For Bulldogs fans, a century of VFL/AFL matches against South Melbourne and the Sydney Swans has produced many wonderful wins and memories. These stretch right back to Footscray’s first VFL season in 1925.

It took only until Round 2 for the Dogs to taste victory for the first time in the ‘big league’, and that win came against South Melbourne. The home side kicked the first goal of the match through George Bayliss and held onto the lead throughout. The Dogs eventually won by 10 points, delighting the mostly pro-Footscray crowd of 25,000 who had flocked to witness the Bulldogs’ first VFL game at Western (now Whitten) Oval.

Many of the Bulldogs’ favourite memories of matches against the Swans have come in finals, the best of those – of course – the premiership drought-breaking win in the 2016 Grand Final. That match is the most recent of five finals between the Dogs and Swans, of which the red, white and blue have won four.

A quick look at the one loss the Bulldogs suffered in finals against the Swans reveals that the Dogs should perhaps have won that one, too. It came in the 1942 First Semi Final when Footscray blew its chances with poor kicking for goal. After an even first quarter in which both sides kicked 1.4, the Dogs squandered their chances of setting up a big half-time lead. While South Melbourne booted just 2.1 in the second term, the Bulldogs peppered the big sticks for a return of 2 goals and 10 behinds! At the long break the Dogs led by those nine extra behinds.

Sadly Footscray’s accuracy improved only marginally after half time. The Bulldogs added a further 4.8 as the Swans added 10.8 to win by 27 points. The full time score reveals the extent of the Dogs’ wastefulness – they finished with 7.22 to South’s 13.13.

The Dogs would have to wait 55 years to make amends. It was not until 1997 that they met the Swans again in a final. From the opening bounce of their qualifying final match at the MCG, the newly-named Western Bulldogs made sure inaccuracy would not be an issue this time around. The Dogs stunned everyone by kicking 9.2 to Sydney’s 0.5 in the first quarter, before coasting to a 35-point win – 18.11.119 to 12.12.84 – earning a preliminary final berth. Leon Cameron, Scott West and Matthew Dent were dominant for the Bulldogs, and their work was rewarded in front of goal by James Cook, who kicked four majors, Chris Grant (three goals) and Paul Hudson (three goals).

Eleven years later the Dogs eliminated Sydney from the 2008 premiership race by a similar margin. This time around, though, it was the third quarter in which the Bulldogs made the pivotal break. Leading by just four points at half time of their semi-final, the Dogs kicked five goals to nil in the third term to set up a 32-point lead at the last change of ends before adding a further five goals to four in the final quarter for a 37-point win. For the Dogs Bob Murphy kicked three goals, while Matthew Boyd dominated the midfield with 33 touches, and Lindsay Gilbee (25 kicks and three handpasses) launched numerous counterattacks from the Bulldog backline.

In the equivalent match two years later the Dogs had a much tougher time of it. After an even first quarter the Dogs were rocked by a burst of five Swans goals in just 17 minutes at the start of the second, and they suddenly found themselves 30 points adrift. From there the Bulldogs began a long climb back, first through a goal to former Swan Barry Hall followed by another goal just before the half-time siren to Andrew Hooper, who was making is AFL debut, an extremely rare occurrence in a final.

Jarrad Grant and Hall opened up the second half with two further quick goals, and by the last break the Dogs had clawed their way back to level pegging. A low-scoring final quarter kept fans of both sides biting their nails, but the Dogs, with three goals to two in the final term (two to Daniel Giansiracusa and one to Bob Murphy) scraped home by five points in the end.

Hall finished with four goals and Giansiarcusa with two. Ryan Griffen (26 disposals), Matthew Boyd (25) and Daniel Cross (22) dominated the midfield while Jarrod Harbrow repelled many Swans attacks, picking up 17 kicks and five handballs.

The Bulldogs next final against Sydney would be in a Grand Final, but the Dogs would have a couple of very important wins against the Swans before that.

The first of those came in Round 5 of 2015, Luke Beveridge’s first season as coach of the Westen Bulldogs. The Dogs had surprised everyone by winning three of their first four matches but were facing a stern test against the powerhouse Sydney Swans, grand finalists in 2014.

On a wet Sydney afternoon, Bevo’s young charges took it right up to the home side, leading by 14 points at quarter time, and by 11 at the next two breaks. It was a fine effort, but when the Swans hit the front midway through the final quarter it looked like the brave Bulldogs would come up short.

The boys in red, white and blue had other ideas, however, and defended grimly on the soggy SCG for the next 10 minutes. At the 24-minute mark the Bulldogs produced a goal from an unlikely source – half-back Easton Wood – to hit the front. The visitors held on doggedly for the next eight minutes, preventing any further score from the Swans, to record a momentous four-point win.

The significance of the win was not lost on fans, players and commentators. Skipper Bob Murphy described the win as the best of his career to date and Fox Footy’s Anthony Hudson suggested viewers mark the date in their diaries as one of great significance for the Western Bulldogs. He was right to do so, a fact that became clear 18 months later.

Perhaps not quite as well remembered, but arguably just as significant, was the equivalent fixture against Sydney the following year. The Dogs travelled north again, this time in Round 15, and played out another titanic struggle against the Swans. The home side led by 10 points at the long break but a great third quarter had the Bulldogs turning for home with a 13-point lead.

As they had in 2015, the Swans came hard in the final quarter, and when Lance Franklin booted his fifth major at the 13-minute mark, Sydney reclaimed the lead. The next 15 minutes was an epic battle of defences. Neither side scored a goal until, with a minute left on the clock, Marcus Bontempelli marked a pinpoint pass from Caleb Daniel within range.

With the Dogs two points behind, everyone waited expectantly for Bontempelli to take a shot at a goal that would give his side the lead with seconds remaining. But ‘The Bont’ did not take that shot. He spotted and passed to Jason Johannisen, who had found free space closer to goal. Johannisen, who was returning from a 10-week injury lay off, marked and coolly kicked accurately, putting the Dogs four points ahead. The siren sounded seconds later, and all 22 Bulldogs players rejoiced in an amazing victory.

Lachie Hunter celebrated his 50th match with a fine 31-touch, eight-mark performance, while Bontempelli was imperious throughout, gathering 29 touches and kicking a goal.

The Western Bulldogs had now played Sydney twice since Beveridge had taken over as coach at the beginning of 2015 and recorded two dramatic, momentous wins over the Swans.

As all Doggies’ fans know, a third, even more momentous victory over the Sydney Swans would come just 91 days later at the MCG, in the 2016 AFL Grand Final.