Has anyone on here experienced the club go through a similar period like this?

[TwinTurbo]

Has anyone on here experienced the club go through a similar period like this?

Hell yes 38 years no premierships from 1942 (in my dad's time but before my time) to 1980 (still in my dad's time and well into my time).



Always a Bulldog

 

[Scoooby]

Worst I’ve seen it, Not in my history of following the doggs have I seen it this bad, last few years we keep declining. I keep hammering but Flanno was the man to give us a much quicker turn around. We lost that opportunity.

 

[King Gus]

It could be worse, we are not parra lol

 

[mikey]

Been following since early 70's and never seen a sustained period of shite like now. Maybe someone here with a deep understanding of how the club functions behind the scenes might be able to shed some light on why the club has been a basket case for so long? And no I'm not talking about coaching staff and players...

I’ve been following since 70s as well. Never seen us as bad as how we have been since 2017.I’ll be honest I haven’t been to a game since 2015.reason why is I could see Hasler was struggling.the game was changing but he wasn’t changing the way we played.He was doing everything he could to win a premiership.he had no interest in our juiniors.look at the ones who left us for regular first grade spots,finucane,cook.etc
Add to that the disastrous appointment of raelene castle. It was just a perfect storm brewing.back ended contract payments.salary cap issues. Madge Maguire knocked us back because of our salary cap predicament.
Wayne Bennett has a saying.never let a player go unless you have a better one to replace them with.we let Ennis go,James graham.both very good leaders and exactly what we are lacking on the field.Gus Gould was brought in to fix the mess and he has moved on a few players.
I doubt we will see much improvement next year maybe a few spots up the ladder depending on injuries.we just haven’t got the forwards to compete at the moment.TPJ retiring was the best news.he is not worth the money he is on.we need no frills work horses who want to get up to the elite contract payments. But we are lacking a true leader. We sorely miss josh jackson for his leadership on the field.

 

[bcmf]

Any fan of any nba team. Lol.

 

[Bluebody]

Since 1980 for me re awareness of following the Dogs, this last several years has been terrible, painful and I am so fucking over it!

 

[Aristidiz]

Any fan of any nba team. Lol.

Lol so true, my Bulls have been trash for 25 years, minus a couple of years with Rose

 

[Berries]

My dad still talks about how shit the 50/60s were. The 1967 grand final loss was a true aberration on how bad we were the 15 years around it lol

 

[KLil]

The more reason to suck it up and be patient with what the board, Football manager and coaches are doing.

They have clearly explained what they are doing to ensure this never happens again.... trust the process.

 

[TalDog]

What was it like and how did we get out of that period?

I've been a dogs fan since the early 90s and can comfortably say that is the worst period I've lived through as a fan of the club. Up untill 2017, we didn't go more than 2 years without making the finals. Now it's going 7 years and could possibly be a decade before we play finals football again.

93,94,95,96,97,98,99,2000,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,2010,11,12,13,14,15,16,2017.

We have always bounced back with good signings and good youngsters and forwards coming through our neglected pathways has come home to roost

 

[TalDog]

1942 to 1980 was a 38 year wait to win a comp

2004 was 20 years ago

Confident we can beat that streak

 

[Freakzilla]

First game I ever watched was the 1985 GF. Grew up watching our 80's & 90's teams. Thought our club would always be on top. Next year will be 20 years since our last title.

 

[bcmf]

Lol so true, my Bulls have been trash for 25 years, minus a couple of years with Rose

lol. Or the warriors before Steph. Or the bucks before giannis. Or a clippers fan. Or a Phoenix fan.

but the good about the nba is that you can enjoy it without being a fan of a single team. Lol.

 

[Moedogg]

The thing is, if we had a bad year, you always knew the following year we would bounce back again.

I guess back then, our junior systems were run well and we recruited smarter and the players we recruited really bought into the bulldogs culture.

 

[Paul Doolans mirror]

Des hasler fucked us with the salary cap for the first half of this rotten stretch. Now a perfect storm of covid + inclusion of the dolphins has added the extra 5 years on top of our rebuild. There just aren't enough talented players around to sign at the moment.Before, we could sign a Tunks,Britt,Vagana,O Meley, a real marqee player..now they just aren't available...the league ladder has basically stood still since covid hit and unfortunately we where at the bottom end of the ladder when it hit..look at penrith,they could potentially win 2-5 comps in a row before the next lot of junior players reach quality first grade standard

 

[TwinTurbo]

My dad still talks about how shit the 50/60s were. The 1967 grand final loss was a true aberration on how bad we were the 15 years around it lol

Aberration bullshit, we had a great team, lead by Captain/Coach Kevin Ryan, the great Les Johns at fullback, Greaves in the centre, Goldspink in the 2nd row, Kidd at 1/2, Hicks up front, RRaper at lock and Taylforth kicking goals.

I remember 1968 painfully, we were decimated by injuries, not 1 player played all games, Johns missed 10 games, so did Hicks and Kidd, Greaves missed 6, Taylforth missed 9. Even in the days of part time players, no team doctors and the magic sponge that level of injuries was unusual.

Unfortunately 1969 was much the same, but in 1970 (Kevin Ryan’s last year) we won the same number of season games as 1967 and made the finals.


Always a Bulldog

 

[Berries]

Aberration bullshit, we had a great team, lead by Captain/Coach Kevin Ryan, the great Les Johns at fullback, Greaves in the centre, Goldspink in the 2nd row, Kidd at 1/2, Hicks up front, RRaper at lock and Taylforth kicking goals.

I remember 1968 painfully, we were decimated by injuries, not 1 player played all games, Johns missed 10 games, so did Hicks and Kidd, Greaves missed 6, Taylforth missed 9. Even in the days of part time players, no team doctors and the magic sponge that level of injuries was unusual.

Unfortunately 1969 was much the same, but in 1970 (Kevin Ryan’s last year) we won the same number of season games as 1967 and made the finals.


Always a Bulldog

Just looking at the season finishes on Wikipedia Jesus Christ, before 67 we were shit

 

[bowleggedwog]

I still get dumped on when I tell people we were idiots for letting Finucane go so we could keep Franky.

Loved big Franky - but he was 32 when we let big Dale go..

Should have kept both instead of signing TRex. Should have kept Ennis , should have kept Graham. We lack leadership and this has been the problem.

 

[bowleggedwog]

Unfortunately we don't have the experience or leadership on the field for a quick turnaround. This is the process that needed to happen 3 or 4 yrs ago but every coach went for a quick fix and over payed. Once we get through this lean period we will have a dozen players with experience with resolve and been through the pain of losing that will harden them. What we seeing now isn't attitude or weakness or no respect for the jersey it's burn out, the pressure of the year from the injuries , not having the experienced guys playing , coming back into a losing team under done and some players playing busted but getting needled up just to put bodies out there. The rot has set into reserve grade aswell. We will be better for it but they need a break.

 

[sifter6]

There will be plenty of fans on here from the Berries days where we struggled. But this is the worst spell we've experienced in decades, no doubt.

Yes, it was pretty grim some years. After the 1980 Grand Final win was disappointing. Some of the 1970s was bad. This is definitely the WORST period since I started supporting in the mid 70s.