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15.11.2019 14:05
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The Western Bulldogs upset grand final win against Sydney Swans on Saturday was a victory for not just their patient legion of fans and past players, but for hope itself.A so-called small club was not supposed to break the longest drought of any major Australian competition less than two years after losing its captain, coach and several key veterans during a tumultuous off-season.Turn the clock back a couple of decades and the Bulldogs, then called Footscray, were in even greater strife, on the edge of extinction and facing a possible merger with Fitzroy.This club has never been handed anything on a silver platter and before Saturday it had just a solitary premiership cup (won back in 1954) in its threadbare trophy cabinet.Against such significant odds, they are now at the top of the AFL mountain with veteran defender Dale Morris saying after their groundbreaking 22-point victory that hed always believed in fairytales.Now its time for other clubs to do the same.The Dogs flag came almost five months to the day after another recent sporting fairytale: Leicesters incredible rags-to-riches English Premier League title.One scribe wrote of trying to explain the unlikeliness of Leicester winning the EPL as someone winning the Kentucky Derby riding a cat, not a thoroughbred. The Dogs win is probably then the equivalent of someone atop a Llama winning the most exciting two minutes in sports, as the great US horse race is termed.The two unlikely title victories show just about anything is possible in sport if all the essential elements line up at the same time.In a sporting world where money and power all-too-often counts the most, smaller clubs across all codes should now start dreaming and scheming.As the Bulldogs showed on Saturday, if you develop the right culture, dream big, and all pull in the right direction, anything is possible.They also took significant risks. Most notably their targeting of former No. 1 draft pick Tom Boyd from GWS once former captain Ryan Griffen made clear his intentions of joining the AFLs newest franchise.?The Dogs sent pick No. 6 to GWS along with their disgruntled midfielder -- even paying some of Griffens wage -- and offered Boyd an eyewatering seven-year contract in the vicinity of $Aus7 million. At 5.30pm on Saturday, everyone associated with the Dogs would have been smiling after the ruck/forwards coming-of-age performance in the decider.The Dogs have also nailed their recent drafting, including early picks in Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae and Jake Stringer, but they also unearthed gems in the rookie draft, such as Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus.After the drought-breaking win, midfield dynamo Dahlhaus said the result was significant considering the clubs difficult past.It does [give hope to the smaller clubs], Dahlhaus told ESPN, grinning ear-to-ear in the Bulldogs changerooms with a premiership medallion hanging from his neck.Look how quickly we did it - we turned things around so quickly [since the tumultuous off-season in 2014] and put so much hard work in, and credit to every individual in the club putting the hard work in, everyone deserves it.Morris, himself also a former rookie, agreed with his diminutive teammate.Where weve come from - you look years back, with possible mergers, our debt, with everything that happened a couple of years ago, to be here now is just incredible, he said post-match.Ive always believed [in fairytales].After more than a decade of dominance from three clubs -- Sydney, Geelong and Hawthorn - the Dogs premiership was a refreshing result for the have-nots.Its now up to others in the same boat to dream big, make bold calls and ask themselves the same question the Bulldogs pondered throughout their perfect finals campaign: Why not us?Fake Balenciaga 2020 . 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The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky.Was St Kildas win over Essendon a case of a good AFL side finding a way to win when below their best?Or did it reveal the Saints true form; a developing side yet to find a rhythm?Whatever the answer, Saints coach Alan Richardson and five-goal star forward Tim Membrey dont want to reproduce Sundays sort of performance again this season.We didnt play well, was Richardsons summation of their 11-point win over Essendon.St Kilda came within 10 minutes of being the Bombers first scalp in 13 games on Sunday night, before finding a late four-goal burst to get home.Richardson said his side relied a bit much on too few, naming Jack Steven, Jarryn Geary, Tom Hickey, Seb Ross and Membrey as the few.The third-season coach lambasted his teams performance publicly and Membrey said he was similarly upset in the rooms.To play the way we did last night - inconsistent - I guess thats why hes a bit frustrated, he said.He expects so much from us. He knows what our best is.We didnt play our best footy.It was one of those games, it was a bit of a slog.ddddddddddddIts just good to sometimes be able to grind them out.Whether glass half-full or half-empty, the Saints still have a chance to put their win-loss ratio into the positive for the first time in four years, and shape the eight in their final seven rounds.Their run-in includes no interstate trips, with Etihad Stadium matches against Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Sydney their toughest tasks.Given theyre on |
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