With a number of players departing the kennel this past offseason, including two former captains, speculation has grown about who will be wearing what guernsey numbers this season, and come Wednesday, all will be revealed.
At five key moments throughout Wednesday - 8:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm, 4:00pm and 6:00pm (AEDT) - the guernsey numbers of the Club's new recruits will be revealed. The guernsey numbers will be revealed across westernbulldogs.com.au, the official Bulldogs Mobile App and the Club's social media channels -Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.
Throughout the trade and draft periods, the Bulldogs have brought in seven new players, all of who will need new numbers. But will it stop there? Do the vacant numbers just go to the new guys, or are there some younger players ready and willing to step up? Perhaps we’ll see some established players look for a switch. Or perhaps we won’t.
Let’s take a look at what is available.
Bob Murphy’s famous #2 jumper has been made available following the Captain’s retirement in August. Murphy played 312 games for the Dogs, after being recruited at pick 13 in the 1999 NAB AFL Draft. Murphy is only the seventh player in Club history to reach the 300 game milestone.
Matthew Boyd built his reputation as one of the competition’s elite players through hard work, resilience and great leadership, carving out a wonderful 292-game career, the most ever by a Rookie. Boyd announced his retirement in August after three All-Australian appearances, three club Best and Fairests and a flag.
#13
Cloke called time on his 256 game career in October. He spent 12 seasons at Collingwood before switching to the Bulldogs at the end of the 2016 season. #13 was previously worn by Daniel Giansiracusa who played 265 games for the club.
Other available jumpers:
#8: Stewart Crameri wore the number 8 for the Bulldogs over four seasons. He was not offered a contract for next season.
#9: Left vacant by Jake Stringer who was traded to Essendon following 89 games.
#20, #33: With Josh Dunkley and Lewis Young accepting the honour of the prized number two and five guernseys, these numbers have now become available. Dunley wore the #20 in the Club's 2016 AFL Premiership with Jim Edmond holding the games record (154) for the guernsey number. The #33 most famously has been worn most famously by Hall of Famer Brian Royal in 199 games, while Ron McCarthy had the number on his back in the Club's 1954 premiership side.
#26, #28 and #45 have also been made available after Declan Hamilton, Josh Prudden and Tristan Tweedie were not offered contracts for the 2018 season.
