Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club

Infobox rugby league club
clubname = Bulldogs


fullname = Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club
nickname = Canterbury, The Doggies, The Berries
shortname =
founded = 1935 as "Canterbury-Bankstown"
ground = ANZ Stadium
capacity = 83,500
ceo = flagicon|Australia Todd Greenberg
coach = flagicon|Australia Kevin Moore
captain = flagicon|Australia Andrew Ryan
URL = [http://www.bulldogs.com.au bulldogs.com.au]
league = National Rugby League
season = 2008
position = National Rugby League, 16th (wooden spoon)
c

mostc
flagicon|Australia Hazem El Masri
points = 2,162
mostpoints = flagicon|Australia Hazem El Masri
premierships = 8
premiershipyears = 1938, 1942, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004
minorpremierships = 6
minorpremiershipyears = 1938, 1942, 1947, 1984, 1993, 1994
url = [http://www.bulldogs.com.au www.bulldogs.com.au]
current = Bulldogs season 2009
homejersey = Canterbury Bulldogs home jersey 1997.svg
awayjersey = Canterbury Bulldogs away jersey 1997.svgThe Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club (formerly Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and "The Berries") are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions. The Bulldogs were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, predecessor of the current NRL competition, in 1935.

History

In 1935, thirteen years after a meeting above "The Ideal Milk Bar" in Campsie created the Canterbury-Bankstown Junior Rugby League, the Canterbury-Bankstown club was admitted into the elite New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. But right from the start the men who laid the foundations for the Bulldogs thrived on adversity. It took the new club, nicknamed "Country Bumpkins" because of their rural recruiting and CB emblem, just three years to win their first premiership in 1938. The grand final-winning effort was repeated again in 1942 before a 25-year drought set in.

In 1967, having ended the 11-year premiership reign of the great St.George by knocking them out in the final, "The Berries" (as they were known at the time) went down to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the grand final. But the return to the top end of the table set the scene for off-field restructuring that laid the foundations for the club to become one of the most consistent achievers in the remaining decades of the 20th century.

In 1978 Canterbury-Bankstown became known as "The Bulldogs". "Cantabs" "CBs" and "Berries" were seen to be "soft" nicknames and the club wanted something to signify determination and grit. Fact|date=July 2007 A grand final appearance in 1979, followed by a grand final win in 1980 with a young, enthusiastic and free-running side dubbed "The Entertainers", was the beginning of a golden era that was to produce three more grand final wins in the 80s: 1984, 1985 and 1988.

In the 1990s' Super League war, the Bulldogs aligned themselves with the rebel competition, playing the 1997 Super League premiership. In 1998 the Bulldogs came close to adding another trophy to the cabinet after battling their way to the Grand Final where they met the Brisbane Broncos and went down 38–12. On the way to the 1998 Grand Final, some people say the Bulldogs pulled off one of the most remarkable victories in the history of the game. After trailing by 16 points with ten minutes remaining, the Bulldogs got home 32–20 winners in extra time thanks to a brilliant try to Rod Silva and two pressure conversions from Daryl Halligan.

The Bulldogs did well in 2003, however they fell one step short of yet another Grand Final after going down to the Roosters 28–18 in the Preliminary Final.

Season 2004 was a tribute to both Steve Folkes' ability as a coach and the determination of a squad that refused to buckle.

Despite the club's well-documented off-field dramas, the Bulldogs managed to maintain their focus on football and were rewarded with the ultimate prize when they held out arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters in a 16–13 thriller, the perfect ending for departing captain Steve Price and a fitting way to cap off the club's 70th anniversary season. Their eighth premiership trophy moved the club into a clear fifth place in the all-time tally.

The Bulldogs were unable to mount a serious defence of the title in 2005 as injuries and contract negotiations saw the year start and finish on a sour note for the club. Due to the extent of injuries suffered, the team at times was unable to be at full-strength. Fact|date=July 2007 This took its toll in the final six weeks of the season, with the club suffering heavy losses and missing the finals series. In 2006, little was expected from the club after a lacklustre 2005 season, but despite some doubt over the strength of their side, the Bulldogs' impressive POV-statement|date=December 2007 forward pack helped them to a better than expected result for the year, finishing just a game short of the Grand Final, in which they lost to eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos. 2007 saw an indifferent and inconsistent season, the team never really clicking into top gear, eventually eliminated from the finals, finishing sixth after losing to Parramatta in the second week of the Finals Series.

The club began 2008 having lost two of its highest-profile players, Mark O'Meley and Willie Mason, who both moved to the Sydney Roosters. They were further hurt by the mid season loss of Sonny Bill Williams, and finished the season with the wooden spoon.

Crest

The initial crest was a 'C-B' in a shield and nickname 'C-B's or (derisively) 'Country Bumpkins'. By the mid 1940s the club were nicknamed the Berries, a name which persisted until the 1978 season when the bulldog emblem was chosen. There have been at least two versions of the logo, although the latest version has seen two styles, the latest with larger 'Bulldogs' text to make it friendlier to the eye can be seen at the top of this page. The earlier style of the currently logo is characterised by smaller lettering.

The Bulldogs started life as Canterbury-Bankstown. The club had the nickname of the Berries up until 1978, when the name was changed to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. In 1995 the club name was then changed to the Sydney Bulldogs (a similar move was taken by Easts to the Sydney City Roosters and Balmain to the Sydney Tigers). With the inception of Super League in 1997 the name was changed to the Canterbury Bulldogs (dropping 'Bankstown' from the former name).

In 2000, the name was changed to its latest incarnation the geographically indistinct "Bulldogs". Bob Hagan the club boss at the time explained that the dropping of the name 'Canterbury' was to broaden the appeal of the club outside of its traditional supporter base, so that the club could attract a following like Manchester United or the Chicago Bulls. Despite the name change, some supporters, TV and radio commentators continue to refer to them as 'Canterbury'.

Colours

The Bulldogs have played in predominantly blue and white strip since the club entered the league in 1935. The only exception to this was during the Second World War, when rationing meant they had to wear a maroon jersey with a blue 'V'. In more recent times a new jersey design has been released which is almost all blue, with only small white bands around the arms and shoulders. This was due to a change in the Bulldogs board in 2008. [ [http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Canterbury-Bulldogs.htm Canterbury Bulldogs at RL1908.com] ]

There have been three basic strip designs since the club's inception in the top flight league competition:

* The irregular ("butcher stripes") stripes design which was used from 1935 until at least 1962. This design had blue and white irregular stripes worn with black shorts.The irregular strip has been used recently in occasional 'heritage' matches (eg Heritage round in 2008 vs St George-Illawarra)

* The 'V Strip' - used between 1966 & 1968, and revived in 1974.White shirt with blue V, blue shorts. The current "away" strip has blue shorts, but features a blue shirt with white V.

*From 1969 to 1973, the club adopted a jersey featuring blue and white hoops. This reverted to the 'V Strip' from 1974 onwards.

CURRENTYEAR

tadium

In their inaugural season, very few home matches were allocated to the Canterbury-Bankstown club. However, when the opportunity arose the club took their matches to either Marrickville or Pratten Park. This was from the following season on when the club began to base itself at Belmore Sports Ground. The club had a long-time affinity with the ground and stayed there continuously until 1994.

In 1995 when the Super League War began to come about, the club changed its playing name to the "Sydney Bulldogs" in an attempt to broaden its fan base and played matches at Parramatta Stadium where spectator facilities were of a higher class. This move paid off with the club going on to become premiers that season. However, the club reverted its name for the 1996 season and once again played matches out of Belmore Sports Ground; something that lasted up until the inaugural National Rugby League season of 1998.

Once the new Stadium Australia had been finished and opened in preparation for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the club began to play matches there between 1999 and 2000. From 2001 to 2005, the club then began to play matches out of the new Sydney Showground at Homebush, with bigger matches played out of the then-Telstra Stadium from 2003. When fans began to complain about the poor quality of the Showground venue as a rugby league ground, the club eventually decided to move all future home matches to the Stadium, where the club remains. From 1 January 2008, Telstra Stadium became known as ANZ Stadium.

The club's training and administration offices remained at Belmore Sports Ground until the beginning of 2008, but were relocated to Sydney Olympic Park soon after the 2008 season commenced.

upporters

The Bulldogs predominantly draw on a support base in and around the suburbs of Canterbury and Bankstown in South-Western Sydney and regularly attract home match attendances that are above the average level for National Rugby League clubs, with attendances at Stadium Australia averaging more than 18,000 for the 2006 season. [cite web|url=http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/2006.html|title=Rugby League Tables / Attendences 2006 / Bulldogs|accessdate=2008-03-07]

The multicultural demographics of the suburbs in the club's support base, such as Lakemba, means the club has a large number of supporters from a range of non-English speaking backgrounds. In recent years the club has become particularly identified in the media with the Lebanese-Australian community, particularly with the club's star goalkicker, Hazem El Masri, being of a Lebanese background. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s677822.htm ...For Being Lebanese, "Four Corners" 16 September 2002] transcript retrieved on 17 April 2007]

In recent years, the club has been in trouble following a number of supporter-related incidents at both home and away Bulldogs matches, including bottle-throwing, fighting and damage to stadium seating. In 2005, a firecracker that let off at a match caused players from both the Bulldogs and the Brisbane Broncos to be temporarily distracted from the game. Fact|date=June 2007 Incidents like these led to a skit lampooning Bulldogs fans appearing on the ABC's comedy programme, The Chaser's War on Everything.

Rivalries

The Bulldogs and their fans have built up rivalries with other clubs, particularly the Parramatta Eels, which began in the 1980s when the two sides were the strongest in the competition. Canterbury and Parramatta each won four premierships during this decade, and faced one another in two Grand Finals (1984 and 1986) as well as regular play-off matches. This rivalry received renewed impetus during the Super League war when Parramatta recruited four notable Bulldogs players in Jim Dymock, Jason Smith, Jarrod McCracken and Dean Pay.

More recently, the Bulldogs have developed a fierce rivalry with the Sydney Roosters. The rivalry can be traced to a perceived socioeconomic and cultural divide between the two clubs and the demographics of the areas that they represent, as well as to a number of fiery and highly contested matches played between the two teams since the early 2000s. This culminated in the 2002 season when the Bulldogs were stripped of all their competition points as a result of revelations that the club's administrators had rorted the NRL's salary cap restrictions unbeknownst to the players. The Bulldogs, who had been leading the regular season premiership and looked certain to capture the minor premiership, finished last in the competition despite being firm favourites that year to capture the premiership, which was a devastating outcome for both the club's players and supporters. With the Bulldogs out of contention in the finals series, the Sydney Roosters went on to defeat the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL Grand Final to be crowned 2002 NRL premiers. Many Bulldogs supporters, adamant that their team would have captured the title had they not been docked competition points, alleged that the Sydney Roosters were not the true and worthy premiers. The Bulldogs would gain a degree of revenge for this by defeating the Roosters two years later in the 2004 NRL Grand Final.

Tensions between the club increased significantly when star Bulldogs five-eighth Braith Anasta announced in 2005 that he would leave the club to join the Roosters at the beginning of the 2006 season.

In a mass exodus of Bulldogs players much like those who had defected to Parramatta a decade earlier, Anasta would later be followed to the Roosters by his former Bulldogs team-mates Nate Myles in 2007, Mark O'Meley in 2008 and eventually controversial Bulldogs club icon Willie Mason also in 2008. Mason's move to the Roosters after his falling out with the Bulldogs' coach Steve Folkes and Bulldogs club officials and administrators sparked massive controversy in the Australian rugby league community, with Bulldogs supporters alleging that Mason had turned his back on the club that had developed him into a State of Origin and national team representative only to join the club's most bitter rivals. Mason, as a Rooster, would return to haunt the Bulldogs when the two teams clashed for the first time on 4 April 2008 since his controversial switch, by scoring two tries, including the opening try of the match, against his former club at ANZ Stadium.

tatistics and records

Hazem El Masri holds the record for the most games played for the club, having made 291 appearances in total.

Hazem El Masri also holds records for the most points scored, the most tries scored and the most points scored for the Bulldogs. Since his debut in 1996, he has scored a total of 138 tries and 744 goals for a combined total of 2,040 points. Former player Daryl Halligan, who retired with the club in 2000, had previously held the competition record for most points scored with 2,034, which included points scored whilst at his former club the North Sydney Bears.

The club's largest win occurred in 1995 when they played as the "Sydney Bulldogs." In a match against the newly-formed North Queensland Cowboys, the Bulldogs won 66–4. In the club's first season in 1935 they were subject to the two heaviest defeats in competition history two weeks in succession. Firstly, they lost to St. George 91–6 and the following week to Eastern Suburbs 87–7. However, despite these big losses, the club was able to secure their first premiership 3 years later in 1938 in the Grand Final against Eastern Suburbs; at the same time setting the record for becoming the quickest non-foundation club to win a title. This record was not broken until 1999.

In 2002, the club won 17 matches in a row after getting beaten by New Zealand Warriors ; falling just two short of the record set by the Eastern Suburbs team of 1975.

2008 Squad

Honours

*sport honours|New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League [Up until 1994, the top division of the premiership in New South Wales was the New South Wales Rugby League premiership; since then, it has been the Australian Rugby League (1995–1997) and the National Rugby League.] |8|1938, 1942, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004
*sport honours|New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League runners-up|8|1940, 1947, 1967, 1974, 1979, 1986, 1994, 1998
*sport honours|New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League minor premierships|6|1938, 1942, 1947, 1984, 1993, 1994
*sport honours|New South Wales Rugby League Club Championships|4|1938, 1939, 1993, 1994
*sport honours|Pre-Season Cup titles|2|1962, 1970
*sport honours|Inter-City titles|1|1939

Junior Representative Honours:

"Jersey Flegg Premiers" : 1963, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003.

"SG Ball Premiers" : 1972, 1978.

"Harold Matthews Premiers" : 2007.

Average Attendance

Footnotes

References

*Woods B (2007). "El Magic - The Life of Hazem El Masri." Harper Collins Publishing. ISBN 0-7322-8402-3
*Andrews M (2006). "The ABC of Rugby League." ABC Publishing. ISBN 0-7333-1946-7
*Whiticker A & Hudson G (2005). "Canterbury Bulldogs - The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players." Bas Publishing. ISBN 1-920910-50-6
*Whittaker A & Collis I (2004). "The History of Rugby League Clubs." ISBN 9781741104707
*Lane D (1996). "A Family Betrayal - One Man's Super League War - Jarrod McCracken." Ironbark Publishing. ISBN 0-330-35839-1
*Chesterton R (1996). "Good as Gould - Phil Gould's Stormy Life in Football." Ironbark Publishing. ISBN 0-330-35873-1
*Lester G (1991). "The Bulldog Story." Playwright Publishing. ISBN 0-646-04447-8
*Whiticker A (1992). "The Terry Lamb Story." Gary Allen Publishing. ISBN 1-875169-14-8
*Tasker N (1988). "Top-Dog - The Steve Mortimer Story." Century Hutchinson Publishing. ISBN 0-09-169231-8
*Lester G (1985). "Berries to Bulldogs." Lester - Townsend Publishing. ISBN 0-949853-06-2
*NRL Official Information Handbook (2001-2007). "Season Guide."
*Middleton D (1987-2006). "The Official NSWRL, ARL, NRL Yearbook / Annual."
*Christensen EE (1946-1977). "NSWRL Yearbook."
*"Rugby League Review (2003-2007)."
*"Big League (1974-2007)."
*"Rugby League Week (1970-2007)."
*"The Rugby League News."

External links

* [http://www.bulldogs.com.au Official Bulldogs Website]
* [http://www.bulldogs.com.au/teamstore/ Official Bulldogs Team Store]
* [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/teams/canterbury/canterbury_idx.html Bulldogs Statistics]
* [http://www.backtobelmore.com.au Back to Belmore - The Official Campaign Website]
* [http://www.thekennel.com.au The Kennel]
* [http://bulldogs.rleague.com Bulldogs Debate Page]