Salary Cap, Coffs Harbour and a Premiership STEVE FOLKES NOVEMBER 16, 2017

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Dogzof95

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If I had the opportunity to go back to the beginning of 2002, I wouldn’t change too much.

Despite all the off field dramas the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs were quite a successful club. I’m extremely fortunate to have played a part.

2002 Salary Cap Drama

It’d been one hell of a pre-season. The boys were in top shape and raring to go. We had a lot of young guys, up and comers you might call them, and some experienced guys. The season flashed before our eyes.

I guess when you’re winning it’s a whole lot of fun and time flies. We got on a serious roll and hit a winning streak of 17 matches. Some of those matches we never should’ve won but it showcased the character of the playing group. The match in Newcastle, when Hazem kicked it from the sideline, is one I’ll never forget.

When you’re in the zone these things tend to happen more often than not.

A couple of weeks later we had a game at the Showgrounds. There seemed to be a lot more press in attendance than usual. I recall someone asking me what I thought about the salary cap dramas.

I had no idea. It was the first I’d heard of it.

The news broke on game day. There were only three rounds to go in the season. It was Incredibly heartbreaking, not only for myself, but especially for the players and the fans. There was nothing we could do.

The players, coaching staff and the football managers weren’t at fault. I certainly hadn’t kept an eye on what we were paying blokes, that wasn't my job. My role was to coach a footy team. I expected the hierarchy to negotiate the contracts. They’d occasionally ask me what I thought a player was worth but that’s as far as it went.


Steve Mortimer was called in to help deal with the challenging period. I guess in a way he was the ‘messiah’. It was good to have someone who knew the salary cap, understood the player’s perspective and someone who was on the coaches’ side.

The media were relentless throughout the rest of the season. Members of the club who were involved resigned. Finally, the decision was made to deduct 37 points off our tally. This left us with 4 points which we received from the byes.

Brutal!

The players found it quite tough to swallow at first but realised the decision wasn’t in their hands. They were simply doing their job, going out on the field and winning footy matches. They still had three matches to play and they wanted to do it for themselves and the fans. They showed just that in the last match against Brisbane.

I wouldn’t have done anything differently. We had a fantastic year of football. On the park we had a fantastic team, great team spirit and found a couple of young guys who stood up and came of age.

I’ll stick to my guns and believe we would’ve won the 2002 Premiership if all the drama hadn’t of unfolded.

2004 Coffs Harbour

We had been in Coffs Harbour for a week of pre-season training and while we had a good time the boys trained twice a day and trained bloody hard.

The morning after one of our practice matches we were sitting at breakfast when the police arrived. There were some serious allegations being thrown around.

The police interviewed each of the players individually and all their stories lined up. There was absolutely no time for the boys to have collaborated their stories.

We got everyone together that morning and asked the playing group ‘is there anything you want to tell us?’ There was certainly no indication from the playing group that anything had happened.

There was a sense of confidence amongst the group. They knew nothing had gone on and they were getting on with their day jobs.

I didn’t have any of the boys reaching out for support or guidance. They all just went about their business, playing footy for the Dogs.

We had reporters all year long waiting pre and post training to ask the players questions. We all knew they didn’t want to talk about our football. Even when they did they found a way to twist it around to involve the Coffs drama.

Throughout the season, Steve Price our captain, represented the playing group with such confidence. He always made sure the players got together and stayed tight. He was the perfect leader both on and off the field.

Pricey took on a lot of the media attention which let the boys concentrate on their footy. The younger guys would have learnt a lot just by watching him lead from the front.

I never thought the boys did anything illegal and stuck by them throughout.

With everything that went on off the field it was one of the strongest pre-seasons to date. The boys were determined to work hard and being on the field was one of the rare times in the day when they could get away from the drama. With the salary cap drama still a burning memory, then to get so close in 2003; 2004 was the year of the Bulldog.

The 2004 Premiership

Throughout the pre-season I focused on our strength; our defence. There was always a large emphasis on that area throughout the season. That’s not to say our attack wasn’t any good, we did score more points than anyone else that year. We found the right balance and it showed in the 19 matches we won throughout the season.

After our first final, against the Cowboys, we came to realise quite quickly that every team remaining is hungrier than ever to win the premiership. It’s the common denominator. We weren’t ready mentally and got beaten up.

After that loss the boys dug deeper than ever making light work of Melbourne and Penrith to reach the Grand Final.

After all we had gone through it was really tough to work with Pricey during his rehab. He threw the kitchen sink at it. There was no doubt he was always going to put the team first.

We knew from week one of the finals that he wasn’t going to be there. For the sake of a young Johnathan Thurston, we strung the announcement out a little. We didn’t want him to have to deal with the scrutiny that came with being called up for a Grand Final.

I’ll never ever forget the 2004 Grand Final.

It was a special feeling especially the way the match played out.

With a minute to go Michael Crocker stuck his nose through our line. Andrew Ryan, our stand-in captain, tripped him up causing him to lose the ball. That was the ball game and the first time I got to relax that evening.

Hearing the final siren was more of a relief than anything.

We deserved to win. We were definitely the better team. I felt the score line flattered them.

Everything the club had been through, to come out successful was magical.

Through all the setbacks, the strength of the club was on display.

We were a tight group. I think Coffs Harbour brought us together. When you’re getting hounded by outside sources all the time you tend to turn inwardly to your mates. I think the bond of that team was greater because of those allegations.

The 2004 Premiership showed that the players we brought into the team were Canterbury-type players. They all were extremely talented in their positions and it all just clicked.

I’ll always remember the comradery that team shared.
 

cookieman909

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Graeme Hughes on a number of times spoken about the way the police handled the case. There were cops suggesting the girl should of had charges laid against her for making the story up. I’m pretty sure he’s still chasing the police up.
 

Rodzilla

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folkes is very underrated tbh, people act as if he inherited that squad and anyone could win a premiership with it but the media was down on the dogs in the 2004 pre season saying we lost too much key players, then you produce all the scrutiny of the coffs harbour and that is usually enough to derail a season but full credit to noad and folkes for showing the correct leadership

greenberg and raelene would have bowed down to the media like a pussy
 

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The Skaf rape case was fresh in the minds of Sydney with the media striking the fear into every middle class conservative parent that there was a gang of Lebanese men out to get their precious didums the moment they stepped out the front door.

Mixed with the memory of that time you went to a Bulldogs game with all your St George mates and drunkenly taunted those young Lebanese Bulldogs fans after the game. An act in which you and your mates had been getting away with at other teams for years. Only to find these bastards fought back not only sober but not even one on one.

So when the accusations came up that was a perfect opportunity to latch on for life and put your dislike of Lebs mixed with they are all rapists and Bulldogs fans.

Of course the paper is going to focus on pushing this story. Who doesn't want to read about those dirty lebo rapist team getting what was coming to them.

You still ask a random that doesn't know much about footy about the Bulldogs and the next words they will say is: Isnt that the rapist team?

The media did a thorough job of making rapists an integral part of the Bulldogs brand as seen by the everyday collective Australian psyche.
 
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Wahesh

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The Skaf rape case was fresh in the minds of Sydney with the media striking the fear into every middle class conservative parent that there was a gang of Lebanese men out to get their precious didums the moment they stepped out the front door.

Mixed with the memory of that time you went to a Bulldogs game with all your St George mates and drunkenly taunted those young Lebanese Bulldogs fans after the game. An act in which you and your mates had been getting away with at other teams for years. Only to find these bastards fought back not only sober but not even one on one.

So when the accusations came up that was a perfect opportunity to latch on for life and put your dislike of Lebs mixed with they are all rapists and Bulldogs fans.

Of course the paper is going to focus on pushing this story. Who doesn't want to read about those dirty lebo rapist team getting what was coming to them.

You still ask a random that doesn't know much about footy about the Bulldogs and the next words they will say is: Isnt that the rapist team?

The media did a thorough job of making rapists an integral part of the Bulldogs brand as seen by the everyday collective Australian psyche.
Because just like the sheep they are, the gullible Australian people will trust whatever they read in the paper.
 

N4TE

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Because just like the sheep they are, the gullible Australian people will trust whatever they read in the paper.
Still think that headline on the front page of the paper this year "Bulldog and a Bomb" is unethical journalism and could be tested in court as defamation again our brand.
 

chisdog

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I would really love to see Steve Folkes write a book. He has had an amazing ride. A bit about the Windies cricketers would be interesting too.
 

chisdog

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Here's a transcript of an interview that Graeme Hughes conducted on 2SM with a cop involved with the 2002 "event".

Station: 2SM

Program: Talkin' Sport


PRESENTER: Graeme Hughes

Earlier this week I caught up with former Detective Sergeant Gary McEvoy who led the detective squad investigating the Bulldogs scandal at Coffs Harbour a little over two years ago. We all know that it has had an incredible effect on the Bulldogs' organisation; their chief executive Steve Mortimer was forced to resign. My brother Gary Hughes was dismissed from his position as the football manager at the club. And, ongoing, I think a lot of people have always had the perception that there was something terribly wrong with what happened up there, back then.


Well, you've got to think of the other side of it as well and it is now having an ongoing and very dramatic effect on our own police force.


GARY MCEVOY - NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE:

Well, it is insofar as that it rocked the dynamics of our detectives' office. It broke our confidence in the organisation. What was a very cohesive, very strong unit just broke up and, as each month unfolded, different fellows went off for different reasons.


PRESENTER:

Why did it go on so long? Should it have ever gone on for that amount of time?


MCEVOY:

The investigation?


PRESENTER:

Yeah.


MCEVOY:

It will .. it had to. It had to go on that long, but probably what didn't need to happen was the amount of speculation in the media, the aggressive tone of the police hierarchy, how they .. their strategy and how they portrayed the investigation. That was far too damaging and just wasn't consistent with the evidence our investigators were finding.


PRESENTER:

Did it allow the public to think wrongly of the Bulldogs?


MCEVOY:

Well, it did. The public shouldn't have been listening to the daily ups and downs, and they wrongly .. everyone got a wrong idea of the investigation, that it was unusual, that it was .. it was a standard investigation that we regularly get ..


PRESENTER:

Mmm ..


MCEVOY:

And it didn't need to be portrayed daily in the media with all the leaks that were obviously coming from the police organisation.


PRESENTER:

Sydney broadcaster Ray Hadley had a full police report of it that he aired just about immediately the investigation was underway. Did that shock you?


MCEVOY:

That just broke .. really, it .. we were starting to build a strong rapport with not only the victim and the family, but with the NRL. And that was very damaging to our professionalism, to the confidence, and put us under an awful lot of pressure at such an early stage of the inquiry.


PRESENTER:

Well, in putting you under pressure, what sorts of pressures does it entail? I mean, again the public then just all of a sudden started to jump to all sorts of thoughts.


MCEVOY:

Well, that's right. You might recall the year before there was an allegation of a similar nature .. where you didn't have any media coverage, and we were able to investigate that in our time, in our own time, properly, calmly, thoroughly. Whereas twelve months later, when Ray Hadley read out that cop's report and the pressure that followed it, it just meant that we had to do everything double, triple time. We had to do it yesterday, not tomorrow and it just put guys under enormous strain.


PRESENTER:

Was there an early stage in the investigation where you thought, well, we just can't travel this, we just can't take it any further?


MCEVOY:

Well, no. Within the first forty-eight hours, approximately forty-eight hours, the .. we had twelve, twenty statements, for example of people that were in the area at the time. It just wasn't matching up. We still had to go through all the process of interviewing players and taking DNA, that was always going to happen. But within that short time that I just mentioned, it was becoming obvious to us as investigators that it was highly unlikely that anyone was going to be charged with the allegations.


PRESENTER:

Mmm. Well, then why did it get to the stage that it did? Who would've been in a position to call it off and say that there is a total lack of evidence.


MCEVOY:

Well, no, the process had to be followed. There were big delays you might recall in interviewing all the players, and I don't know if anyone can be criticised there. There was .. they were getting legal advice and the legal advice they were getting stalled it. The DNA samples also got stalled because of the interviews. The .. I don't think the investigation could have been conducted any quicker or any shorter. The steps that were taken had to be taken, no matter what we thought about what the result was going to be. It had to happen. But because of everyone was reading about it, watching it on TV, radio, every day, everyone developed this expectation of, it has to be done, it has to be done. It was .. it was just unnecessary pressure for us.


PRESENTER:

Did the Bulldogs give you the support that you wanted?


MCEVOY:

The Bulldogs did. The organisation helped us an awful lot, but the legal team had a different agenda. They were looking after the players' rights. The organisation had a slightly different interests to look after. But I can't criticise the organisation.


PRESENTER:

Mmm. Did it surprise you that it cost two men their jobs there? Steve Mortimer, Gary Hughes.


MCEVOY:

Well, we were trying to remain focused on what evidence we had to collect, what investigation actions we had to complete. Things like that didn't help us, because it had no relationship to the investigation. It was distracting for us. But, again, if we didn't have all of that media speculation that was going on, those chaps may well still have their jobs.


PRESENTER:

Well, that's the point, isn't it, that, you know, you say that it wasn't good for you because the public immediately think, oh well, somebody's got sacked because things did go wrong.


MCEVOY:

Yeah. You might recall that the final press conference, the commander of the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Breton, when asked a question, did something happen, and he said yes. That's his opinion, and he's entitled to it. But ..


PRESENTER:

Well, he said that on my radio show. And, at the time, I tried to ask him, wasn't he just inflaming the situation.


MCEVOY:

Yes, and I'd go so far as the investigations manager - that was my position, detective senior sergeant - I'd go so far as to say that on Sunday the twenty-second of February, 2004, there was no woman raped in the pool area of the Pacific Bay Resort which .. that statement there that I've given you now is completely opposite to what my boss, my commander, was telling the media.


PRESENTER:

Why ..


MCEVOY:

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but that's mine.


PRESENTER:

Well, why did you think he said that?


MCEVOY:

You've got me.


PRESENTER:

I mean, that's ..


MCEVOY:

That's his opinion.


PRESENTER:

I mean, it's astonishing that we've gone, what, two and a half years nearly. Policemen under pressure from stress, and walked away from their employment with the NSW Police force. We've had two rugby league legends lose their job. And I'm a life member of my club, the Bulldogs, and I haven't had anybody come out and tell the truth until I speak to Detective Gary McEvoy, who was prepared to say that.


MCEVOY:

Yes. And I've gone through all sorts of dramas since this. All sorts of dramas. I've been left in isolation, directed as a police officer not to talk. I was medically discharged in February. I immediately started writing a book. And I've been looking ever since: come on, I've got a story here, I want to tell it. I won't .. as part of my healing process, I want to tell it. And it's only by chance that I've come across the Telegraph journalist last week.


Finally, I found someone that was prepared to listen to me and make my story public. And I look forward to finishing my book, and getting out there, and explaining all the reasons why I've given you that opinion.


It's one thing, saying .. making a comment like that. It's another, putting down on paper, all your reasons to justify it.


PRESENTER:

Well, I remember the comments at the times that inflamed things, and made the public think so poorly. Steve Mortimer, as the CEO of the Bulldogs, actually made a statement along the lines that, if only ten per cent of this allegation is true, it's abhorrent my family principles, and my life. And why would he make such a comment? I mean, it's .. was he the Bulldogs' Inspector Breton?


MCEVOY:

Ah, again, I'd hate to make any comment or speculation of something I've .. I really don't know about the workings of the club, and what happened to all those people. I know they lost their jobs.


PRESENTER:

Would it surprise you then to find out that Gary Hughes, on more than one occasion, had requested more support for the players from his own board?


MCEVOY:

Again, Graeme, you might be right, might be wrong, but it's really an area that I'd really not want to comment on.


PRESENTER:

Well I .. he is my brother, and I've spoken to him, and he has told me that's exactly what he requested.


MCEVOY:

Yeah. But my message: my reason coming out, and my reason speaking to you is the police organisation had an aggressive media strategy that was inconsistent with the evidence my investigators were getting. I believe that aggressive media strategy was unnecessary. It led to the media speculation, the community to speculate, and therefore come around and cause chaps like your own, that you've mentioned, to unnecessarily lose their jobs.


PRESENTER:

Hmm. Well, who was in charge? Who would have called for such an aggressive approach?


MCEVOY:

The commander of the operation, Detective Chief Inspector Breton.


PRESENTER:

So, all of a sudden we've got an infrastructure, we've got an organisation called the New South Wales Police force, who are charged with just getting things right, and if something hap .. was wrong, then making it right. And two and a half years later, we're worse off than what we were from day one.


MCEVOY:

Yeah, there's .. (laughs) I'll tell you ..


PRESENTER:

I mean, is that the simple summary?


MCEVOY:

Yeah, yeah. There's an awful lot of things that I've seen in the last couple of years that smashed my confidence and faith in the organisation that I worked for twenty-three years, and I should still be working with them now. But totally disillusioned and, as the paper reported the other day, quite a few other chaps up here are as well.


PRESENTER:

Are there still police officers .. and naturally, I don't want you to name them .. are there still police officers high up in the force who are sympathetic to all of you guys?


MCEVOY:

I don't think anyone's sympathetic to us guys. I've got .. we get very little support. I've got very little support. We do get support, but we get very little support. Yeah .. no, I don't think there's anyone sympathetic to us.


PRESENTER:

And what do people say to you when they find out who you are, and .. or people that even still know you, and talk about the investigation. Are there those that still draw a conclusion that the Bulldogs did do something wrong?


MCEVOY:

The .. I get the impression that the Bulldogs have been convicted by the community. That's the impression I get, but .. and it frustrates me, it's frustrated me for years. But I'll say to people, but what about this, what about that, and I'll go through evidence, and they don't know the evidence, and they shouldn't know the evidence. I shouldn't be debating this with the public. But it's frustrating; people shouldn't be branded rapists in regard to this case because the evidence just isn't there.


PRESENTER:

There was more than one in the squad, apparently, that suggested that maybe there could have been a charge laid against a frivolous complaint to the force in the first place.


MCEVOY:

Oh, there's .. one in particular. One officer in particular that had extremely strong views that that should happen. There were varied thoughts, but there was one particularly .. one particular officer who had very strong thoughts. And he suffered as a consequence; he's not at work today, and won't be returning to work, I wouldn't think.


PRESENTER:

So, how many has it affected, from the investigation, of your squad?


MCEVOY:

Well, don't get misled by the article the other day. It said, six officers who were on the inquiry are no longer at work. That is true.


PRESENTER:

Yeah.


MCEVOY:

But myself and two others you could directly link back to this investigation, the Bulldogs investigation. The other three, it'd be speculation to say that. But .. and it's not so much .. we do lots of sexual assault investigations.

It's not like investigating most matters where you might get hurt dealing with an offender or struggle through a district court trial with allegations. This .. everyone .. the officers that were hurt because of the hierarchy's approach to the media, and to what to do with the victim afterwards, and things like that. It was a loss of faith in the organisation. Deputy Commissioner Madden's performance in releasing telephone intercept material; things like that. That just hurt police, and they felt that it was getting swept under the carpet, because these senior police control internal investigations. It just got to them, and myself.


PRESENTER:

So what do you do now, Gaz? What .. I mean, you were a detective. You had a wonderful police career. What do you do now?


MCEVOY:

Well, at the moment, I'm covered in dirt. I've been ripping up couch lawn and out to the tip. That's me, I'm a lawnmower man, and gardening. And I can't see myself for quite some time doing much more than that.


So .. returning to a job where I can use all my skills, and get paid appropriately, maybe one day. But I can't see it.


PRESENTER:

And what age are you now?


MCEVOY:

Forty-two. I'm now complaining. I'm not .. I should be at work, I should be doing the job I'm trained for, and I'm good at. I'm not. I probably sound like I'm complaining. I'm probably going to end up, in the long run, to have a better future because I'm safe doing lawns, I'm safe with my family. That organisation, obviously, was going to get me at one stage or another, so I suppose in that respect things will be better for me.


So don't think I'm complaining there. But I'm certainly trying to bring out my story. And all the other things, eventually, will come out about all the misconduct that was getting swept under the carpet, about a whole range of issues.


And my hope, at the end of the day, one, the Bulldogs players, people might get to hear someone finally say something in support of them, who's got some sort of respectability. And, two, that the police service might have to change the way, how it deals with officers on long-term sick, officers that have grievances again .. whistleblowers and things like that.


PRESENTER:

And the book itself will be due out?


MCEVOY:

(Laughs) I hope before the end of the year. I hope before March.


PRESENTER:

Have you given it a title at present?


MCEVOY:

The title changes every couple of days. It goes with my moods (laughs). It goes from being serious to not so serious. Yeah. We .. we're getting there.


PRESENTER:

Well, I hope you are. I really appreciate you talking to us, on Talkin' Sport. And it was an amazing time in the game of Rugby League, and it sport general. Such a beautiful part of New South Wales that has had such a .. well, a drastic effect on so many good people.


MCEVOY:

Yeah, you're right Graeme.


PRESENTER:

Thank you, Gary. Good to talk to you.


MCEVOY:

Thank you, Graeme. Ta


PRESENTER:

There he is, former Detective Sergeant Gary McEvoy. Just a decent fella who wants to eventually tell the story, get it right. And unfortunately, the story that he's going to tell is going to .. in many respects, going to raise so many more questions now for the New South Wales Police force to answer, and why we all got to where we were in thinking about my former club, the Bulldogs. Look forward to any thoughts you have at all about what Gary McEvoy had to say, on 13 1269.
 

Hacky McAxe

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I have seen the reports from the OIC of Police. He stated that the Bulldogs did not have a case to answer.
This was a media beat up of immense proportions.
I remember an interview with one of the detectives where he said he left the force over that case. Most of the detectives wanted to drop the case 'cause it was obvious that she made it up but the media were pressuring the police to keep it going. Several of the detectives quit as they were forced to do things they didn't consider to be good police work.
 

Wahesh

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Still think that headline on the front page of the paper this year "Bulldog and a Bomb" is unethical journalism and could be tested in court as defamation again our brand.
Deadset. Greenberg would've fucked them up if he was still in charge.
 

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If I had the opportunity to go back to the beginning of 2002, I wouldn’t change too much.

Despite all the off field dramas the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs were quite a successful club. I’m extremely fortunate to have played a part.

2002 Salary Cap Drama

It’d been one hell of a pre-season. The boys were in top shape and raring to go. We had a lot of young guys, up and comers you might call them, and some experienced guys. The season flashed before our eyes.

I guess when you’re winning it’s a whole lot of fun and time flies. We got on a serious roll and hit a winning streak of 17 matches. Some of those matches we never should’ve won but it showcased the character of the playing group. The match in Newcastle, when Hazem kicked it from the sideline, is one I’ll never forget.

When you’re in the zone these things tend to happen more often than not.

A couple of weeks later we had a game at the Showgrounds. There seemed to be a lot more press in attendance than usual. I recall someone asking me what I thought about the salary cap dramas.

I had no idea. It was the first I’d heard of it.

The news broke on game day. There were only three rounds to go in the season. It was Incredibly heartbreaking, not only for myself, but especially for the players and the fans. There was nothing we could do.

The players, coaching staff and the football managers weren’t at fault. I certainly hadn’t kept an eye on what we were paying blokes, that wasn't my job. My role was to coach a footy team. I expected the hierarchy to negotiate the contracts. They’d occasionally ask me what I thought a player was worth but that’s as far as it went.


Steve Mortimer was called in to help deal with the challenging period. I guess in a way he was the ‘messiah’. It was good to have someone who knew the salary cap, understood the player’s perspective and someone who was on the coaches’ side.

The media were relentless throughout the rest of the season. Members of the club who were involved resigned. Finally, the decision was made to deduct 37 points off our tally. This left us with 4 points which we received from the byes.

Brutal!

The players found it quite tough to swallow at first but realised the decision wasn’t in their hands. They were simply doing their job, going out on the field and winning footy matches. They still had three matches to play and they wanted to do it for themselves and the fans. They showed just that in the last match against Brisbane.

I wouldn’t have done anything differently. We had a fantastic year of football. On the park we had a fantastic team, great team spirit and found a couple of young guys who stood up and came of age.

I’ll stick to my guns and believe we would’ve won the 2002 Premiership if all the drama hadn’t of unfolded.

2004 Coffs Harbour

We had been in Coffs Harbour for a week of pre-season training and while we had a good time the boys trained twice a day and trained bloody hard.

The morning after one of our practice matches we were sitting at breakfast when the police arrived. There were some serious allegations being thrown around.

The police interviewed each of the players individually and all their stories lined up. There was absolutely no time for the boys to have collaborated their stories.

We got everyone together that morning and asked the playing group ‘is there anything you want to tell us?’ There was certainly no indication from the playing group that anything had happened.

There was a sense of confidence amongst the group. They knew nothing had gone on and they were getting on with their day jobs.

I didn’t have any of the boys reaching out for support or guidance. They all just went about their business, playing footy for the Dogs.

We had reporters all year long waiting pre and post training to ask the players questions. We all knew they didn’t want to talk about our football. Even when they did they found a way to twist it around to involve the Coffs drama.

Throughout the season, Steve Price our captain, represented the playing group with such confidence. He always made sure the players got together and stayed tight. He was the perfect leader both on and off the field.

Pricey took on a lot of the media attention which let the boys concentrate on their footy. The younger guys would have learnt a lot just by watching him lead from the front.

I never thought the boys did anything illegal and stuck by them throughout.

With everything that went on off the field it was one of the strongest pre-seasons to date. The boys were determined to work hard and being on the field was one of the rare times in the day when they could get away from the drama. With the salary cap drama still a burning memory, then to get so close in 2003; 2004 was the year of the Bulldog.

The 2004 Premiership

Throughout the pre-season I focused on our strength; our defence. There was always a large emphasis on that area throughout the season. That’s not to say our attack wasn’t any good, we did score more points than anyone else that year. We found the right balance and it showed in the 19 matches we won throughout the season.

After our first final, against the Cowboys, we came to realise quite quickly that every team remaining is hungrier than ever to win the premiership. It’s the common denominator. We weren’t ready mentally and got beaten up.

After that loss the boys dug deeper than ever making light work of Melbourne and Penrith to reach the Grand Final.

After all we had gone through it was really tough to work with Pricey during his rehab. He threw the kitchen sink at it. There was no doubt he was always going to put the team first.

We knew from week one of the finals that he wasn’t going to be there. For the sake of a young Johnathan Thurston, we strung the announcement out a little. We didn’t want him to have to deal with the scrutiny that came with being called up for a Grand Final.

I’ll never ever forget the 2004 Grand Final.

It was a special feeling especially the way the match played out.

With a minute to go Michael Crocker stuck his nose through our line. Andrew Ryan, our stand-in captain, tripped him up causing him to lose the ball. That was the ball game and the first time I got to relax that evening.

Hearing the final siren was more of a relief than anything.

We deserved to win. We were definitely the better team. I felt the score line flattered them.

Everything the club had been through, to come out successful was magical.

Through all the setbacks, the strength of the club was on display.

We were a tight group. I think Coffs Harbour brought us together. When you’re getting hounded by outside sources all the time you tend to turn inwardly to your mates. I think the bond of that team was greater because of those allegations.

The 2004 Premiership showed that the players we brought into the team were Canterbury-type players. They all were extremely talented in their positions and it all just clicked.

I’ll always remember the comradery that team shared.
That's a great read Dogzof95. Thanks for taking the time to write.

Just one small thing re Steve Price and 2004. You wrote that we knew from week 1 of the finals that he wasn't going to play in the Grand Final.

My recollection is that Pricey played the first 3 weeks of the finals (at least part of week 3). He fucked his knee in the week 3 prelim final against Panthers and so missed the Grand Final.

I remember because I was at all those games including the 2004 Grand Final win .... and we haven't fuckin won it since. 2018 may be our year because a Bulldogs premiership is way overdue
 

HaceDog

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The players, coaching staff and the football managers weren’t at fault. I certainly hadn’t kept an eye on what we were paying blokes, that wasn't my job. My role was to coach a footy team. I expected the hierarchy to negotiate the contracts. They’d occasionally ask me what I thought a player was worth but that’s as far as it went.
I call a MASSIVE BS. He was the reason we lost JT because he didn't want to pay him 170k.
 

steeliz

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I call a MASSIVE BS. He was the reason we lost JT because he didn't want to pay him 170k.
Seriously?????

You know JT is the reason this shit happened in the first place place right?
 

Como Dog

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The Skaf rape case was fresh in the minds of Sydney with the media striking the fear into every middle class conservative parent that there was a gang of Lebanese men out to get their precious didums the moment they stepped out the front door.

Mixed with the memory of that time you went to a Bulldogs game with all your St George mates and drunkenly taunted those young Lebanese Bulldogs fans after the game. An act in which you and your mates had been getting away with at other teams for years. Only to find these bastards fought back not only sober but not even one on one.

So when the accusations came up that was a perfect opportunity to latch on for life and put your dislike of Lebs mixed with they are all rapists and Bulldogs fans.

Of course the paper is going to focus on pushing this story. Who doesn't want to read about those dirty lebo rapist team getting what was coming to them.

You still ask a random that doesn't know much about footy about the Bulldogs and the next words they will say is: Isnt that the rapist team?

The media did a thorough job of making rapists an integral part of the Bulldogs brand as seen by the everyday collective Australian psyche.
This is the time I really started to hate the media and what they truly stood for.
 
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