the 2014 GF function. He said he had ‘some extra’ vodka and oranges at the leagues club that night as he felt bad. No Dogs fan would hold it against him.

 

[DinkumDog]

one of the greatest periods for me as a 'Dogs fan was the 1995 finals run... we were a strong team in the early 90's with Lamb as captain and Chris Anderson as coach in a time of very strong teams (Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Dragons) but I remember watching the 1994 GF implosion vs the Raiders as the end of that premiership window for us

in 1995, we were up and down form wise, there was all that upheaval with the Super League War, McCracken being exiled from the team, the Parra 4 reneging on their Super League deals etc. and so I had no expectations leading into the finals... I wasn't even sure we would qualify

we were 6th and playing the Dragons in the first week of the finals and won 12-8 from memory but there was a point of contention during the game and I remember Roy Masters whinging the whole next week about how the Dragons should have won

next up were the Broncos, the team of the 90's, with Langer, Walters, Renouf etc., master coach Wayne Bennett, back-to-back champions in 1992 & 1993 etc., and we won 24-10

then came the rematch of the previous year's GF vs the Raiders, a team that had lost Meninga and some of the older players from the 1989-90 teams but was still star studded with Stuart, Daley, Clyde, Wiki, Mullen, Lomax etc. and we bullied them and beat them 25-6... sweet revenge

finally, we got the mighty Sea Eagles in the GF coached by immortal Bob Fulton, had lost only 2 games all year, and had a stacked team with Ridge, Hopoate, Terry Hill, Cliff Lyons, Geoff Toovey, Mark Carroll, Des Hasler (we should have known before hiring him), David Gillespie, Ian Roberts, Steve Menzies and Nik Kosef... great team... moreover, Terry Lamb was retiring after the GF... it was the last Winfield Cup... Bullfrog was in poor health... we had had to call ourselves the "Sydney Bulldogs" and play home games from Parramatta Stadium... come the GF though, our jerseys had the proper "Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs" logo on it... and we withstood the Sea Eagles onslaught early including Lamb being sinbinned... and we won 17-4... the only points the Sea Eagles scored were two penalty goals... us and Manly are the only clubs to be NSWRL, ARL and NRL premiers

let those Foxsports and Ch 9 and SMH idiots say and think what they want... we are a great club precisely because of years like 1995 when there were a number of better teams on paper with far better preparations but went home empty handed and the last Winfield Cup went home with Baa

I remember about 6 weeks out from the ‘95 GF.
I drove to Newcastle to see a mate and then watched us play the Knights. We got hammered 42-0. The whole Super League thing was tearing the club apart.

As Baa described - after that game Opes put on the beers at a session where they all aired their grievances with each other. That night they committed to play for each other for the rest of the year and put their best in. The only one who didn’t agree: Jarrod McCracken.

Who would’ve thought after that Knights hammering that 6 weeks later we’d be Premiers. The other 3 of the filthy four (Pay, Smith and Dymock) at least got to leave the club with a title and for Dymock a Clive Churchill Medal. Some salty Manly fans still say we had a 7-tackle set but they were never in that game.

How sweet it was!
And no sympathy for Phil who never won a comp courtesy of the huge chip he carried on his shoulder.

 

[alchemist]

I remember about 6 weeks out from the ‘95 GF.
I drove to Newcastle to see a mate and then watched us play the Knights. We got hammered 42-0. The whole Super League thing was tearing the club apart.

As Baa described - after that game Opes put on the beers at a session where they all aired their grievances with each other. That night they committed to play for each other for the rest of the year and put their best in. The only one who didn’t agree: Jarrod McCracken.

Who would’ve thought after that Knights hammering that 6 weeks later we’d be Premiers. The other 3 of the filthy four (Pay, Smith and Dymock) at least got to leave the club with a title and for Dymock a Clive Churchill Medal. Some salty Manly fans still say we had a 7-tackle set but they were never in that game.

How sweet it was!
And no sympathy for Phil who never won a comp courtesy of the huge chip he carried on his shoulder.

a 7 tackle set with Lamb knocking on at dummy half before it was scored by Glen Hughes as well as the Steve Price try coming off a Dymock forward are the two biggest gripes I hear

but -

we, too, had a legitimate try to Matt Ryan waved away by the ref for a non-existent knock on... Dymock ran between two defenders and put his arm threw and off loaded it to Price and it was not definitive whether it was forward, line ball or not and it was simply Ray Warren in commentary complaining it was definitely forward... and most importantly, Manly never scored a try on us and thus, our win was WELL DESERVED

 

[Como Dog]

1986 V Souths Kelly send off
View attachment 25518

My dad took me to this game as well. As a souths supporter he wasn't very happy.

 

[Como Dog]

View attachment 25521
SOB, Robbo, Hawkie, Turvey, Bugden (try-scorer), Langers, Kel, Chris Mortimer, Baa.

Not sure if it was ‘84 or ‘85 but during the lap of honour we shook Turvey’s hand and the bloke next to me said ‘I’m never washing this hand again!’ .

I'm just waiting for Nasheed to stick his bandana face over Bob Hawke in this picture. Cmon 'Fox' you know you want to.

 

[Como Dog]

View attachment 25521
SOB, Robbo, Hawkie, Turvey, Bugden (try-scorer), Langers, Kel, Chris Mortimer, Baa.

Not sure if it was ‘84 or ‘85 but during the lap of honour we shook Turvey’s hand and the bloke next to me said ‘I’m never washing this hand again!’ .

Have to say Langmack was funny, a true clown. If he was playing now he'd have a regular tv gig.