THE BULLDOG BREED

There were not too many Lankan/Aussies around in Australia in 1954, when the A.F.L. Club “The Bulldogs” won their one and only “Premiership” in Melbourne.

Not much can be written as regards that particular “Grand-Final” when the “dogs” fought and won the not too spectacular, but still precious “Cup” from the old “Melbourne”. Club. During those early years the 1954 winners called themselves the “Western Bulldogs”.because they were from the Western Suburb of Fooscray, originally, the Foorscray Football Club.

Then, 7 years later, in 1961, I had still not heard about “Aussie-Rules” football simply because I was then getting ready to migrate to Melbourne, but, IN MELBOURNE, the Bulldogs played St.Kilda in the preliminary-final and unfortunately missed out on getting the Premiership cup for that year. Close, but not close enough.

I arrived in Melbourne in 1962, but had no time whatsoever to worry about football of any sort, for the first few months of my new life here, but then started to get interested in this new sport called “Aussie Rules”, the game, that in my opinion, anyway, would have to be the most spectacular, entertaining, “tough” & satisfying sport for any like-minded person to watch. either on-field or, on television.

Without any shadow of a doubt, once you started to watch this game and understand it’s complex “rules” there wouldn’t be any other game that you would rather follow & the next thing you know, you’d be what they call a “Barracker”(one-eyed follower) of the game. Soon, it was 1963 & I then started to “barrack” for the Geelong Football Club, not because of anything else but because Geelong rhymed with Ceylon & this NAME was still very much on my mind. I do not intend to go into any of the details of the game, as such, but was even more pleased that Geelong were also known as the “Cats” & as everyone should know, by now, I am an animal-lover. Besides all this the “Cats” were also an excellent football team, my only disappointment being the fact that they have always been “inconsistant”. One week, brilliant, the next week, tending to be slightly complacent in their style of play. Sad, but true.

Learning more about the various Clubs as the years went by, I got to know about this guy by the name of Ted Whitten of the old Footscray Club, who was the coach of his group of boys known as the “Bulldogs” I have always loved “Dog-breeds” too but in reality, my favourites amoung dogs were German Shepherds, who were a larger lot & Silky-terriers (like Bobby) who was a much smaller but still a superb one-man guard dog. Bobby would never let ANYONE get even close to me. He was an amazing little animal, but he was’nt of course, a Bulldog, which is a breed that cannot be termed as good-looking in any shape or form..

To get back again & finally to the “Bulldog-Breed”, although they had faces that only a mother (dog) would love, they were loyal, loving & , what was most important, they were stubborn & determined. Like the great British Prime-Minister Winstone Churchill, who was supposed to have the temprament of a British Bulldog, & was both admired & respected in old Blighty. “Never give in”!, seemed to be their “motto” & just like the four-legged kind, the Australian two-legged team, from Footscray, Western-Victoria. Named “The Bulldogs” will now be in the 2016 “Final” against the “Sydney Swans”, another fine Football Team, even though they do come from Sydney. 62 very long years since their last Premiership win, but still clinging on, with a “bite” that won’t let go, thousands of LOYAL fans who are, and have been following them through the good years and the bad, some of them, now quite old (like this writer), but still hoping, like me, that as long as they are not playing the “Cats”, they will make short work of the “Swans”. I do know that only one team can WIN this premiership BUT this is Melbourne. We are not only the best “Country-Capital” to live in, we are also the “Sporting Capital” of the World. Now that the “Cats” are out of the grand-final The “dogs” must win. “GO DOGGIES, RED,WHITE,& BLUE,IT’S UP TO YOU”

Desmond Kelly.
Star of eLanka.