As anyone who attends Blues games knows, certain players are greeted in a special way every time they go near the ball. You know Eddie Betts is hovering when the crowd starts shouting “EDDIE, EDDIE”. Every mark that Matthew Kreuzer takes is greeted with a low-pitched “KREEEEEUUUUUZZZZZZZZ”. And, of course, whenever the skipper gets it, supporters nudge the person sitting next to them and ask “Did you see that?!”
But for a while now there’s been a tradition in storage. Blues supporters have been waiting for the right player to affix it to. It’s one of Carlton's great modern traditions.
The Woof.
Younger supporters mightn’t remember the Woof, but to long time fans over the age of 25, the Woof is something we’ve grown up with. Something uniquely Carlton.
Blueseum.org describes it as follows: “It involves the crowd deep-throating the word 'Woof!' at the instant of kicking by certain select individuals over the years”.
The Woof was originally instituted for former Saint Val Perovic.
Perovic found his way to Princes Park in 1980 from St Kilda, with whom he had played 77 games in seven seasons in a variety of roles. He went on to play 97 games at centre half-back in the Navy Blue wearing No. 15. He was also a member of both the ‘81 and ‘82 Premiership teams.
It started early in his Carlton career. Whenever he would boot the ball from defense, he’d make a loud grunting noise. After a while it started to be accompanied by an almighty “OOOF!” from a few supporters. By the end of his first season, everyone in the crowd was doing it. A newspaper article in his first year at the club reported that Val didn’t like it much because he thought the crowd was taking the mickey out of him. They didn’t care. The Woof continued until Perovic’s final game for the Blues in round 10, 1985.
Then came Ang Christou.
Christou was a long-kicking left footed defender who would play 151 games in the No. 39 guernsey for the Blues. Blueseum.org explains that “while 'Ang' was short for Evangelis, Christou was probably better known as 'Woof' after he inherited the Perovic woof as he booted with the left boot”.
Christou was a member of the ‘95 Carlton Premiership side and was selected in the All-Australian side in the same year. It was during this year that the Woof really took off with his dash from defense and superb delivery.
The Christou right foot kick was as rare as a right-handed handball for this very one-sided player. And every time he kicked it with his left, he was greeted with a loud “WOOF” from the adoring crowd. He kicked it 1625 times in his decade-long career.
Finally, there was Chris Bryan.
A mature aged recruit from the VFL, Bryan was a 197cm ruckman who was blessed with a booming left foot. Right from his first game in Round 11, 2005 against the Swans at Telstra Dome, fans started to yell 'Woof' every time he kicked the ball. It seemed that they’d been crying out for a new Woofer since Christou’s departure at the end of 2002.
Unfortunately, it was to be a brief love-affair.
Bryan only played 16 games for the Blues before moving to Collingwood for the 2007 season.
Since then, the Woof has been warehoused. For a while it looked like we might have heard our last “WOOF!”
But then Carlton went and took a 195cm, 101kg left-footed defender with our 18th pick in the 2010 draft.
Emma Quayle, journalist for Melbourne’s The Age, did a feature piece on Matthew Watson ahead of the 2011 season. In the article he is asked: “What are your best qualities?”
His response? “Long kicks on my left boot.”
Could this be our new Woofer?
Watson has played three games in season 2011 and it seems a few supporters have woken from their Woof hibernation. He had nine kicks on Saturday against the Magpies and by the ninth the Woof had gone from the shouts of a few people scattered around the MCG to large pockets of the home of football.
It seems that supporters are acknowledging that Watson is the man that will carry the Woof tradition into the next decade.
It’s great to have it back.
