Opinion What are your unpopular opinions about the Bulldogs?

alchemist

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a 'what if' XIII

1. Ben Barba - simply that he had taken his football and career with the 'Dogs more seriously and showed greater discipline... imagine his form in 2011 & 2012 stretched for 7-10 years... on a serious note, no excuse treating the mother of your children like that c*+#
2. Curtis Rona - that he stayed for more than 2 years... had most/all the attributes of a representative modern day winger
3. Karl McNichol - had he taken his career seriously and stayed with us (seriously who considered the Sharks a good/great development club then) I think he would have been at least the equal of Soliola
4. Willie Tonga - that he wasn't so injury prone... from memory he had 3 season ending injuries in the 5 years he was with us... his wiping the floor with a hair dyed Justin Hodges in 2004 was out of this world
5. Brett Morris - imagine we had signed him at the same time we signed his brother
6. Ewan McGrady - I do not remember exactly what led to the early end to McGrady's career besides him being introverted and not liking the city life (see the Rothmans Medal ceremony where he won) but a great running half, a game breaker
7. Johnathan Thurston - enough said
8. Justin Tsoulos - a name now forgotten but he really could have been great --> size with mobility... career cut short by injuries
9. Issac Luke - was in our juniors (as a half from memory) but never got a shot and moved on to the Rabbits
10. Roy Asotasi - due to salary cap restrictions and the likes of Mason, SBW and O'Meley still on the books, we lost Roy just as he was coming into his prime... on his day, best prop in the league
11. Nate Myles - perennial Origin player that could play as prop or in the second row that left for the Roosters at the end of the 2006 season for more FG opportunity with the irony being that within 18 months of him leaving, our team had been gutted and we were on our way to winning the spoon
12. Dale Finucane - I thought he would have a 'Steve Price' style career with us playing 10-12 seasons, captain for most of them, rep football, premiership(s) etc. but instead he achieved most of that with the Storm
13. Sonny Bill Williams - if he had spent his whole career or at least the majority of it with us and the club was properly managed, he would have gone close to being our greatest ever player... pity
 

BULLDVGS

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* our mismanagement of our FG squad from 2004-2007 cost us two premierships

* our 2002 squad was overpaid and could have been salary cap compliant with better management

* we should have kept Gus Gould as coach and not replaced him with Chris Anderson in 1990

* a huge downside to Bullfrog's tenure at the club was his extended family treating the club as their own little play thing - coaching positions, unearned playing selections, business opportunities etc.

* 'Bankstown' should be dropped from the name

* Belmore as is should not be used for FG games again

* I don't care how much time has passed... F*+# SBW!

* I loved Halligan the goal kicker and his conversions in 1998 vs the Eels were some of my favourite memories... but Halligan the winger was just painful to watch

* the NSW selectors were right to ignore Darren Britt for the Blues despite his performances for us and the Kangaroos

* Brett Kenny was better than Terry Lamb
Agree with all except the bankstown point, WTF
 

Wahesh

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What are some opinions you have that would be considered unpopular?

Here are some of mine:

- Holland would have been a great centre under a proper coaching staff, including better strength and conditioning.

- I’m not that upset that the Morris brothers left. It was probably best for our club as it was too risky to offer long deals. In saying that, the club then went and stuffed up recruitment so it ended up being a negative.

- Lewis could have been a decent half (and could still be one) with proper coaching. I’d rather have Flanagan though. I’d also have kept Cogger for 1 more year and have him play 5/8 if we don’t get Burton for 2021 ( assuming Averillo plays fullback).

- I’m glad we went through the whole Hasler and Pay saga. Without it, we wouldn’t have hired Barrett and potentially set ourselves up for the next 10+ years.

What are some of yours?
If you were looking at creating division among the fans, I take my hat off to you.
 

Malla

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If Steve Price played in the 2004 grand final we would have lost
 

alchemist

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Agree with all except the bankstown point, WTF
the thread is asking for unpopular opinions and you agreed with all but one of my points... so I figure I am doing alright

for me, the 'Bankstown' bit makes the name of the club too long and too specific to a suburb in Sydney whereas Canterbury has a more general feel and I want the club to claim everything from Beverly Hills to Homebush to Bankstown to Liverpool
 

Wahesh

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the thread is asking for unpopular opinions and you agreed with all but one of my points... so I figure I am doing alright

for me, the 'Bankstown' bit makes the name of the club too long and too specific to a suburb in Sydney whereas Canterbury has a more general feel and I want the club to claim everything from Beverly Hills to Homebush to Bankstown to Liverpool
And they did that in 1999 when they dropped "Canterbury-Bankstown" from the name and our clubs seemed like one with an identity. Leave it as it is.
 

Bulldog1966

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remember when it was briefly the Sydney bulldogs FMD that was diabolical.

i'm not opposed to it but most things reference Canterbury-Bankstown generally, eg the council and "the city of Canterbury-Bankstown" is often referenced so yeh i'm on the fence.
 

alchemist

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And they did that in 1999 when they dropped "Canterbury-Bankstown" from the name and our clubs seemed like one with an identity. Leave it as it is.
they did it in the mid-90's and we officially won the 1995 GF as the 'Sydney Bulldogs' with Parramatta Stadium as our home ground and it didn't work... when the ARL threatened injunctions against breakaway clubs during the Super League War, the players threatened their own breakaway teams including the 'Belmore Dogs' and that was horrendous... we dropped the 'Canterbury-Bankstown' in about 2000 and then subsequently adopted a European style name based on our then major sponsor (eg. 'Mitsubishi Electric Bulldogs') and that was wrong

I think 'Canterbury Bulldogs' is still respectful to our history but forward thinking as well as to branding
 

Wahesh

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they did it in the mid-90's and we officially won the 1995 GF as the 'Sydney Bulldogs' with Parramatta Stadium as our home ground and it didn't work... when the ARL threatened injunctions against breakaway clubs during the Super League War, the players threatened their own breakaway teams including the 'Belmore Dogs' and that was horrendous... we dropped the 'Canterbury-Bankstown' in about 2000 and then subsequently adopted a European style name based on our then major sponsor (eg. 'Mitsubishi Electric Bulldogs') and that was wrong

I think 'Canterbury Bulldogs' is still respectful to our history but forward thinking as well as to branding
Gosh that 15 year period was pretty awful. Sydney Bulldogs was too generic (Tigers adopted the same thing). I NEVER want our club to change our name again.

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Wahesh

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remember when it was briefly the Sydney bulldogs FMD that was diabolical.

i'm not opposed to it but most things reference Canterbury-Bankstown generally, eg the council and "the city of Canterbury-Bankstown" is often referenced so yeh i'm on the fence.
Do you mean you associate our name with the name of the local council?
 

BULLDVGS

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the thread is asking for unpopular opinions and you agreed with all but one of my points... so I figure I am doing alright

for me, the 'Bankstown' bit makes the name of the club too long and too specific to a suburb in Sydney whereas Canterbury has a more general feel and I want the club to claim everything from Beverly Hills to Homebush to Bankstown to Liverpool
nah mods should delete your account for that :tearsofjoy:
 

alchemist

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Gosh that 15 year period was pretty awful. Sydney Bulldogs was too generic (Tigers adopted the same thing). I NEVER want our club to change our name again.

View attachment 19130View attachment 19131
fair enough... and a bit of trivia, although we were the 'Sydney Bulldogs' in 1995, our players ran out in jerseys with the traditional 'Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' emblem for the Grand Final vs Manly
 

Bulldog1966

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Do you mean you associate our name with the name of the local council?
Canterbury is small Bankstown is a city perhaps that's why their linked.
And no not me many organisations in the area are regarded as Canterbury-Bankstown the council is just one of the many for the above reason most likely..with any luck they probably wont change the name ever again..although if they moved to Liverpool? who knows..
 

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- Brandon Wakeham is a fringe first grader at best.
Agreed. Following him on social media alone is enough to see he straight up doesn't take things seriously and is riding on the coattails of a successful career in the junior leagues.
 

alchemist

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Interested in hearing your thoughts as to why?
I did explain above why I would drop the 'Bankstown' from the club name and I accept it is a relevantly unpopular opinion

I would though state that we shouldn't in general be opposed to making changes and simply be beholden to tradition... for example, the club began with the simple 'CB' logo... when we became the 'Bulldogs' in the late 70's, it made sense to change the logo and hence, the old school, large circular RL logo from the 80's which I think we all hold dear because it was the logo when the club was at its highest... but in a changing time where off field branding became more and more important (marketing, sponsors, TPAs etc.), I understand why the club changed the logo in the noughties again although it is unfortunate the logo from that period was a blind bulldog's head (still pains me that someone was paid and undoubtedly paid very well for that design)... because it was such a bad design, I was happy that the club changed the logo again under Greenberg's reign

and now we have what I consider an ideal club emblem - a proper shield, the black as a throwback to the classic kit, the full bulldog, the blue and white chevron, original 'CB' logo at the bottom as well as the year the club was founded... perfect... no further changes are needed
 

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Brent Sherwin's career is constantly looked back on through rose coloured glasses by Dog fans.

Truth was he was horrendously inconsistent. Every summer there would be a two page spread in a Sunday Newspaper with him saying "This is the year I will take control of the team".... and he never did.

Apart from the 2004 final series, his best football was in single games, not series of games, and definitely not a good stretch of games.

Way over-rated and should never be mentioned in the same breath of great Bulldog halves. Wouldn't even tie Polly's bootlaces.
I think his main problem was
He played in one of the most dominant teams and never had to be the rockstar halfback when you had blokes like Willie Mason making 50m line breaks.
 
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