I think we can rebuild whilst continuing to challenge. A recent article suggested that we had the perfect list type to challenge for the next 5 years (from memory). During that time we'll lose some of the best players the game has seen; however, we'll replace them some extremely exciting talent & we'll adapt our game style to complement the talent that we have on the park.
I think Geelong has made an excellent attempt at rebuilding whilst challenging & I see a lot of similarities between their rebuild & ours, except for success.
They traded in a ready made ruckman from North - as did we - but ours plays 22-odd games per year, kicks goals & wins Flags. We also grabbed McEvoy. Theirs is less successful...
They sourced a defender from another Club in Rivers - we got a Club B&F & 2x Flag Winner in Gibbo... Theirs is less successful.
They got Josh Caddy for free from Cold Ghost where as we paid market price for Jono O'Hawk. Both were high picks & will be part of the future at each club.
Whilst Geelong have sourced what turned out to be spuds (to date), I think their model for rebuilding has been good & I think ours will be better, which may well see us extend our window as opposed to falling out & starting again: Collingwood, St Kilda, Port (2007) & Fremantle style.
The best we can hope for is that our youngsters & our developing game style forces our seniors / legends into retirement, rather than keeping the same game style & trying to emulate past success with new names/faces supporting seniors / legends, which is what I see Collingwood (& maybe Geelong) attempting to do.
But then, we have Clarko, so literally anything is achievable!