Bulldogs legend Daryl Halligan will never forget the bus trips down Canterbury Road during the heady days of 1995.
As the team made a charge to the premiership, fans lined the streets to see their heroes off on their journey to the old Sydney Football Stadium.
They're scenes that have returned in recent weeks, Bulldogs supporters turning Belmore into a cacophony of blue and white, drums and chants, flags and streamers as the team has surged up the NRL ladder and into premiership contention.
Halligan had experienced something similar leading up to the 1994 grand final defeat but in 1995 the passion went up another level.
"We'd meet at the leagues club and get the bus from the leagues club to the stadium," Halligan told NRL.com. "We'd struggle to get along Canterbury Rd, it would be packed with cars blasting horns and people covered in blue and white.
"People had painted their houses in Canterbury colours and the streets would just come alive."
Match Highlights: Bulldogs v Sea Eagles
More than 40,000 fans crammed into the Sydney Football Stadium for the 1995 grand final to watch the Bulldogs upset hot favourites Manly 17-4.
The crowd of 41,127 remains a record for a match between the two clubs, however it could be under threat when the two teams face off at Accor Stadium on Friday night.
Match: Bulldogs v Sea Eagles
Round 26 -
home Team
Bulldogs
5th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
7th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
The 6pm kick off may impact the final number, but ticket sales are currently on track for 25-30,000. The current record for the early Friday timeslot outside of Magic Round is 28,716 when Melbourne hosted the Warriors on ANZAC Day in 2014.
The largest regular season crowd between Canterbury and Manly was way back in 2004 when 25,771 watched the sides in Round 5.
The Bulldogs are optimistic forecast sunshine on Friday and big walk-up crowd push the attendance past 30,000, with 40,000 not out of the question if Manly supporters descend on Homebush en masse.
Sea Eagles fans have thrown their support behind the club at 4 Pines Park this season, cracking 17,000 on seven occasions as year two of Anthony Seibold's reign delivers a return to the finals.
A win on Friday will go a long way to securing a home final in week one of the play offs.
Manly legend Geoff Toovey captained the team in the 95 decider and urged fans to make the journey from the Northern Beaches to Accor Stadium on Friday night.
"It's a little bit more convenient for the Bulldogs fans to get there at that time of day but I'm sure [Manly] fans will turn out in their droves," Toovey told NRL.com.
"They've been having record crowds at Brookvale all year. It's well-known Manly fans don't travel but the way the team's going, they'd be crazy not to get there."
While Manly fans have been packing out 4 Pines Park, Bulldogs supporters have been piling into the Canterbury Leagues Club over the past fortnight to watch their team.
Friday is the side's first game in Sydney since Round 23, the side playing in Bundaberg and Auckland in the last two weeks.
Celebrations after victories in the past month have spilled out on to the streets, with numerous videos of passionate supporters going viral.
They may have been thousands of kilometres away, but the players still felt the support and they're eager to give back on Friday night.
"I've never seen anything like it before," halfback Toby Sexton said. "It's so cool to be a part of. We've got the most passionate fans in the game and the last three games when we've had away games, we've been seeing videos after the game of them closing down the streets of Belmore.
"One of our main goals is trying to inspire our community and I feel like we're doing that at the moment. It's cool to see all the fans soaking it up too."
Warriors v Bulldogs – Round 25, 2024
Both Manly and Canterbury fans hope Friday is a precursor of what's to come, with the sakes to rise in September.
The Bulldogs have emerged as a popular choice to challenge Penrith, Melbourne and the Rooters and are riding a five-game winning streak and a wave of momentum.
The side currently sits fifth on the ladder, with a top-four finish still within their reach with two games to go. It's a remarkable turnaround after claiming the wooden spoon in 2021 and finishing 15th last year.
Canterbury will play finals for the first time since 2016 and they're eyeing to play in their first decider since 2014.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo has been keen to incorporate the club's history in his rebuild project, with the 1995 premiership-winning team having dinner with the current squad earlier in the season.
Club legend Steve Price was 21 when he hoisted the trophy in 1995, having come off the bench when the side fell to the Raiders a year earlier. He played in the 1998 grand final loss to the Broncos and then was forced to watch the 2004 triumph from the sidelines due to a knee injury.
Match Highlights: Roosters v Bulldogs
It's a journey that makes the 1995 victory so much more special and the former captain urged the current squad to embrace the next six weeks.
"We said to the guys that when they start winning some games it's going to be an experience like nothing they could ever have imagined," Price told NRL.com. "The support you get and how passionate the fans are it's cool to see.
"We saw how excited the fans were at the game at Belmore and it gives the players a boost. It's unbelievable to be a part of, I'm a bit jealous of the guys who are currently there.
"I hope they understand how special this is and make the most of this opportunity. You never know if you're going to get another one. In the NRL, when you think you're going to win it doesn't mean you're going to. Then times when you're not given a chance, like we did in 95, teams can come from nowhere and win the comp.
"They have to make the most of this opportunity in the finals. The team's going well, fans are loving the current moment and the players want to make sure they make every post a winner."
