To celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the famous Footscray Fightback campaign of 1989, Bulldogs fans have voted on the most significant moments for the Club over the last 30 years.
Today, westernbulldogs.com.au reveals moment 6.
The Bulldogs will take on Melbourne in Round 17 on a day dedicated to the Fightback – a time which saw an extraordinary fan uprising save the Club from a merger with Fitzroy.
On July 14, Footscray will take on Casey in the VFL, followed by the AFL game at Marvel Stadium.
VIEW THE ORIGINAL LIST OF 30 MOMENTS
6. Three Brownlow triumphs. Libba, Wynd and Cooney win league's top individual accolade.
Tony Liberatore, Scott Wynd and Adam Cooney would be the first to admit that footy is a team game and that individual accolades are very much secondary to the aims of the collective. As true as that is, celebrating honours that come along as part of attaining that goal is also very important, particularly when those honours come at a league, and not just club, level.
For 'Libba', Wynd and Cooney, their Brownlow Medal successes of 1990, 1992 and 2008 respectively, were a reflection of not just great footy talent, but their unwavering commitment to being the best players they could be and to the Bulldog cause.
Liberatore's Brownlow Medal win was a testament to his resilience and perseverance. Having won the 1984 Morrish Medal (the VFL's under 19s best-and-fairest) award, with North Melbourne, Libba failed to gain senior selection at the Kangaroos, so sought to try his luck elsewhere. Invited by Dogs' coach Mick Malthouse to train at the Kennel ahead of the 1986 season, the short but strong Liberatore struggled to gain a regular place in the Footscray seniors, but excelled at reserves level.
VISIT THE BULLDOGS FIGHTBACK WEB HUB
Libba won the 1986 and 1988 Gardiner Medals as the best and fairest VFL reserves player, but it was under post-Fightback coach Terry Wheeler that he finally established himself at the elite level. And he did so in the best possible way, playing every match until Round 19 in 1990 before a knee injury cruelly ended his season. He missed the last three games of the year, but his 19 games, during which he averaged 26 touches, was enough to earn him the AFL's highest individual award. Libba went on to become a mainstay of the Bulldogs for more than another decade and, until his retirement in 2002, played a pivotal role in the Dogs being regular finals contenders.
Meanwhile, during the season that the league's shortest player had won the Brownlow Medal, one of its tallest, Scott Wynd, had well and truly established himself as the Dogs' number one ruckman. The 201cm Wynd not only gave the Bulldogs great drive out of the centre but he took countless saving marks in defence, time after time filling a hole that would see him crunched by leading full forwards of the stature of Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall et al. In those body-on-the-line moments, Wynd never flinched.
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Wynd polled 12 Brownlow votes in a fine 1991 season and then took his game to another level in 1992. His outstanding efforts helped the Dogs all the way to that year's preliminary final, and they were acknowledged on Brownlow Medal night as he polled 20 votes to finish two clear of one of the players who would have crunched him from behind many times, Hawk Jason Dunstall.
Like Liberatore, Scott Wynd was a key to the Bulldogs staying in the upper echelons of the ladder during the 1990s and in 2000, his final season.
SAVING THE DOGS: THE PETER GORDON STORY
It would be another 16 years before another Bulldog won the Brownlow Medal. Adam Cooney had established himself as a fine midfielder for the Dogs since being selected at number 1 in the 2003 National Draft but in 2008, as the Dogs rose up the ladder, he took his game to the absolutely elite level.
Polling votes in nine matches, Cooney collected 24 in total to pip champion Brisbane Lion Simon Black by a single vote. Cooney's brilliant bursts of speed out of the middle were a feature of his 2008 Brownlow Medal season, but sadly chronic knee problems prevented him from ever quite attaining those heights again. He nevertheless gave the Bulldogs another six seasons of fine service before completing his playing career at Essendon.
Three great Brownlow Medallists, each with their own unique style, Tony Liberatore, Scott Wynd and Adam Cooney will always hold a special place in Bulldog hearts.
THE FIGHTBACK 30 SO FAR:
MOMENT 7
MOMENT 8
MOMENT 9
MOMENT 10
MOMENTS 11-15
MOMENTS 16-20
MOMENTS 21-25
MOMENTS 26-30
