There is no doubt that North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson is feeling the pinch after yet another loss to Carlton on Good Friday.
The proud Arden Street club has declared that 2025 won't be like anything they've dished up in years gone by, which culminated in back-to-back wooden spoons two seasons ago.
But the 'messiah' says he wouldn't have taken on the challenge following the club's second consecutive 18th-place finish leading into 2023 if he didn't think he was the right man for the job.
"I wouldn't come back into the job if I didn't want to take on a challenge," Clarkson said.
"There were other opportunities to maybe take on easier challenges in terms of trying to take a club into the eight a little bit quicker, or some teams were already in the eight.
"But part of the challenge of why I took it on, and others wanted to jump on board too, was just where the club was positioned at the time."
Clarkson likened the club, where he played 93 games between 1987 and 1995, to Brisbane and Melbourne in recent decades, signalling how quickly the pieces of the puzzle can fall into place.
The Demons were at the end of their rope, never finishing higher than 11th on the ladder between 2007 and 2016. Year after year, Melbourne secured top-end draft prospects in the hope that one day their fortunes would turn.
The drought-breaking premiership in 2021 was led by the acquisitions of Jack Viney, Christian Salem, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw and Clayton Oliver at least five seasons before their triumph.
The Lions took a similar path to their 2024 premiership success, but also six years of consistent finals appearances.
From 2010 to 2018, Brisbane didn't reach the single digits on the ladder, whilst also securing a wooden spoon in Chris Fagan's first year as coach.
Welcoming an elite core of Dayne Zorko, Harris Andrews, Eric Hipwood, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Cam Rayner, and Zac Bailey up until that point, forced the tide to turn quickly.
"How exciting is it to actually take a club that is in significant adversity and try and bring them back up to the top of the ladder?" Clarkson said.
"At the minute, it looks like, well, we're not making a lot of progress. But as long as the club stays together to stay stable, it's going to turn."
The Kangaroos embraced an influx of high draft picks to Arden Street due to their low finishes in recent years.
Captain Jy Simpkin leads a strong core alongside Luke Davies-Uniacke, Will Phillips, Tom Powell, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Colby McKercher, Zane Duursma and Finn O'Sullivan, while Nick Larkey and Cam Zurhaar were steals.
"I wish I had the crystal ball to be able to look into ... and say 'this is the day that it's going to happen for this footy club'," Clarkson said.
"But all I can tell you is that day is getting closer. It's not getting further away.
"And we'll continue to back ourselves in until such time as the evaporation of time is just too great a period of time where they say 'Clarko, I don't think you're the bloke anymore'.
"But for as long as I've still got the passion inside me to try to drive this club back to where I think you can get to, I'm in for the long haul."
