Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains spoke to SEN on Friday morning and addressed a wide range of topics.
The 2017 season
“I think everyone is aware of the type of questions that the Club will get. There’s no hiding away from the fact that it was a disappointing season last year after the premiership in 2016.
There’s certainly a strong determination for the Club to atone for last year and an element of that is clearly results driven, so that’s fair, there’s a really strong resolve to atone for last year.”
Scheduling: AFLX v AFLW
“As a concept, we obviously had the opportunity to watch AFLX last night, and I think above all else it will give fans the opportunity to see some of the younger players at the Club who haven’t had that exposure.
But certainly, being in the midst of an AFLW season, and for Clubs like us that have a team playing that want a bit more focus and attention on that competition, there is a sense that they are competing with each other.”
Simon Dalrymple & Jason McCartney
“The Club’s grateful to them for the important role that they each played not only in the 2016 flag but in terms of where the list is at currently, so I think that’s important to recognise.
Towards the back end of last year the Club was looking at restructuring its list management function and through that period the Club was keen to speak to Jason – he was still contracted to the Club at that time – and from his perspective a great opportunity came up at the GWS Giants, he took that given the certainty that provided and that’s completely understandable.
With respect to Simon, he’d been at the Club for 10 years, so was awarded life membership before Christmas. I think from both parties’ perspective there was a recognition that a fresh start was probably required as a result of a number of factors and an opportunity came up for Simon at the Sydney Swans and he asked to be released from his contract to pursue that and on balance we were comfortable in agreeing to it.”
Bulldogs in the media
“The club has been really prominent, but the bottom line is, at this time of year there is a need to spread the load, which is happening.
There’s obviously a lot of focus on the AFLX this weekend and don’t forget we’re two weeks into an AFLW season.
Truth be told, the major focus for our club over the last few weeks has been the AFLW season, which I think we need to talk about more, to highlight the athletes.
The Club had another great result with Libby Birch and Bonnie Toogood being the NAB Rising Stars this week and we’re 2-0 with a big clash in Adelaide tomorrow against the reigning premiers the Crows.”
