I ONCE read that a good way to avoid stress is to support a crap football team, and as a Rabbitohs supporter, I found that to be true.
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Every year I could relax and enjoy the quality of the finals football because my team wasn’t there, so there was nothing to lose.
During the season, I never expected them to win, so when they did, it was a huge bonus.
With the Rabbitohs now in the grand final, I know this to be true.
I feel like how John Howard would feel if Mila Kunis rang him up and said “I’m picking between you and Justin Bieber.”
Pressure, stress, anticipation – get me outta here!
If the Souths players are feeling as much pressure as I am, then I wouldn’t blame them for buckling on Sunday.
The best memories Souths have given me would be when they won the pre-season competition in 1994, pipping the then-invincible Brisbane 27-26, and then going on a seven-game winning streak during the regular competition, and of course when they won their court case in 2001, paving the way for their readmission to the competition.
Souths fans had declared in one voice “We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our independence day!”
To me it was enough that Souths had a pulse, and now, they have a shot at winning the competition they were kicked out of.
When they got kicked out of the competition, unenlightened folk said “why didn’t they merge when they had the chance” which actually meant “why didn’t they disappear up another team’s bottom like Norths?”
Souths knew that it’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees, and now they are living on their feet, thanks to George Piggins, Russell Crowe and Michael Maguire.
As for winning the grand final, well, as Willis said in the 1980s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, if something seems too good to be true, it is, so when I catch myself dreaming about them winning on Sunday, I snap myself out of it.
Issac Luke has done more than any other player for the club since 2007 and with him out, I’m not optimistic.
Even if Souths don’t have “dog” in their name like Sunday’s opponents, I think they should have underdog status, because that’s half the reason I follow them.
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THE Bulldogs have an affinity with years ending in four having appeared in a grand final in 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004.
The Dogs won in 1984 and 2004, and lost in 1974 and 1994.
As a superstitious sports fan I fear the trend as everything, bar Issac Luke’s suspension, points to a Rabbitohs win.
However, if there is one thing every Bulldogs fan loves, it’s being the underdog!
My favourite memory is still the Doggies’ monumental comeback against Parramatta in the 1998 preliminary final.
The previous week my father and I watched the Doggies’ second half comeback against the reigning premiers, Newcastle, after trailing by 16 points and he managed to nab tickets to the next game.
We then witnessed Craig Polla-Mounter’s brilliance and Daryl Halligan’s nerves of steel as the Dogs came back from 18-2 down with 13 minutes remaining.
That season the Dogs charged from ninth on the ladder – in a 10-team finals series – and this season the boys have made a similar rally from seventh.
The fact the Dogs rose from the bottom rungs to the decider makes me feel the season is worth it, win or lose.
The Bulldogs divide fans, whether it’s been past off-field controversies, success or the league’s best antagonists Michael Ennis and Josh Reynolds, so I imagine this game will be no different than any other, with plenty of venom being spewed the Dogs’ way.
One thing the Doggies will need to win is for the Dally M-winning prop of the year James Graham to contain his white line fever.
I’ll be praying the Vinnie Jones and Ed Sheeran cross does not do a Mike Tyson 2.0 again.
I can’t see Graham crossing that line after biding his time over a 12-match suspension, but team mates beware, he wants to win, and I think we’ll see a montage of Graham’s scowls in the pre-match.
I feel for Michael Ennis. He’s been the heart and soul of the club since 2009 and it’s sad to see him miss out on a grand final, as did 2004’s captain Steve Price.
A young Johnathon Thurston gave his ring to Price. Would a young Moses Mbye, if selected, do the same?
At the end of the day it’s ‘just a game’ but the Dogs yet to claim a title this decade. Why not now?