Round 4
Bulldogs 12 l. Sydney Roosters 40

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Roosters quartet come to haunt Bulldogs mistakes
Sat April 5, 2008
Former Bulldogs quartet Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley, Braith Anasta and Nate Myles came to haunt their former Club last night and the massive administration blunders made in letting those players go.

The Bulldogs were outclassed by a Roosters side that has class, quality and strength from positions 1-17 and even in the VB NSW Cup and the Bulldogs with the exception of Sonny Bill Williams and Luke Patten showed they are not up the standard of the leading sides - unless they are massively off their game.

It was a promising start by the Bulldogs, but their lack of flair in the halves and lack of ability to finish off half chances into the points cost them dearly as Mason and Anasta in particular ran riot and cashed in on a Bulldogs side that lost heart and confidence by their inability to convert their opportunities.

The Roosters were up 20-0 at half-time and the match was as good as over and the scoreline in some reflections flattered the home side.

Not much changed in the second half as the Roosters continued their dominance and two late tries by the Roosters reduced the margin to 28 points when at one stage the difference was 34 points as they had no answer to the Roosters go forward and their pinpoint kicking game.

What came out of the match other than the fact the Roosters have the 2008 Premiership wrapped up (and they do) is the massive blunders made by the former Bulldogs administration in allowing such excellent talent to leave the Club so easily.

Mason departed from the Bulldogs last year when he had a fallout with Malcolm Noad and the Bulldogs board foolishly chose to back their Chief Executive above the playing group. In the end the Bulldogs Membership chose to vote a group of people that would force Noad out of town, but the damage has been done for 2008 and the administration disasters of the last four years have caused immense damage.

Todd Greenberg and the new Bulldogs Board have a massive job to repair the mess, but haven't made a good start. They need to sit down with Steve Folkes to sort out his future one way or another and be decisive on their future. With a cashed up League Club behind them, the Bulldogs don't lack financial resources, but needs to make best use of them.

The Roosters were totally awesome in everything they did and executed their game plan to complete perfection. Aside from some crucial mistakes in their Round 2 loss against Brisbane, the Roosters have proved in the opening four rounds they are by far and away the best performed side in the competition and it's going to take a great side to beat this outstanding unit. Their forwards are just too dominant for the opposition, Mitchell Pearce is developing every week into a class halfback, Anasta is leading them nicely around the park and the outside backs are cashing in on all the good work that has been done.

Credit where credit is due and that's what the Roosters deserve. Can any side beat them this year?

As for the Bulldogs, Folkes has to invest in youth or risk being unemployed next year. He has to show innovation and take a gamble as his future sticking with the same out players becomes bleak whereas investment in kids of the future at least gives him a platform to case his future.


Bulldogs v Roosters: From Blue & White Eyes
Fri April 4, 2008
Tonight's clash is no ordinary run of the mill Club game - it is the biggest clash of the season.

Not since the days when Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb did battle against Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny in the 1980's have the Bulldogs been involved in such a massive Club match where the battle off the field out does the battle on the field. Parramatta legend Ray Price was never short in his criticism of Canterbury during his playing career ranging from their style of football to the most trivial of matters. Price was an Eels man through and through, but during his career lived in the Georges Hall area - in the heart of Bankstown adding more bite to the rivalry. These days Price is still a legend of Parramatta except in the eyes of officialdom that he made look good until his retirement in 1986.

Parramatta enjoyed many years of failure after Price and Michael Cronin retired in 1986 and in 1995 spent massive dollars on buying Bulldogs quartet Jim Dymock, Dean Pay, Jason Smith and Jarrod McCracken hoping they would bring silverware to the Eels. Dymock, Pay and Smith won their only Premiership with the Bulldogs in 1995 and were unable to deliver Parramatta the Premiership they were seeking. Instead the Bulldogs made the Grand Final in 1998 knocking out the Eels in the process and have added another title to their credit whereas Parramatta are still searching 22 years later. They now have a former dual Bulldogs premiership winner as their coach as they still continue to look for success.

The Bulldogs and Roosters enjoy top billing when it comes to Rugby League rivalry in the current day outdoing the other major rivalries in the game today. The Dragons v Sharks and Storm v Broncos battles this weekend have been reduced to the middle pages of newspapers and news bulletins as the battle of the Bulldogs and Roosters takes centre stage.

Both Clubs don't like each other, but the Roosters on the hand envy, admire and want to replicate the Bulldogs success and culture. They have spent countless amounts of dollars in attempting to rip the Bulldogs apart and buy whatever good talent they have in their stable. Currently the Roosters have Willie Mason, Mark O'Meley, Nate Myles and Braith Anasta - all except for Myles won a Premiership at the Bulldogs and only O'Meley had previously played first grade before being developed into the top grade by coach Steve Folkes. The Roosters in the past have showed interest in Bulldogs players including Willie Tonga, Roy Asotasi, Reni Maitua and of course Sonny Bill Williams.

The rivalry between Canterbury and Eastern Suburbs stretches back to 1935 when Canterbury entered the first grade premiership for the first time. The Roosters led by the legendary Dave Brown walloped the newcomers 87-7 with Brown scoring a remarkable 45 points - still the record ahead of Mal Meninga's 1990 feat of 38 points. Canterbury dealt with their hidings from Easts and Brown in 1935 to bounce back and win their first premiership in 1938 defeating Easts 19-6 in the decider with Joe Gartner - part of the famous Gartner family scored two tries.

Canterbury and to a lesser extent Easts went into the wilderness during the 1950's and 1960's except for small brief periods here and there. The Roosters were back on the big stage in 1972 when they lost the Grand Final to Manly and laid the platform for two remarkable years in 1974-95. Canterbury made the Grand Final in 1967 and the most significant signing was Kevin Ryan as captain-coach from St George. Ryan added a mental toughness to the Club and he was the main man that delivered Peter Moore into power in the first of three major revolutions to happen out Belmore way. Canterbury rebuilded and a youthful team under Malcolm Clift made the 1974 Grand Final where they faced off to the champion Easts outfit coached by Jack Gibson. The Roosters won 19-4 running away with the match in the final stages with captain Arthur Beetson the star. A member of the Easts side that year would later on have a huge off-field impact at Canterbury was John Ballesty - who was part of the second revolution at Canterbury in 1982 when Gary McIntyre with the support of Barry Nelson and Peter Moore were successful in getting the Football Club in virtual control of the League Club. Ballesty has been General Manager of the League Club since that very day and the League Club has been an amazing cash cow and supporter of the Football Club. Without the League Club, the Bulldogs wouldn't exist in today's era.

Along came the 1980 Grand Final when the Roosters and Bulldogs along with the youthful Magpies were the three most dominant sides of the 1980 season. The Roosters coached by Bob Fulton were a mix of youth and retained some of the champions from the 1974-75 outfit. Canterbury's outfit was mostly made up of local juniors or players brought to the Bulldogs as part of the scholarship scheme developed by Moore. The Bulldogs side of 1980 contained two sets of three brothers - the Hughes' (Garry, Mark & Graeme) and the Mortimer's (Steve, Peter & Chris) along with two players who would later marry the daughters of Moore - future coaches Chris Anderson and Steve Folkes. Canterbury won the decider 18-4 with Steve Gearin scoring the most famous of famous Grand Final tries, which is a moment still relived to this very day. Only as early as last night was the Gearin try reflected upon with Peter Sterling interviewing Gearin about his finest moment and the try was a symbol of the football Canterbury played under the leadership of George Peponis and coaching of Ted Glossop. Ten players from the team in the Grand Final are now Life Members of the Bulldogs and two players who missed out in 1980, but played in 1979 are also Life Members (Stan Cutler and Peter Cassilles). Ironically two of the three players not Life Members are the two main men in Gearin's try - Greg Brentnall and Gearin himself.

The Roosters buying of Bulldogs talent hasn't become a fad of recent years. The trigger was in 1985 when Easts spent big bucks to lure hard working forward Brian Battese across to Bondi whereas Moore in reply quiety signed promising Roosters forward Paul Dunn for much less money. Dunn in 1986 played in a Grand Final and was a member of the Kangaroo Tour that season. Dunn would later win the Clive Churchill Medal after Canterbury defeated Balmain in the 1988 Grand Final. Dunn later went back to the Roosters for one season in 1996 as he wound down a successful career. Both Dunn and Battese played for several Clubs and Battese won a Premiership with Wynnum and Dunn with Penrith. Ask them today who their Club is and both will say Canterbury without any hesitation.

Canterbury and Easts didn't enjoy much rivalry through the 1980's and 1990's as the Roosters struggled with their Transit Lounge culture and Canterbury's Family Club culture under the leadership of Moore and Nelson enjoyed plenty of success and titles for their large legion of supporters to enjoy.

The rivalry began to spark up again in 1995 when the Roosters brought over former Canterbury player and coach Phil Gould to revive their fortunes. Gould played three of his last four seasons at Canterbury where he was a member of the 1984 and 1985 premiership winning squads without ever making it onto the field in both games. Gould was injured in 1984 and was used as an Assistant when replacements Darryl Brohman, Geoff Robinson and Greg Mullane came into the field. Gould began his coaching career in 1987 with the Reserve Grade side and as has been Canterbury's tradition promoted the next in line to the top job when Warren Ryan moved on after four successful states. Gould won a title with the Bulldogs in 1988 and moved on after the 1989 season when Anderson was given the top job.

Not long after Gould joined the Roosters he dropped Rod Silva to the bench for Reserve Grade and later cut him from the Roosters where he was snapped up mid-season by the Bulldogs. He would secure the troubled fullback position and scored the final try in the Grand Final triumph against Manly. Silva was the second Roosters reject to play his best football at Canterbury.

Gould was the intital trigger with the Bulldogs-Roosters rivalry, but whilst he harboured a grudge against his former Club, it was obvious he wanted a Canterbury-like tradition at Easts. Both Clubs only met once in semi-final football during Gould's five-year reign at the Roosters with the Bulldogs winning 12-8 in a bruising match.

In 2002 the Bulldogs were omitted from the premiership after exceeding the salary cap and that opened up the door for the Roosters to win the title, which was never in doubt once the Bulldogs were no longer in the picture. The Bulldogs misfortune was the Roosters gain and forever to this day the title is tainted and for two years no one knew who was the better side. The score was finally settled in 2004. The Roosters in 2002 was coached by another former Bulldog in Ricky Stuart who finished his playing career at Canterbury and coached the Jersey Flegg side in 2001 working under Folkes and Kevin Moore.

The first up clash in 2003 was billed up as a Super Bowl like battle and the Bulldogs won 32-26 with seconds remaining when Brent Sherwin chanced his hand down the left hand side and found a rampaging Matt Utai who beat four defenders to score in the corner. The Bulldogs won the next clash, but the Roosters won the biggest one 28-18 in the Preliminary Final. They were a spent force the following week as Penrith emerged victorious 18-6 in the biggest Grand Final upset in Rugby League history - more so than Balmain's 1969 triumph over Souths.

Onwards to the 2004 season and the rivalry intensified even more. The Roosters won the opening clash 35-0 as the Bulldogs were struggling to overcome pre-season dramas where false and slanderous allegations were made against them that created damaging headlines. As a result two legends were driven out of the Club in Football Manager Garry Hughes and Chief Executive Steve Mortimer. The axing of the latter is the only moment that has tested my support for the Club. The deeds and leadership of Mortimer during the mid-1980's was one of my first Rugby League memories and Mortimer is forever a legend. Hopefully one day both legends will feel welcomed back into their Club and I'm sure the new Bulldogs Board and new Chief Executive Todd Greenberg will be working hard to unite Canterbury once again.

Canterbury bounced back to win 40-12 as Willie Tonga produced the finest game of his career destroying Justin Hodges and from that moment it was obvious that both sides would be there against each other come September. Penrith was the only obstacle from a dream Grand Final and the Bulldogs put paid to them in the Preliminary Final setting up the ultimate showdown.

The Grand Final was one of bitterness, tension and it had everything. Both Clubs were of stark contrasts with the Bulldogs very traditional in their values, a Club who believes development is more important than purchasing, a fanatical fan base, a real family image and no care or respect for the establishment. The Roosters on the other hand were a team glittered with imported stars, had a view as to why bother to develop when you can just buy, rich benefactors and influential supporters in key positions, a casual fan base that only attends when it feels good and they were the establisment's side.

Both sides fought a very tight battle and in the end the Bulldogs won 16-13 coming from 13-6 down at the break to win. There was much more than a Premiership at stake in this battle and the men from Belmore prevailed with all 16 points being scored by local Juniors Hazem El Masri and Utai.

The Roosters after that night decided if we can't beat them - buy them and buy they have.

Anasta was the first player they purchased in 2005, although they showed interest in Mason, Williams and Tonga at various stages. Myles was next on the hit list after 2006 after they missed out on Maitua and Asotasi. When Souths got under the noses of the Roosters to snare Asotasi along came the comical press release that the Roosters were never seriously interested in Asotasi. They expected Asotasi would join them and he would never entertain the idea of joining the Roosters over big rivals.

The big two that has sparked up the rivalry to new levels came in 2007 when O'Meley and Mason were tempted across to the glitz and glamour of Bondi. Rleague.com revealed in 2006 that O'Meley would be Bondi bound in 2008 and Mason's departure to the Roosters two years before his contract expired was one of the best planned departures. O'Meley left the Bulldogs on goodish terms, although he played like a busted after the 2004 Grand Final whereas Mason's departure was bitter to the extreme.

Mason mentioned on the Footy Show last night that the main reason for his departure was former Chief Executive Malcolm Noad and that it was a choice of "me or him". Mason would have been aware that there were plans all throughout 2007 that a rebel ticket led by Dunn was going to challenge Noad at the 2008 February AGM and that if the rebel ticket got 4-5 people up on election day than Noad would have been showed the door sooner rather than later. In the end the rebel ticket got six of their seven candidates over the line and Noad was forced to resign without any serious pay. For Mason to use Noad as the excuse is weak to say the least. The Board's decision to allow Mason to leave freely to join the Roosters rather than make a Parramatta like decision on Jamie Lyon was their ultimate death knell and Noad's biggest supporters at in the boardroom were all emphatically voted out by the Membership in the 3rd major revolution at Canterbury following 1969 and 1982.

The Roosters had Mason signed in 2005 before a protest from a few supporters gathered momentum and in the end the Roosters settled with Anasta. But the connections between Mason and the glamour Eastern Suburbs was never far away and remained close knit. Mason had more in common with their culture than the traditional Bulldogs culture.

In return for all the defections the Bulldogs snapped up Danny Williams who was showed the door by the Roosters. The decision angered Beetson who brought Williams down from Queensland and believes he has the ability to play State of Origin. The Bulldogs took an unknown Dunn from under Beetson's noses in 1985 and 22 years later the Roosters handed a Beetson protege to the Bulldogs. Williams has so far been a good asset for the Bulldogs and has the potential to join the list of tough Bulldogs forwards to thrive under the Canterbury culture.

Tonight's match is much more than a run of the mill Club match and even bigger than any other game on offer this year. It's about two Club's that don't like each other, have completely diverse cultures and two Club's have have completely different views when it comes to development and purchasing. Yet one Club envies the other and wants to replicate what they have hence the Roosters obsessive and boorish recruitment of Bulldogs players.

Adding even more to the rivalry is the comments from Sonny Bill Williams and Luke Patten about Mason in the last seven days. Williams has stated that his respect for Mason has diminished and his discontent for Mason was evident on the Footy Show last night. Williams came across as far more honest and genuine than what Mason did - even if Williams was nervous in front of the cameras. Patten made the comment that if you have nothing nice to say about someone than say nothing. The comments from Tonga were a bit rich considering he has signed with the Cowboys and was always regarded as part of the Mason crowd and culture at Canterbury.

The Roosters on paper have by far the better side and in my opinion are the favourites to win the competition. But the Bulldogs since the changes made in February are slowly moving back to the tough, traditional and hardened Club that made them great and the Club that the Roosters wanted to be like. No matter who the Bulldogs put on the field this year, they'll be giving their best as they are now back in the happy and family like environment that sees them knuckle down for battles like this. Mason and Noad may not like each other, but both of them leaving allows the Bulldogs to bring back the culture that made them the Club everyone wanted to play for and the Club that was hated yet deeply respected. Both wanted different cultures at the Bulldogs and neither of them was the culture Canterbury stands for.

Lets just hope tonight's clash is about Williams v Mason and not the match officials.

Prediction: Bulldogs by 4

PLAYERS & COACHES FROM BONDI TO BELMORE
Paul Dunn
Scott Bennett
*Jason Williams
Rod Silva
Robert Mears
Danny Williams

PLAYERS & COACHES FROM BELMORE TO BONDI
Brian Battese
Sandy Campbell
David Seidenkamp
Michael Appleby
*Barry Ward
*Phil Gould
James Pickering
*Paul Langmack
Ricky Stuart
Gavin Lester
Braith Anasta
Charles (formely Charlie) Tonga
Nate Myles
*Chris Anderson
Mark O'Meley
Willie Mason

* Indicates they didn't directly go from one Club to the other. Ward and Pickering later returned to Canterbury and Dunn later returned to Easts.

Tue April 1, 2008
• Bulldogs unchanged for Roosters blockbuster
  
Tue April 1, 2008
• Mason & co named for Roosters v Bulldogs blockbuster
  

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