Dukes of depth - Saturday 25 March 2000
|
Over the last few years, the Western Bulldogs defence has been under the
magnifying glass. With the hot sunny conditions thus far you reckon the
Bullies backline would be burning up like some kind of disco inferno.
Critics reckon Western defenders, while mobile and hard at the ball, are a
bit short especially at finals time. The back six have to counter big key
forwards such as Carey and McKernan and Cummings and Molloy and Tredrea
along with Lance Whitnall, the Ron Walker look alike.
In 1993, the Bulldogs drafted with pick 54 a West Coburg player who was accomplished with Central in the Under 18 comp. He also represented the rich cultural diversity of this city. This man was Sedat Sir. He was of Egyptian background. His ancestors were building pyramids when northern Europeans were just throwing stones at each other. The Bulldogs were lucky because Sedat was specialist defender. At the guernsey presentation, they awarded him the number 38 worn with distinction by Bruce Duperouzel and Saadi Ghazi during his second stint at the Whitten. Sir had a decent physique for a backman. 188 centimetres tall and 85 kgs. The Westerners did not rush Sedat. They gave him two years in the reserves. He developed a reputation as a no frills defender that did every job asked of him. He was a down back kind of bass player. Not a larger than life front man like the David Lee Roth of football. Perhaps because of his ethnic origin, Sedat was quick at helping to build a wall at half back or on the last line of defence. Plus for a kid he was cool as Ice-T in a crisis. He seemed unruffled by feverish activity and chaos and clutter around him. Sir had a bonus at the business end of 1994. He was a member of the Bullies' Reserves Premiership side. Sedat made his senior debut in 1995. He had 5 games in the Ones that year. He wasn't the type to rack up 30 disposals over four quarters. But you looked at the stats of his opponents and you realised they'd made a limited contribution. He was able to wear an adversary like a second skin. Sir had superb discipline and great powers of concentration for a fella 20 years old. Through 1996, the double S played four senior games. He spent the rest of the season in the seconds doing the Australian Democrats - keeping blokes honest. He made 7 senior appearances in 1997. Sedat Sir was at his best in Round 10 against Essendon at the MCG. He kept Blake Caracella under wraps and calmly ran out of defence gathering 10 kicks and 3 marks to feed the dynamic Doggie midfield. The young defender showed he would be intimidated by no one in particular. For example, in the 21st Round of 1998, a night match also v. the Dons at the MCG, Sir stood his ground under intense physical pressure from Jordon Doering and David Calthorpe. Sedat had 7 senior games in 1998. He capped his career by playing well in the Bulldogs 1998 Reserves Premiership team. He finished up with 23 senior games and around 100 in the Twos between 1993 and 1998. Sir transferred to VFL team Williamstown where he has kept the backline tight yet calm. A man with maturity beyond his years. |
Home | Competition | Dukes of depth |Guru Bob | Footy songs