Just like old times...

Sometimes people ask me why I support the Bulldogs even though I grew up in the Eastern Suburbs where I still live. This blog post is the best answer I can give.

I remember the early 1990s rugby league heyday. Back then the comp was called the Winfield Cup, there were no joint ventures and Tina Turner's "The Best" spruiked the code on television screens across NSW.

As a high school kid we were lucky to get free season tickets to regular round matches, and we made good use of them. (Even without them admission for us in those days was only $3!) Every weekend, a bunch of us would meet outside Grace Bros in Bondi Junction and jump on a train, or a bus or whatever mode of transport we needed to get out to the footy.

Now I'd been a Canterbury fan since 1985, when they were the reigning (and soon to be back-to-back) premiers. 1985 was the year I started collecting Scanlens footy stickers. I remember as premiers the Dogs had a special middle section in the sticker album, and all the stickers were bordered in silver.

But after around 1986 I had a couple of years where I lost a bit of interest in footy. Coming up through primary school I was distracted by my first crush in year five then a year later I discovered rock music. If you'd asked me who my footy team was in those years I would have answered that it was Canterbury but I had no idea how they were faring in what was then the New South Wales Rugby League. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even watch the 1988 grand final victory.

1992 was the year it changed, and the year my true love for the Blue and Whites was cemented. Which brings us back to the beginning of this tale.

The core group of us was Cliff, Mark and myself. Sometimes other guys joined us, depending on who "we" were playing. I remember that year, in what used to be a 22 round season we went to at least 16 regular games. Every other weekend it was at Belmore, and in the rounds in between we went to North Sydney Oval, Jubilee Stadium, Caltex Field (now Toyota Park), the Sydney Football Stadium and Brookvale Oval, to name a few.

Our heroes were Terry Lamb and Ewan McGrady. Coming up through the ranks we were entertained by legends in the making Darren Smith, Dean Pay and Jarrod McCracken. I remember current Dogs coach Kevin Moore running around in the number seven a couple of times, though the first-choice half was Craig Polla-Mounter.

Canterbury struggled that year. We won a couple of good games, one notably against that year's eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos, but lost more than we won, including capitulating to a then-terrible South Sydney outfit and going down by a point to Newcastle after "Baa" kicked a field goal thinking it was 10-all when we in fact down by two.

Canterbury finished that season on 22 points, just missing out on the top five. But they were good times. We were teenagers without worries. I wasn't paying rent or running a motor vehicle. I wasn't concerned about building a career. The only thing I had to worry about was that weekend's game.

The years flew by and my love for the Bulldogs never waned, even if the number of games I went to shrunk year by year. I always made sure to go at least once in a season, and in more recent times have managed around four games per year. I have even flown to Melbourne twice and up to the Gold Coast to see the team play.

Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the Roosters vs Bulldogs game. Cliff organised a bunch of us to go - he'd been living in Melbourne for the four years up to December 2009 and is now married with a baby due next month. Through Facebook he'd started talking to Mark again for the first time in years and invited him along too. Hence the core of our 1992 Bulldogs fan group was reunited.

As you know the Roosters prevailed in a roller-coaster ride of a match. The Chooks kept one foot in front for most of the first half before Canterbury finished the first 40 ahead. The start of the second stanza belonged to the Dogs who looked like winning it until the Roosters came back stunningly with two tries in the final ten minutes to seal the win.

All through it the three of us shared the agony and ecstasy of every play as if no time had passed since 1992. Canterbury tries brought high-fives, Roosters tries glum silence. Ref calls against us met with cries of "whaddaya mean, ref?" or "open your eyes!" while decisions in our favour (and there were some sketchy ones, I'll admit) were greeted with "we'll take it!". We stood in our seats every time the line was broken, uttering "ooh" and "ahh" as the game played out. I sat next to Mark, who I hadn't seen in years, discussing players and team tactics as if the last time we'd done so was only last week.

And in doing so, even though we lost, I was reminded of one of the things I love so much about the game of rugby league. I can watch other sports, but none will take me back to a time I remember so fondly. In the moment, watching our beloved Dogs, there we were again, those three teenagers barracking for our beloved team.

So much has happened in the years since 1992. I have studied at a variety of tertiary organisations. I have tried three career paths before settling into my current one. I have lived overseas and travelled to different parts of the world. I have fallen in love and have had my heart broken. But on Sunday I was taken back to the 16-year-old that was yet to live those experiences.

As the game played out on the field before us, our jobs weren't in our minds. Rents, mortgages, bills - we were in a dimension where none of it mattered. Our responsibilities could wait until later.

The Bulldogs were playing.

The Wednesday Rant

So much has happened in the world of sport that I need to throw my two cents in about. So without further ado here we go.

Rugby League

Loyalty is alive! After being linked to the cashed-up Sydney Roosters, promising young fullback Josh Dugan has extended his contract with the struggling Raiders. I said at the start of the year that Canberra have some gifted young players coming through but their challenge would be to keep them. Now that Dugan has repaid the club's faith lets hope some of the other young guns follow suit.

South of the border Greg Inglis has also rejected an offer from the Broncos and expressed his desire to stay at Melbourne.

Refereeing is back in the news for the wrong reasons with legendary whistle blower Greg "Hollywood" Hartley declaring the current batch of refs to be the worst in 50 years. Now I'm not in a position to agree or disagree but there certainly have been plenty of sketchy decisions this season, some at crucial stages in matches.

In an example, big Sam Burgess has every right to be filthy for being penalised for his tackle on Mitchell Pearce at the weekend. What should have been a knock-on and a Bunnies ball became a Roosters penalty. The match review committee later found nothing wrong with the tackle. The Roosters won a game that could very well have a bearing on the final top four placings 18-14, and we will never know what could have been.

Motorsport

Congratulations go to Aussie Mark Webber for his victory at the British Formula One Grand Prix. The victory was especially sweet given that Webber was not only competing against the the other drivers and teams but his own team as well.

Red Bull's treatment of Webber was disgraceful. Team officials swapped his car's front wing with that of teammate Sebastian Vettel in a clear sign of who they saw as higher in their pecking order. Webber's subsequent victory over Vettel was a beautifully raised middle-finger.

Soccer

It's time to pack away the vuvuzelas and stop listening to octopi - World Cup 2010 is officially over. In the end Spain prevailed over the Netherlands in a frustrating game that remained scoreless right up until the death.

But the thing this world cup will be remembered for most are the many refereeing controversies. Everyone involved with soccer except FIFA wants video technology introduced into the game - it's time they listened.

On another note, it will be interesting to see if Australia's world cup fever carries over into the domestic A-League season. I predict it won't - most people didn't give a toss in the four years between this world cup and the last. It's about jumping on a bandwagon. Now I'm not saying I'll be first in line at the next Sydney FC game but I nor did I watch much of the world cup. I'm a "Leaguie" through and through.

Heroes and Villians

As everyone predicted, Queensland completed a 3-0 State of Origin clean sweep on Wednesday.

What not many predicted is how close the game was in the end. It is generally accepted that if not for a penalty against Blues hooker Michael Ennis in the closing stages of the game, NSW may well have held on and saved some pride.

But before I launch into my Ennis diatribe, praise must go to the players who really tried. In his return to Origin, Greg Bird was sensational. He never gave up, scoring what should have been the winning try.

Kurt Gidley also deserves some praise. I have been severely critical of him in the past, and again questioned his selection this year. But he proved me wrong, his never-say-die attitude shining through and proving that Origin is not necessarily about being the most gifted player. It's about heart, and Gidley showed plenty of it.

In the end, a five point lead was squandered when Nate Myles tempted Ennis into a punching match, resulting in a penalty that set up a Queensland try. Desperation football then not only failed to put the Blues back in front, but gave the Maroons another try before the siren to knock the nails into the coffin.

The obituaries have been particularly scathing of Ennis, who is insistent that he did no wrong because Myles struck first.

It doesn't matter, Mick.

You had minutes to go with Queensland's line in reach. I don't care if Myles had head-butted you. If you're desperately clinging on to a five point lead, you don't allow yourself to be drawn in.

Mick Ennis should have known better. Crying that Myles started it is akin to to a schoolboy in a playground fight claiming innocence for the same reason. Mick Ennis had a chance to show that the Blues are above Queensland's thuggery.

He blew it, and in doing so surrendered a lead that could have won us the game.

Farah for 2011.

Goodbye Pricey, Hello Again Gasnier

Rugby League has farewelled one of its true champions after Steven Price decided to hang up his boots last week due to injury.

The New Zealand Warriors captain retired with 313 first grade games, 28 State of Origin appearances for Queensland and 16 Australian test jumpers under his belt.

"Pricey" debuted for the mighty Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1994. He was a part of the Bulldogs premiership winning side in 1995, scoring a try, and a few years later caught the eye of the Queensland selectors for the 1998 State of Origin series. He was selected in the Kangaroos squad that very year.

Price captained the Bulldogs from the start of 2002 until he left for New Zealand after the 2004 season. He cruelly missed Canterbury's 2004 Grand Final win with injury after inspiring the club all the way in what began as a tumultuous season.

He then captained the Warriors for five seasons until injury prevented him from starting this year. This was to be his final season; last week he announced he would not recover from his injury and would not play a single game.

Off the field, Steve Price was as much a champion as he was on it. A model footballer, Price set an example in everything he did.

From this Bulldogs fan, I'd like to wish Pricey the best of luck for the future. I would have loved to have seen him finish his career in the blue and white.

In other news, Mark Gasnier made his return tonight for St George-Illawarra. It was far from a fairytale return, with the celebrated centre making a few crucial errors towards the back end of the second half when the Dragons were playing catch-up and needed him to fire.

Anyone watching with the ability to lip-read would clearly have seen that "Gaz" was filthy with himself and will no doubt work hard to readjust to the game where he once enjoyed so much success. The Dragons are far from my favourite team but I wish him well.

Lastly, it was good to see the mighty Bulldogs string two wins together on Saturday night. Clearly the decision to finally start Ben Barba is paying dividends; one can only wonder how different the tune of season 2010 might have sounded for the Dogs had Barba been promoted to the number six earlier.

However, it is of no use to ask "what if", its all about the remainder of the regular season now and the big challenge to make the top eight, starting with a must-win clash against Melbourne this weekend. If Canterbury can prevail it will do wonders to their confidence going into the business end of the season.