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.
5Move the Daicos boys
Everybody wants to be a midfielder, but not everybody should have that wish granted. It may sound sacrilegious, but Nick Daicos needs to be moved back to whence he came. His quarter-backing from behind the centre square was one of the key drivers for Collingwood's surge up the ladder in his rookie year, and with his efficiency and general impact well below his outstanding par in recent weeks, a return to the familiar role could and should be on the cards.
That move would allow older brother Josh - a best and fairest and All-Australian wingman in the Pies' premiership year of 2023 - to move back to his habitual open spaces on the fat side of the MCG.
Both boys just need to swallow the requisite pride to allow such pertinent tactical moves to take place.
