Sons of the West

Eade’s tenure at the Bulldogs is about to get dysfunctional.  He’s a good coach with an old list.  The window, three consecutive preliminary finals, will be the easiest to close, without a premiership.

– From The Ramble – 19 September 2010

 

Rodney Eade’s tenure at the Western Bulldogs is dysfunctional.  After playing in three consecutive preliminary finals, the Bulldogs were said to be driven by disappointment, the playing list ready to challenge Collingwood for the flag.  Instead, a season promising a premiership has delved into mediocrity.  The heartache remains, as it has for 57 years.

Going into round nine the Dogs were tenth with three wins.  Eade was concerned but not alarmed.  The humiliating 123 point loss to West Coast has put him on notice.  Every gain made by three consecutive preliminary finals has been lost.  The Bulldogs must rebuild.  As predicted before last year’s preliminary final, the widow of opportunity the Western Bulldogs have enjoyed is bolted shut.

Since 2006, the Bulldogs have played ten finals, winning four.  Significantly, they’ve lost each qualifying and preliminary final across those seasons.  Finishing top four in three consecutive years is class, a solid performance in a tough competition.  Clubs who finish in the top four across three seasons expect a premiership, but the Bulldogs were never good enough.

The table below shows the Bulldogs finals performances since 2008:

2008	win	loss
Hawthorn		51
Sydney	37
Geelong		29
2009
Geelong		14
Brisbane	51
St Kilda		7
2010
Collingwood		62
Sydney	5
St Kilda		24

 

It isn’t a great graphic.  The only time they came close to winning a preliminary final was in 2009, an unlucky loss to the Saints.  It didn’t matter the Bulldogs didn’t win a prelim, because they wouldn’t have won the grand final in the last three years.  Sober reality suggests Hawthorn, Geelong and Collingwood would’ve been too strong.

Across those three years, the Bulldogs were making up the numbers in the top four.  The tables below examine their home and away record against the other clubs that finished top four:

2008	win	loss
Geelong		2
Hawthorn	1	1
St Kilda	2
total	3	3
record	15-1-6

 

2008 was the Bulldogs best season of the past three.  They finished third, defeating St Kilda twice and Hawthorn, the eventual premiers.  In the preliminary final, Geelong led a gritty contest by three goals at three quarter time.  The Bulldogs couldn’t kick a goal in the last quarter.

2009	win	loss
Geelong	1	2
St Kilda		3
Collingwood	1	1
total	2	6
record	15-7

 

Season 2009 was almost as good as the predecessor.  The Bulldogs lost one more game but were able to defeat Geelong and Collingwood through the home and away season.  The losses, though, make better reading, three to the Saints, two against the Cats.

2010	wins	loss
Geelong		3
St Kilda		1
Collingwood		2
total	0	6
record	14-8

 

Last year the Bulldogs finished fourth, losing each game to the occupants of the top four.  Collingwood won by 36 points in round one and 66 points in the qualifying final.  Geelong hammered them by 101 points in round 20.  The Bulldogs haven’t recovered from that loss.

By virtue of wins against top four occupants, the Dogs have been on the slide for a year.  They’ve lost a lot of good players through retirement, sacking or delisting.  Players like Jason Akermanis and Brad Johnson played on in 2010 when they shouldn’t have.  Good players, Adam Cooney, Brian Lake and Lindsay Gilbee are struggling, injured or demoted.  Barry Hall, a standout last year, has been absent through injury.

Much was expected in 2011.  Eade mustn’t have expected capitulation.  He must be stunned by the demise.  His President, David Smorgon wrote an apology and posted it on the website.  From the outer, Akermanis suggested the problems at Whitten Oval ran deeper than his bleached hair, that he wasn’t to blame for the malady.

Eade needs to find blame soon, otherwise it’ll be shoved out of the Whitten Oval in a box with his mementos.  He’s been a good coach across 14 seasons, guiding Sydney into the finals five times and getting the Western Bulldogs there four times.  Unfortunately, he’s just the second coach to oversee more than 300 games and not win a premiership.  Eade, with 303 games, is set to break John Northey’s record of 315 games without a flag.

Coaches are measured on success.  Consecutive finishes in the top four is evidence of a good club and an excellent coach, but the lack of a premiership, in an era of the final eight, makes for a fair record, not a great one.

A serious rebuild is required.  Eade’s leadership, with six wins from the last 19 games, is dysfunctional.  The top four finish last season was earned and deserved, but, like St Kilda, getting there will have to be enough.  Eade might not plot the next chance at September.

Footscray entered the VFL in 1925.  Since inception, they’ve played in two grand finals for one premiership, way back in 1954.  Their history is appalling.  In 1997, the club changed its name to the Western Bulldogs in an attempt to entice more members. 

With premierships as a guide, the name change hasn’t worked. 

Footscray won the premiership in 1954.  There’s been nothing since.  The Western Bulldogs, as a name, might be entrenched as an entity, but the club still trades as Footscray.

It is time to rebrand the club, go back to history and become known as Footscray again.  It will make no difference to the supporters or the industry.  It might make a difference to the club’s fortunes, because the Western Bulldogs have lost five preliminary finals since 1997.

Footscray won the premiership.  It’s time to bring them back.   

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