Brisbane 2001
It wasn't all easy street for Brisbane in 2001. By Round 9 many felt the Lions had done their dash. Since 1995, Brisbane had featured in the finals in all but one year. The exception was 1998 when they were absolutely terrible, but by midway through 2001, it looked like Brisbane wouldn't be featuring in the top eight yet again.
To start 2001, Brisbane lost three of their first four games before consecutive wins over Fremantle, Geelong and Sydney steadied the ship somewhat. Everything looked to have gone pear-shaped, though, in Round 8 when Brisbane were obliterated by Carlton at Princes Park to the tune of 74 points. On The Footy Show in the following days, Sam Newman fired both barrels at the Lions, declaring it one of the few times he'd seen a top-quality outfit completely give up. A five-point loss to Adelaide in Round 9 helped Brisbane recover some of their fight, despite slumping to a 4-5 record although a third straight loss appeared likely heading into Round 10 as the Lions took on reigning premiers Essendon. Yet leading into that encounter, Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews took the unusual step of showing the movie Predator to his troops. And with Arnie Schwarzenegger's mantra of 'If it bleeds, you can kill it', ringing in their ears, the Lions took out the almighty Bombers, inflicting Essendon's second loss that year in a 28-point result.
That result was the first of 16 straight victories as Brisbane stormed towards the 2001 premiership, the first of three consecutive flags inspired by Arnie's adventures in the jungle.
Collingwood 2002
Having been one of the up-and-coming sides in 2001 after shockers in 1999 and 2000, Collingwood were widely predicted to have a big 2002. That didn't manifest itself from the start, however, as they lost all their pre-season games before losing to Richmond in Round 1 in a high-scoring shoot-out. Collingwood did beat West Coast by a point the following week in a match memorable that saw Chris Judd debut Brodie Holland boot eight goals. But a 20-point loss to Carlton in the wet to start Round 3 left many wondering whether Collingwood had actually gone backwards over the summer.
Fortunately for the Magpies, they soon found their mojo as Nathan Buckley and Paul Licuria inspired them to a 41-point win over Hawthorn in Round 4. The Pies took that momentum into their ANZAC Day clash with Essendon and in horrendous conditions, fought out a 33-point victory over the Bombers – their first win over Essendon since 1998 - as Mark McGough claimed the ANZAC medal. Wins over St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs followed but a thrilling three-point win over reigning premiers Brisbane convinced many the Pies were the real deal in 2002 as they eventually finished runners-up to the Lions.
Sydney 2005 and 2006
Sydney were slow starters in two of the biggest years. They did begin 2005 by belting a rebuilding Hawthorn by 63 points, curiously in Lance Franklin's first AFL match. But the Swans then lost four of their next five games. Their only win in this period was a commendable six-point victory over the previous year's Grand Finalist, Brisbane, but consecutive losses to Adelaide, Melbourne and West Coast left the Swans languishing in 12th by the time Round 6 finished. Making matters worse, these losses to three eventual finalists had all been quite significant as Adelaide beat them by 41, Melbourne by 34 and West Coast by 45.
It looked likely to get worse for the Swans as well when they trailed Essendon by 16 points at three-quarter time in Round 7. But coming home with a wet sail, they kicked four goals to one in the final term to win by six points. The following week, Sydney proved too good for reigning premier Port Adelaide in a streak that saw them win nine of the next 11 matches from Round 6 onwards. The run set up their tilt at the flag but it wasn't all plain sailing as a big loss to early-noughties easybeat Carlton may have rocked the confidence a tad in this period.
Having won that dramatic 2005 Grand Final over West Coast, the Swans also struggled in their opening to the following season. Right from the outset, Sydney would have known they were the hunted in 2006 as Essendon kicked nine goals to two against them in the first quarter of their Round 1 clash. The Swans gradually whittled that down to a 27-point loss but it didn't get any better the following week as they lost to Port Adelaide by 26 points. A seven-point win over Carlton helped but was hardly convincing and things just got worse for Sydney in Round 4 when Melbourne – who themselves were 0-3 at that stage - held on for a dramatic five-point win over the Swans.
Things only started turning around for Sydney the following week when the inflicted more misery on Geelong. Remember the 2005 semi-final when Nick Davis' late goal saw the Swans claim victory from the jaws of defeat. Well, the Cats must have still been smarting from that as they led Sydney by a goal at quarter-time in their Round 6 clash. But the Swans upped the ante big time in the second term, kicking 4.8 to a single goal. They may not have been so accurate but it still paved the way for a 22-point win in a match that saw Barry Hall and Adam Schneider kick four apiece. The victory kickstarted a six-match winning run for Sydney, although it would all end in heartbreak for the Swans with their narrow Grand Final loss to West Coast.
Geelong 2007
Like Brisbane in 2001, no one expected an era of greatness from the Cats in early 2007. Having made the 2004 prelim before being pipped by Sydney in the 2005 semi-final, the Cats went into 2006 a premiership favourites But having won the first two games that year, a loss to a young Hawthorn in Round 3 2006 hit the Cats confidence badly. From there 2006 just went from bad to worse, leading to the infamous post-season review at Geelong that almost cost Bomber Thompson his job.
Things didn't automatically turn around in 2007 either. The Cats opened the year with a 20-point loss to the Western Bulldogs. Big wins over Carlton and Melbourne saw Geelong show some promise but a four-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 4 was immediately followed by a 16-point defeat by North Melbourne, leaving Geelong at 2-3. Never before, though, has there been such an emphatic response as the Cats faced Richmond in a Sunday twilight encounter. The first quarter saw Geelong kick 10 goals. As Richmond increasingly looked like yellow-and-black witch's hats, the Cats kicked another 10 in the second term and piled on a further 15 goals after half-time for good measure. In the end, Geelong posted a 157-point win over the hapless Tigers and a dynasty was born as the Cats lost just one more time for the rest of the season on their way to a drought-breaking 2007 flag.