Ever wondered what makes these Bulldogs tick?
Tom Boyd has the answer. It’s each other.
“There’s a real never-say-die attitude amongst the boys," Boyd told Wayne Carey for Channel 7 on Friday night.
“It’s one that I’m constantly inspired by and it makes playing for the Bulldogs one of the great things I’ve been able to do with my life.”
It’s a belief in each other and a belief that their coach has in them that steels the group to take on whatever challenge is thrown at them.
“We’ve had our fair share of adversity and injury this this year,” he said.
“But Luke’s belief in us never wavers and we’ve got blokes playing great VFL footy and ready to step into the roles that the team will need from them week to week.”
It’s that team-first mantra that drives Boyd. Whatever the team needs, that’s what he’ll do.
“You can sit there all day and extrapolate marks and handballs and kicks and what-not but the ability to turn up and provide an option for your teammates is something we require and something we value at our Club,” he said.
The scouting report on Boyd was of a big-marking, goal-kicking power forward but Boyd’s ‘50-50 at the moment’ between forward and ruck, a role that he’s relishing.
“Year-to-year and week-to-week, depending on who we’re playing things will change but the ability to get into the ruck is a real strength of mine.
“One it gets you into the game and two it provides some flexibility.
“Obviously we’ve seen with different players going down with injury this year, Tommy Campbell has gone down with injury and Roughy and different times has had niggles, so being able to fill-in when those blokes aren’t playing at full capacity, it’s really important for our teams’ flexibility and being able to deal with adversity.”
Boyd ‘constantly inspired’ by teammates
The big man tells Wayne Carey that he doesn't have to look far for inspiration.