Football clubs often overestimate their own brilliance in the wake of premiership glory.
That's why repeat premierships are so difficult to win, and why they're so rightfully revered.
Collingwood fell into that trap itself. Maybe not to the same extent as the West Coast Eagles, whose drastic plummet into all-time low levels of irrelevance and feebleness continues, as plans for their 10-year premiership reunion are no doubt being drawn up.
It leaves the Magpies at a critical junction in their modern history. How needle movers at Olympic Park traverse the terrain of this tricky little post-window period will determine the decades to follow.
Here's a fool-proof list of eight steps Magpie power brokers should consider as they look to shore up the long-term competitiveness of their playing list, and health of their business.
7It's time
Play the kids. Ed Allan, Charlie West, Will Hayes - they have exhibited enough to earn a sustained chance each at the top level.
The old boys have admirably defied critics and allayed their footballing mortality for longer than many predicted, but the time is nigh to make the tough calls on the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Jeremy Howe, Tim Membrey and Jack Crisp.
"But Harro! Pendlebury just won the Anzac Day Medal," I hear you say.
Yep, he did, and it was magnificent, as I wrote here. But to think performances like that are the norm at this age and stage is simply naive. Collingwood should not wait until their champions are decrepit shells of themselves to make the tough calls. Thank them for their exceptional service, and handle their departure with grace, a la the Australian Test side with Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath.
On that note, do not be tempted by Lachie Neale. He is in blistering form, but his acquisition would presumably mean a contract of two or more years, in order to make a move to Melbourne worth it for the dual Brownlow Medallist (who is quietly plotting a course to a third).
Signing another soon-to-be 33-year-old to a deal of that length is the move of a win-now club, which Collingwood are not. It is up to to their list management team to realise that fact, and act accordingly.
