Club hero and Football Director, Chris Grant, has spoken about his optimism and excitement for the Bulldogs’ future, especially with the emerging crop of young pups coming through under the development of Senior Coach, Brendan McCartney.
In a frank interview with the Herald Sun today, Grant said the Bulldogs were not shying away from the fact the team wasn’t currently performing well - but equally he was excited about emerging youngsters, such as, Mitch Wallis, Luke Dahlhaus, Clay Smith, Ayce Cordy and Tom Liberatore.
“From a supporters’ perspective, it’s probably easy to look at the middle part of the demographics of our team and say there’s not much in the middle - that we should try and fill that up,” Grant said.
“But we’re so impressed with guys like Wallis, Liberatore and Clay Smith, we just think that will be filled quickly.
“And because we’ve got some good ones already, we feel like our philosophy is just to add to continue to add to that and really develop the right way to play, right from the age of 17 or 18. We’re pretty strong on that.”
Grant’s comments come after the Club’s leaders, including President David Smorgon, Chief Executive, Simon Garlick, Captain Matthew Boyd, Senior Coach Brendan McCartney and him-self, wrote to the Bulldog faithful to outline the Bulldog’s future direction and the critical need to stay the course.
The letter, which will be delivered to 16,000 Red, White and Blue households over the coming days, recognises that while it has been a tough year the Club has never been better placed both on and off the field to build sustainable success in the future.
“We just reckon it’s a good time for our supporters to understand that, after the last month and a half - as much as you want to go to games and be close on the score board - we also want them to go away from games thinking that Mitch Wallis actually took another step in the right direction today,” Grant told The Age.
Grant also told The Age that footy was cyclical and that patience was needed as we developed the team.
“There are all different reasons why you go back up the ladder - you can put it down to coaching…but the reality is because of the cycle you remember the preliminary finals but you also don’t remember before that.
“That was the build-up of some tough, really hard years on the field while we waited for the kids to develop,” Grant said.
The letter to Members asserts that the Club has started on this journey, one which will require patience, perseverance and discipline for all of us to stay on track and to not deviate from our path.
Now, more than ever, is the time to stick together to ensure we maximise the opportunity for us to taste success.
