Matthew Croft has a similar tale to most Footscray-Western Bulldogs players of the past 62 years.
Croft, a full-back of repute and an occasional forward of 186 games, featured in a number of title-contending Bulldogs’ teams that ultimately never made it to an AFL grand final.
Croft often felt the pain of losing a preliminary final, both as a player in the 1997 and ’98 seasons and a supporter from 2008 to ’10.
“I truly didn’t think it could happen,” Croft said, of the Bulldogs’ breakthrough premiership last weekend. “I played for 14 years and it was always that preliminary final ceiling.”
One word that has consistently propped up since the Bulldogs clinched the cup is ‘belief’.
The Bulldogs never wavered from the blueprint coach Luke Beveridge set out at the start of the year and “stayed true to their task”, Croft said.
“They don’t worry about the outcome, they just concentrate on the process.
“They get a couple of goals behind, and they don’t change the way they go about it.
“They keep persevering with the plan and the process.”
Croft was just one of a number of past players to make it to the MCG for the Bulldogs’ victory.
Current players have felt connected to past players, and embraced them during this finals series.
“They went through their careers dreaming of getting into a grand final and never had that opportunity,” Croft said.
“So they’re coming out now to have their little piece of it as well and are all a part of it. The club has survived on numerous occasions when it almost wasn’t going to be a club,” he said.
“Those past players had a part to play in keeping the club here.”
Croft believes this could be the beginning of a great new era for the Bulldogs.
Off the field, the coffers are expected to swell, with corporate support and membership numbers already going into record-breaking territory.
The team is young and has not yet peaked.
“Certainly it can set up a fantastic era,” Croft said.
“It’s a real change for the club, and we’ve got to capitalise on it.
“Have the fun, enjoy it now, but then you’ve got to capitalise on it.”
