Will Gold Coast and GwS still br the dominant clubs over the next 5 or so years that everyone originally predicted?
Good question. When GWS beat us fair and square in front of a bumper crowd of 9000, I was coming around to the line of thinking that the Giants would give the rest of the league much trouble in coming years. Now that Hawthorn has come out and hat-tricked, I'm starting to think that GWS and Gold Coast's talent are probably no match for winning culture, coaching, and systems. Until they can be Geelong-like or Hawthorn-like in their approach, they won't dominate the rest of us. GWS look further along in creating that winning system than GC, though (after all, their coach was one of Clarko's proteges).
For what it's worth, I agree with West Coast supporter Kram81, who has called Western Sydney 'the AFL's Vietnam'. Win a few flags and you'll still be a liability.