As the season is about to close its well and truly time for you to face up to the reality of the last 8 years.
You may be able to justify Ross' appointment based on some success after he began, which essentially took full advantage of the list that Mark Harvey put together. That said, you didn't fulfil your duties as the leaders of this organisation as you chased short term goals ahead of establishing an strong ongoing powerhouse. You only stumbled on the marketable 'rebuild for sustained success' after you realised your lack of forward planning during Ross' first three years at the club.
So how I'd the rebuild going. Let's ignore the semantics - three, four, five years of rebuild - whatever the figure we are now at a point where we can make some judgements.
We now sit 13th on the ladder with only the Suns and Demons as contenders for the worst teams in the comp. Many punters scoffered at Cornes statement that we shared worst team status with the Suns but if his statement is wrong it isn't far off the mark.
Has the rebuild delivered - clearly not?
Will it deliver? Based on the lack of depth in the team and the inability to see growth in players recruited during the rebuild I for one can't see how we can challenge top teams with our current list. We will lose Sandi, Ballas and Mundy over the next couple of seasons (all AA players in their day). Langdon and B Hill are in our top six players and, depending on who you listen to, are either looking at options or already gone. S Hill is also in the rumour mill. So what are we left with if you ignore Fyfe and Walters. A decent backline, a very thin midfield and a flakey injury prone forward line. All this after a long rebuild and a promise of success before the end of RoLy's contract.
By any objective measure the rebuild has not worked and those responsible need to be held accountable. Unfortunately it is a closed shop and they are accountable only to their own appointees. Failure is self perpetuating with the current lot and the future is looking grim. Here's hoping that RoLy is the genius that Steve thinks he is and pulls a rabbit out of the hat otherwise we are looking at a new coach in 2021 and another rebuild after that!