This Friday night when the Bulldogs run out onto Marvel Stadium to play Richmond, they'll look a little different.
The famous hoops will be rested for a week and the ‘Diamond Dog’ jumper of the mid-1990s will make a comeback.
The Diamond Dog was worn for several of Footscray's games in 1995 and 1996. A fan vote saw it selected as this year's Western Bulldogs Retro Round guernsey.
Some important moments came in games in which the 'Diamond Dog' was donned. Two of those were the last two matches of 1996. The first was against reigning premiers Carlton and the second against premiership favourites Essendon at the MCG on a Friday night.
Terry Wallace had stepped up as stand-in coach, with Alan Joyce having moved on after a disastrous start to the Dogs' 1996 season. Under Wallace, the Bulldogs showed significant improvement over the latter half of the year.
Ahead of those final two games, Wallace in addressing the team, said words to the effect of, "Now is the time for us to showcase how far we've come."
The Bulldogs took up the challenge, and were within two goals of the Blues at three-quarter time of their Round 21 match, before fading late to lose by 30 points.
On the following Friday night, the Wallace-inspired Dogs took a further major step. In a thrilling match the Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the final minutes, only to be foiled by an Essendon goal in the dying seconds.
It was a heartbreaking end to the club's final match under the 'Footscray' name, but the progress made in the last half of the season had been real. Wallace officially took on the coaching role and led the newly named Western Bulldogs to within a whisker of a Grand Final in 1997. The Dogs were regular finalists from then on.
Those 1996 games were important, but the best of the Diamond Dog matches probably came a year earlier.
Late in 1995, the Bulldogs headed to Perth to take on reigning premiers West Coast. The Dogs needed a win to remain in the top eight, but they arrived at the game having never won in Perth. Making matters worse, superstar forward Chris Grant, sidelined by hamstring injury, did not make the trip.
With the odds very much against them, the Bulldogs ran onto Subiaco Oval to a hostile reception from the crowd. No surprise there, but on this occasion the hostility was ramped up, and targeted at one particular Dog: Daniel Southern.
In the corresponding match a year earlier, Southern had been involved in an incident with West Coast full forward Peter Sumich, which left Eagles fans seething. A year later, they had not forgotten.
Despite everything stacked against them, the Bulldogs started brightly and led by 11 points at quarter time. The Eagles closed the margin to a goal at half time, but the determined 'Diamond' Dogs would not wilt. They broke away to lead by 17 points at the last change of ends, and coasted to a 26-point win over the powerhouse Eagles.
With Grant injured, Richard Osborne stepped up to kick five vital goals as the stand-in key forward. Daniel Southern, rather than put off by the boos he got every time he went near the ball, was inspirational in defence. The umpires rewarded him with a Brownlow vote.
Tony Liberatore got two votes for a tireless midfield effort in which he racked up a game-high 37 possessions. For ‘Libba’, that was also an equal career high.
The three votes went to the evergreen Scott Wynd, who complemented his brilliant ruckwork with eight marks, most of those repelling Eagles attacks.
One player very unlucky not to figure in the umpires’ votes was Mark Hunter. Tasked with minding the brilliant Chris Lewis, Hunter not only blunted Lewis's influence, he picked up 31 touches of his own.
Hunter's recollections of the match are in fact very clear.
“I remember it well. Chris Grant did his hammy during the week after a worm-burning pass from Daryl Griffin! We all thought we had no hope heading over to Perth.”
Playing on the Sunday, the Bulldogs arrived in Perth on Friday evening. “Friday’s feed was awful. Pasta and red water. A few of us thought the better option was all you can eat at Sizzler! Off we went with the dieticians oblivious.”
The night didn’t end there.
“We finished the night from memory at Gloucester Park trots before going home for a snooze.”
Ahead of the pre-match team meeting, Hunter had one wish: “Hope I’m not playing on Chris Lewis.” He was. And for the Bulldogs’ sake, that turned out to be a very good thing.
Having triumphed against the odds, Hunter found himself sitting next to coach Alan Joyce on the flight home. Not by choice, mind you: “We had alphabetical seating!”
Hunter asked Joyce if he had thought the Dogs could win the game. “He looked away without answering. I asked him again and he said 'no'.”
Joyce then surprised Hunter further. “I then proceeded to ask him if he wanted a beer, something he never did. He said ‘yes’ and got $2 out of his pocket to pay for it! I told him to go away.”
Other notable contributors for the Dogs that night were Scott West, Matthew Croft, Leon Cameron, José Romero and Rohan Smith.
Oh, and there was one other familiar name wearing the Diamond Dog that night, wearing number 19. He only had four kicks, so his impact was limited. However, he would go on to make a pretty handy contribution to the Bulldogs’ fortunes a couple of decades later.
You might recognise his name – Luke Beveridge.
