Year of the Dogs
Encyclopedia
Year of the Dogs is a 1997
documentary
detailing the 1996 season of the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs).
Filmed during the turbulent 1996 season where they finished second-last (15th) in the Australian Football League
, the documentary follows the club and two dedicated fans, Pat and Jenny Hogson. The Bulldogs have a horror run of losses, forcing senior coach Alan Joyce
to resign mid-season, replaced by Terry Wallace
. The Dogs continue to struggle under this change in coaching administration, and continue to lose game after game.
With a thin supporter base, the club is under numerous financial difficulties. The AFL
CEO Ross Oakley
is insistent that smaller AFL clubs must merge and the Dogs are under pressure to amalgamate with other clubs. After the Melbourne Hawks
merger failure, the club's members vote strongly against any proposed merger. In the end a taskforce of businessmen and former players take over the club to ensure its future. The club president (Peter Gordon
) resigns.
In addition to this, youngest player (Shaun Baxter) is fighting cancer
and the club veteran Steven Wallis' playing days are numbered.
For the last game for the season, Footscray play Essendon
. Wanting to give their retiring player, Wallis a good send off, they play hard and put up a good performance, but end up losing narrowly in a closely played game.
For the next season, the Bulldogs are named Western Bulldogs, (a name they still carry to this day) in an effort to attract new members. The film showcases the club's battling spirit, and as an aside they escape a merger (although the Fitzroy Lions were the club that did suffer that fate). After Wallace's performance as caretaker, he is signed on for the 1997 season.
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
detailing the 1996 season of the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs).
Filmed during the turbulent 1996 season where they finished second-last (15th) in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, the documentary follows the club and two dedicated fans, Pat and Jenny Hogson. The Bulldogs have a horror run of losses, forcing senior coach Alan Joyce
Alan Joyce
Alan Joyce is a former Australian rules footballer who after playing 49 games for Hawthorn became a premiership winning coach for the club. Originally from Glen Iris, Joyce played in the ruck for Hawthorn and gained life membership in 1996.In 1988 when incumbent coach Allan Jeans became ill due to...
to resign mid-season, replaced by Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach.As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships as well as achieving All-Australian selection, and two Best and Fairests with the Footscray Football Club...
. The Dogs continue to struggle under this change in coaching administration, and continue to lose game after game.
With a thin supporter base, the club is under numerous financial difficulties. The AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
CEO Ross Oakley
Ross Oakley
Ross Oakley is an Australian businessman and former Australian rules footballer with St Kilda in the VFL. He is CEO of the Victorian Rugby Union and was appointed CEO of the new the Melbourne Rebels rugby union franchise in September 2010.-Playing career:Oakley attended Wesley College, Melbourne ...
is insistent that smaller AFL clubs must merge and the Dogs are under pressure to amalgamate with other clubs. After the Melbourne Hawks
Melbourne Hawks
The Melbourne Football Club/Hawthorn Football Club merger was a planned Australian Football League team that would have consisted of the merger between the Melbourne and Hawthorn Football Clubs at the end of the 1996 season...
merger failure, the club's members vote strongly against any proposed merger. In the end a taskforce of businessmen and former players take over the club to ensure its future. The club president (Peter Gordon
Peter Gordon
Peter Gordon may refer to:* Peter Gordon , celebrity chef from New Zealand* Peter Gordon , composer and musician based in New York City* Peter Gordon , radio presenter in Surrey, England...
) resigns.
In addition to this, youngest player (Shaun Baxter) is fighting cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and the club veteran Steven Wallis' playing days are numbered.
For the last game for the season, Footscray play Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
. Wanting to give their retiring player, Wallis a good send off, they play hard and put up a good performance, but end up losing narrowly in a closely played game.
For the next season, the Bulldogs are named Western Bulldogs, (a name they still carry to this day) in an effort to attract new members. The film showcases the club's battling spirit, and as an aside they escape a merger (although the Fitzroy Lions were the club that did suffer that fate). After Wallace's performance as caretaker, he is signed on for the 1997 season.
Miscellanea
- It was filmed in 1996 during the course of the season and released theatrically in 1997, ironically when the Bulldogs were having one of their best seasons and later narrowly missed making the Grand FinalAFL Grand FinalThe AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...
, losing to eventual premiers by just two points. - The film won an AFIAmerican Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
award for "Best Editing in a Non-Feature Film" (Stewart Young).