When the 2016 premiership flag is unfurled at Etihad Stadium on Friday, 31 March, some iconic Bulldogs will be on hand to mark the occasion.
Today’s ICON profile: Brad Johnson
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Brad Johnson had already been a Bulldogs fan all of his life by the time he came to Whitten Oval from under 18s club the Western Jets.
Johnson debuted for Footscray in 1994, five days after his 18th birthday, and went on to become one of the game's genuine champions over an illustrious 17-season, 364-game career.
Known as the "Smiling Assassin", a reflection of the fact that he almost always wore a grin regardless of the state of a game, Johnson's grin contrasted starkly with his hard-as-nails approach to the footy.
Johnson's early playing days as a midfielder coincided with a period of sustained Bulldogs success (in terms of regular finals appearances) under coach Terry Wallace. He was blessed with speed and - combined with a strong work ethic and ruthless determination to win the ball - this allowed him to become one of the elite players of his era.
At the turn of the millennium, Johnson was recast in the role of a forward who occasionally rotated through the midfield. In the ensuing seasons, Johnson had an almost clockwork-like ability to return at least two or three goals per game, and proved able to win matches 'off his own boot', with many bags of five or more.
He captained the Dogs from 2006 until his retirement in 2010, and took out the club's best and fairest honours three times, winning the Charles Sutton Medal in 1999, 2002 and 2006.
Forever to be remembered as a Bulldog great, Johnson was named All-Australian on no less than six occasions, including as captain in 2006, a year in which he booted 74 goals and was runner-up to Brendan Fevola in the Coleman Medal.
The club's leading goalkicker in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, Johnson was also a Victorian state-of-origin representative and played International Rules for Australia against Ireland.
Johnson was inducted into the Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame in 2014 and sits on the interchange bench in the official Footscray-Western Bulldogs Team of the Century.
While Johnson never tasted premiership success during his playing days (he made it to five preliminary finals during his career), his trademark smile was as broad as anyone's when Easton Wood and Robert Murphy lifted the Cup at the MCG last October.
