We thought we had a few in the bag after. 06Players get older, injured, burnt out and de-motivated by the gameplan or the pressure and expectation of staying mentally "up", or by footy in general.
Have a look at the side Collingwood fielded in the 2011 GF, and then where that list was at just two years later (when the Pies bowed out in the Elimination Final, and recognised they'd gotten all they could out of the group they had, and initiated a regeneration of the list that off-season), and you'll see how quickly the peak can pass and the window can close.
If you can be a top four side for a 4-5 year period, and get a flag out of it, I think you're doing extremely well. The expectation is always that a dynasty will follow an initial flag win, but that's never realistic, and underestimates how difficult the whole process is, and how difficult it is to stay up once you've reached the mountaintop.
Nek minnut
Spoon