“I certainly enjoyed myself. We got off the boat and went to the Pumphouse Hotel in Darling Harbour. I remember somehow ending up in a fountain, then going home with no shoes and cut-off pants.”
Hooker Jason Hetherington added: “It was only a four-hour cruise, but after four hours, most of us were only getting warm – we were only starting to hit it out of the middle of the bat.
“Someone said, ‘Bullfrog, we’re only getting started, but we’re already heading back?’ To which Bullfrog then said, ‘driver, turn around and go another four hours’.
“We ended up back at the Pumphouse. It was a great night. And it obviously had something to do with our success after that.
“We had been through a bit of adversity, we were inconsistent on the field, and there was the whole Super League thing, even though we never begrudged the boys for signing with [the ARL]. Having said that, I still remind Jimmy Dymock now how we could have won another four or five comps had they all stayed.
“It was hard on them. It was hard on us. But we were all good mates. It was so important we kept that togetherness, which Canterbury is renowned for.”
The Dogs won the following week against the Roosters, were pumped 42-0 by the Knights, then went on to win seven of their remaining nine regular-season games.
Craig Polla-Mounter with the JJ Giltinan Shield in 1995.Credit: Colin Whelan/Action Graphics
Not wanting to blow their last hurrah, Lamb and Dymock arranged for another bonding session, this time at the Chester Hill Hotel, the week before the finals started.
The Dogs finished sixth, and were never expected to advance past St George in week one of the finals. It was not lost on any of the players that they may have only had 80 more minutes playing together.
Lamb and Dymock made a point of letting their teammates know how they felt – and made sure not one player would finish the year with any regrets.
Lamb was a lot older than most of his teammates, having won the 1984 grand final, missed the 1985 grand final win with a knee injury and then landed a third title in 1988.
‘I still remind Jimmy Dymock now how we could have won another four or five comps had they all stayed.’
Jason Hetherington
The Dogs were no hope of any success in ’95 if the group was not connected.
Back then, a few beers and banter were as important as running laps at Belmore. For the record, most players worked full-time jobs, and did not live out of each other’s pockets, with Thursday night training sessions followed by a visit to the Belmore Bowling Club.
“We had a drink and a feed across the road from the pub, we all sat around having a chat, and even cried about a few things,” Lamb said.
“We knew we were all separating. I was sad. I had watched some of these guys come through as kids in the lower grades.
“That first final the following week against St George was the biggest hurdle. We won 12-8, then our confidence grew, we played Brisbane, then Canberra, and neither of them got near us. Then we did the same to Manly in the grand final. They had only lost two games all year.”
Terry Lamb and Peter Moore celebrate the 1995 premierships.Credit: Colin Whelan/Action Graphics
Steve Price played a handful of minutes in the 1994 grand final but was quickly told by Moore and Lamb after the Raiders loss, “you never want to feel this way again”.
When the Bulldogs started to veer off course in 1995 at different stages, Price loved how Anderson had a knack of knowing when to bring them back together.
“Chris and the staff had a good feel for when something was a distraction, or there was an issue, and they’d call a ‘special training session’,” said Price, who was one of the few non-drinkers in the team.
“We’d sort things out, go on a winning streak, and things would be good again.”
Price made a point of praising Pay for the way he terrorised a young Gordie Tallis when Canterbury played St George, then left Brisbane leader Glenn Lazarus with a busted rib in the opening exchanges the following week.
Pay was one of several Bulldogs known to flatten an opponent.
Hetherington said the team wanted to create that “fear factor”, so every time an opposition player got the ball, “wherever they ran, they knew they’d get whacked”.
Halligan added: “We had that connection and confidence in each other to defend our backsides off for the whole 80 minutes and get a win.”
John Timu, coach Chris Anderson, Matthew Ryan, Terry Lamb, and Jason Hetherington.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Prop Darren Britt only wishes the Bulldogs could have completed four or five victory laps after the siren sounded with the scoreboard reading 17-4.
The bus trip back to Canterbury Leagues Club was fun. Almost as crazy as the trip to the Sydney Football Stadium, when fans were trying to overtake the bus on the wrong side of the road.
Halligan had to help John Timu into a cab and went straight to the airport the next morning when they flew to Auckland to link with the New Zealand World Cup team. Despite having no sleep, Halligan thought it would be funny to try and book a seat next to fellow Kiwi Matthew Ridge, who was on the losing Manly side.
The grand final celebrations continued through to Wednesday, with Hetherington confirming coach Anderson was one of the last few still standing at the East Hills Hotel.
Fast-forward 30 years, and Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo still appreciates the need for a tight group above anything else.
The alcohol consumption is nowhere near their Dogs predecessors – many of the current players do not drink – but they spend plenty of time together, even bunkering down in hotels before every game, including home games in Sydney.
The 1995 team joined them for dinner at Brighton Le Sands on Saturday night. Will history repeat itself for the club in 2025?
What the 1995 Dogs think of the class of 2025
There are so many similarities between the 1995 and 2025 Canterbury teams. Just ask the club’s premiership winners from 30 years ago.
For starters, there is the hurt from losing a big finals game the year before. Canterbury lost to Manly in the first week of the finals last year, while the 1995 team dropped the 1994 grand final against Canberra.
There is the lack of respect from the outside world, with most rival fans not expecting the Belmore club to go all the way.
“I’m happy for us to keep going under the radar and for people to keep talking up the likes of Canberra and Brisbane and Penrith and Melbourne,” 1995 fullback Rod Silva said.
Then there is the unrelenting defence.
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“I like their effort in defence and by the looks of it, the players have a lot of trust in the group,” Jason Hetherington said. “They’ve got consistent line speed, and they get numbers in tackles.
“It’s not beyond them to win it this year, and that’s because what they’re doing defensively will hold them in good stead. Defence wins big games.”
Club legend Terry Lamb, who still works at the Bulldogs, said: “This team is united like we were. They were beaten by Manly in the final last year, which may have given them a bit of a rocket. It was an ugly win last week, but it might have also been what they needed to get back into that top form. A grand final win 30 years on would be nice.”
Steve Price loves the next-man-up mentality, and how Cameron Ciraldo’s men have never given up in any contest yet.
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