A big part of the magic of supporting this club for me has been the sense of unity I felt with our proud, loyal and passionate fans.
I will never forget the joy I felt just walking from the station to the stadium on grand final day 2012. And the shared feeling of sadness as 80-90,000 fans left the stadium that day after the loss was not enjoyable but as fans we held our heads up and said look what we achieved.
Things have changed a lot since then with it fans. There is now a very vocal group who take every opportunity to stick the boot in at any chance. Those who criticise our players, admin staff and immediate prospects for success just make me less proud to associate with the fan base.
Teams can't compete at the highest level constantly and I know we have a few issues with quality in our roster. Such is life with a restrictive salary cap. But looking back at the way our fan base used to pull together in tough times makes me sad to read all the whinging and hate right now. When we were caught breaching the cap, when we had allegations leveled at players of rape, when we were fucked over in the good Friday clash and later on with the bullshit thrown at our club on grand final day against souths. The thing that made me proud was that our fans just said fuck all the haters. We are the Bulldogs and we will be the best again soon.
I'm seeing a vastly different thing when people dig the boot in. That sense of unity that made me proud of our fan base is where I think the magic has gone for me.
I'm never going to be an NRL star but if I was the thing I'd want most from fans is to know that I'll get support even if I lose. Seeing this negativity and copping constant criticism would turn playing for the Bulldogs into a job for me rather than a passion.
Well said!! I couldnt agree more. People who call themselves a supporter of our great club, but feel compelled to criticize the club at every possible chance, who bag our players and say how shit they are, who abuse other fans based on their opinions being of a more positive nature, these people are not supporters and need to learn the meaning of support.
You do not support a club because its successfull, nor because its popular. You celebrate the wins, and mourn the losses because you are bound to the club for some deep seeded reason, and you will show them support win lose or draw.
I havnt been a supporter for such a long time, only about 25 years, but my father has been a supporter for more then 60 years, and was a student at canterbury boys high in the 60s. This is home a came to love this awesome club, and i feel so blessed that i have had an incredibly successfull club to follow during this time. There has barely been a couple of years where we have not been successfull, and im confident next year will be no different.
Im sorry
@Wolfmother that the magic has gone, but perhaps it was never there. If you really do love and support this club like i do, then you will support them when things are tough and not going to plan. This is when pur club needs our support more then ever!!!!!!