What NRLW’s Changing of the Guard Can Teach Our Game

Funny thing about footy, any code, doesn’t matter. Every dynasty thinks it’ll last forever. Then one day it doesn’t.

I was flicking through the sports pages this week and seen the Roosters and Broncos are lining up again in the NRLW decider, twelve months on from that grand final everyone’s still arguing about. And look, I’m a Pies man through and through, I couldn’t tell you the rucing rotations of either outfit. But as a bloke who’s watched Collingwood go from minor premiers to miracle runs to flaming disasters inside a two year stretch, I reckon I know a changing of the guard when I see one.

Dynasties Don’t Die Quiet

The Broncos have been the benchmark in that competition for ages now. Dominant sides always cop it both ways – either everyone wants to see them again, or everyone’s sick to death of them winning.

Sound familiar? Carn the Pies, but even our own supporters got cranky watching us cart off cup after cup back in the day. You win enough and the neutrals turn. That’s just sport.

What happens when that dominant side finally gets knocked off though? That’s the bit that interests me. Because in my experience it’s never a slow fade. It’s a cliff edge. One minute you’re premiership favourites, next minute half your list’s walked out the door and you’re rebuilding on the fly.

The Controversy Factor

Last year’s decider apparently had everyone up in arms about decisions that went one way then the other. Sound like any sport we know?

Honestly, is there a single grand final in any code these days that doesn’t end with half the country reckoning the umpires stuffed it? I’m not having a go at anyone personally here, I want to be clear about that. But you’d have to say the scrutiny on officials in big games has gone through the roof the last few years.

We’ve had our own moments at the MCG where every Pies fan in the outer reckons we’ve been hard done by. I’m not saying it’s deliberate, never have, never would. But when you’re watching your team get knocked out of finals by a contentious free kick or a dodgy hands in the back call, you start to wonder if the competition’s working against you a little bit. Every Collingwood supporter alive has felt that in their bones at some stage.

What A Rematch Really Means

There’s something about a rematch grand final that raises the temperature on everything. Both sides know exactly what’s at stake. One’s defending, one’s got a point to prove after last year’s heartbreak or triumph, depends which side of the ledger you sat on.

We’ve lived that too. Think back to any of our big rematches against the Lions or whoever it might be across a couple of seasons. The second game always carries more weight than the first. Everyone’s seen the form guide, everyone knows the match-ups, and suddenly it’s not about who’s the better side on paper, it’s about who wants it more on the day.

That’s when dynasties either dig in and prove the doubters wrong, or they crack. And once they crack, mate, it’s hard to put that back together.

Collingwood’s Own Changing Of The Guard

I reckon about this stuff constantly with our own group. We’ve had our era of dominance, we’ve had our rebuilds, we copped the floggings in the early 2010s and then came good again under Bucks and now under Craig.

Every premiership window closes eventually. Doesn’t matter if you’re the Broncos in NRLW or the Pies at the ‘G, the list ages, the opposition catches up, the draft picks you’ve traded away start hurting. That’s footy life.

The clubs that handle it best are the ones that see it coming and start transitioning before the walls fall in. The ones that don’t see it coming are the ones that spend five years in finals mediocrity wondering what happened to the good old days. I reckon every Collingwood supporter over forty has lived through both versions of that story at least once.

Why Fans Actually Love This Stuff

Here’s the thing though. As annoying as it is watching a dominant side cop all the headlines, don’t we secretly love watching an empire wobble?

There’s nothing better in sport than watching a changing of the guard happen in real time. You get the fairytale underdog angle, you get the fallen giant fighting for relevance angle, and you get genuine jeopardy because nobody knows which way it’s going to go.

That’s exactly what’s got people talking about this NRLW decider, even blokes like me who couldn’t name you five players in the comp. It’s not really about rugby league. It’s about watching history turn a page, and that’s universal across every sport going round.

The Lesson For Footy Heads

So what’s the takeaway for us footy tragics watching from the outside? Simple. Enjoy your club’s good years because they definately don’t last forever.

Whoever wins that NRLW grand final, the bigger story is that an era is ending one way or another. Either the champs prove they’re still the benchmark, or the new mob finally get over the line and the competition shifts on its axis.

We’ve seen it in the AFL time and time again. Essendon’s dominance in the 2000s, the Hawks three-peat, even our own stretch under different coaches. Nothing lasts. The flags get shared round eventually, they should of known that going in.

Carn the Pies regardless. But fair play to any team, any code, any gender, that’s built something that other mobs are still trying to catch up to years later. That’s the sign of a proper dynasty, and watching one get challenged is one of the best shows in sport.