Dog it!

As the Bulldogs are improving their odds… for the wooden spoon, it seems the club could be doing no worse on or off the field. To be fair they do have a lot of players out and have for a while but what excuse do the rest of the players have.

In a crazy twist the man who has arguably been the dogs most hated player among fans, Corey Hughes, has this year become one of the favourites while the team’s hero Sonny Bill Williams is losing respect fast!

Hughes deserves all the praise he is getting this year as it seems like he is the only player who is really trying. In an ironic twist this is likely to be his last year at the club. The worst for the dogs is the captain Andrew Ryan. Not solely because of his poor form but also because he is the captain. He’s not much of a talker so one would think he would be leading by example. If he has chosen this leadership style then he could be the reason the team are playing so poorly. The example he is setting isn’t something that the other players should follow.

When the dogs have a try scored against them very rarely do we see Bobcat behind the goalposts revving up his men to stay in the fight. Usually he’ll have his back turned to the team watching the kick. Sometimes he might through in one or two half hearted words.

Add to that the fact the he never argues his teams point to the referee. One moment that stands out was the controversial decision at a crucial moment in Saturday’s game against Newcastle. Down 10-6 Bobcat claimed a try and celebrated. The decision, which could have given the dogs the lead, wasn’t sent up stairs instead the ruling for a line drop out was made immediately. What was Ryan’s response? “Oh, ok right.” Not really the fighting words of a good captain, who wants to win more than anything. Its time to step down from the position!

In all honestly I can’t say that the dogs would have won the game even if it was awarded nor is it really an excuse for the deplorable form they have shown their fans in recent weeks. Their past two games have only seen 9,000 people in the crowd a big difference to a crowd average of approx. 20,000 the past two seasons.

Most of the crowd walked out with 15 minutes to go against the Knights. If the dogs don’t wake up and play some first grade footy soon, they may find themselves playing in front of 90 people. The standard they are showing isn’t exactly worth paying for. If this continues the club can give up on their goal of having 10,000 season ticket holders by 2010.

Before I go. What is with Sonny Bill? He says he has serious issues with the dogs but doesn’t turn up to a meeting with the Bulldogs to discuss them. Instead he sends Team SBW, the people he has so much respect for. The team includes world champion boxer Anthony “The Man” Mundine, his dad, his brother and that guy who dated the pleasure machine, oh and played for the dogs and now boxes apparently (You remember the guy who’s mum used to run on the field screaming when he got injured at Belmore Oval).

Sonny keeps claiming he is not a hypocrite and that this is not only about money but for some reason doesn’t want to tell anybody, even the Bulldogs it seems. He has said he is not so naïve now as he was when Malcolm Noad made him admit he had a drinking problem. This really embarrassed him so he has decided to bring it up again even though nobody actually remembered or cared. But he is right, he isn’t so naïve now, he’s really matured. Now he just has four other men negotiating his future for him, and a manager who can only get money if he gets Sonny out of the NRL but is still looking out for Sonny’s best interests. Wow he really is a smart now!