During that period we saw some incredibly special teams:
It felt like, around about 2009-2010 or so, there were three all-time great squads up and running. Saint Kilda and Geelong had both been building up since the early 2000's. Collingwood since about the mid 2000's. Great lists that were able to realize and reach their full potential, thanks to great coaches at the helm.
During those periods, they went:
There are periods where there's an abundance of significantly talented teams, and other periods where there might only be one, if at all any. I think, over the last 5 years, we've been in a lesser period. Ever since Hawthorn and Sydney dropped off, in my opinion. Richmond has been dominant, but I don't feel like they've gone up against the quality of opposition that the 3 teams listed above had to. I even think Sydney was more of a foil to Hawthorn than any of the teams over the last 5 years have been to Richmond.
But that's just my opinion.
Each of these 3 tremendous late 2000's/early 2000's sides had a different origin story.
Geelong broke out in 2004, making the top 4, going all-the-way to a prelim final. They had a tremendous list that disappointingly underperformed in 2005 and 2006. It seemed like more of the same 3-4 games into 2007 before everything changed. I don't think too many people were surprised by how good they became, because the potential was always there.
The story was fairly similar for Saint Kilda. They burst onto the scene in 2004 as well, winning something like their first 10 or 11 games. They finished in the top 4, and lost a close prelim final in Adelaide. They had, by far, the best list in the AFL — and it was fairly young to boot. They had Nick Reiwoldt, who had just broken the marks record. They had Gehrig, who kicked 100+ and won the Coleman. They also had arguably the best small FWD in the game in Milne — someone who'd go on to kick huge 60-70 as a small.
They also had Koschitzke too. Talk about a stacked FWD line.
Their midfield was tremendous, with lots of young, blossoming talent. Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes, Brendan Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna, etc, etc...
Like Geelong, they failed to take the next step after 2004. Despite having the best list in football, they couldn't reach their full potential. Grant Thomas out, Ross Lyon in, a few roster changes, gameplan, that list maturing — things were back on track by 2008. 2009 is when they finally arrived.
Collingwood's journey was a little different. They bottomed out in 2004 and 2005 after back-to-back grand final appearances. You could say they overachieved. They made the right list changes and were back on the right track by 2006. I'm not sure what happened between 2006 and 2009, but perhaps they completely flushed out remnants from the 2002-2003 era team. They were very young when they started playing top-notch football halfway through the 2009 season.
- Geelong from 2007-2011
- Collingwood from 2009-2012
- Saint Kilda from 2009-2011
It felt like, around about 2009-2010 or so, there were three all-time great squads up and running. Saint Kilda and Geelong had both been building up since the early 2000's. Collingwood since about the mid 2000's. Great lists that were able to realize and reach their full potential, thanks to great coaches at the helm.
During those periods, they went:
- Geelong 2007-2011 = 105-20
- Collingwood from mid 2009-mid 2012 = 66-13-2
- Saint Kilda from mid 2008-2010 = 48-14-2
There are periods where there's an abundance of significantly talented teams, and other periods where there might only be one, if at all any. I think, over the last 5 years, we've been in a lesser period. Ever since Hawthorn and Sydney dropped off, in my opinion. Richmond has been dominant, but I don't feel like they've gone up against the quality of opposition that the 3 teams listed above had to. I even think Sydney was more of a foil to Hawthorn than any of the teams over the last 5 years have been to Richmond.
But that's just my opinion.
Each of these 3 tremendous late 2000's/early 2000's sides had a different origin story.
Geelong broke out in 2004, making the top 4, going all-the-way to a prelim final. They had a tremendous list that disappointingly underperformed in 2005 and 2006. It seemed like more of the same 3-4 games into 2007 before everything changed. I don't think too many people were surprised by how good they became, because the potential was always there.
The story was fairly similar for Saint Kilda. They burst onto the scene in 2004 as well, winning something like their first 10 or 11 games. They finished in the top 4, and lost a close prelim final in Adelaide. They had, by far, the best list in the AFL — and it was fairly young to boot. They had Nick Reiwoldt, who had just broken the marks record. They had Gehrig, who kicked 100+ and won the Coleman. They also had arguably the best small FWD in the game in Milne — someone who'd go on to kick huge 60-70 as a small.
They also had Koschitzke too. Talk about a stacked FWD line.
Their midfield was tremendous, with lots of young, blossoming talent. Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes, Brendan Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna, etc, etc...
Like Geelong, they failed to take the next step after 2004. Despite having the best list in football, they couldn't reach their full potential. Grant Thomas out, Ross Lyon in, a few roster changes, gameplan, that list maturing — things were back on track by 2008. 2009 is when they finally arrived.
Collingwood's journey was a little different. They bottomed out in 2004 and 2005 after back-to-back grand final appearances. You could say they overachieved. They made the right list changes and were back on the right track by 2006. I'm not sure what happened between 2006 and 2009, but perhaps they completely flushed out remnants from the 2002-2003 era team. They were very young when they started playing top-notch football halfway through the 2009 season.
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