Having emerged from what he dubbed a "mourning process", Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy says his primary aim now is to usher through the next generation who can have a sustained run at finals success.
In a touching column inFairfax Media two years ago, Murphy all but said he had given up on winning a premiership, believing his time had come and gone.
"There will be the odd pinch of grief now and again for myself and the older ones. It will feel like a hole in our hearts but maybe that's just part of growing up," Murphy wrote.
He had been an instrumental cog in the Rodney Eade-era in which the Bulldogs fell in three preliminary finals, with the seven-point loss to St Kilda in 2009 regarded by some players as the clash they should have won.
Eade's departure sparked a rebuild under Brendan McCartney, and an influx of young talent, which has seen the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae emerge.
The development of this talent under new coach Luke Beveridge, along with the new responsibility of captaincy, has meant the poetic Murphy cannot concern himself with the past.
"It's not something I really think of a lot. It [preliminary final losses] was kind of a mourning process of that but in some ways you almost mourn that era," Murphy said.
"The guys that I played with in 2009, that was very much that time, and you kind of move on from it. Whilst I think that group of guys deserved a bit more, you move on. I don't think it should be something to hang on to.
"I certainly don't want to be the captain mopping around, kicking the bucket. The guys I am leading deserve more than that. It's my job to help them set up so they get their time. Whether I am there or not is not that important in the whole scheme of things."
He then added lightheartedly that he was "actually crying as I sat at the typewriter" while penning that column. Still, the potential to finish a long career (Murphy already has 271 matches to his credit) without a flag is something that would cross any player's mind.
"I think it goes through every footballer's mind, and it doesn't help with you guys reminding us every two minutes about the premiership window ... you can't get a moment of peace to ourselves," he joked.
"That's our footy life. You are either building or managing the decline at various points."
On a serious note, club president Peter Gordon was buoyant in his speech at the Dogs' season launch.
While declaring the club now had a captain who wanted the role, and a coach "who would be one of the great AFL coaches of modern time", he felt the playing list was the most exciting in the league and the club was "at the beginning of the greatest era ... in the history of this club". Murphy agreed when asked about Gordon's latter point.
"I do feel like that. Every club every year will tell you the young players coming through are the kids of the future. But this group of players that we have brought into the club over the last three or four years are a pretty special group of players. There are enough of them that they will shape the club over the next 10 to 12 years," he said.
The season-long absence of Tom Liberatore will hurt the Dogs as they seek to build on last year's seven wins, but a more attacking style with damaging run, as seen through the NAB Challenge, gives hope the Dogs can overcome having the third-youngest list in the league.
Murphy also likes what has he has seen collectively and individually, heading into the season opener against the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
"From what I have seen in the pre-season, there are guys who are the obvious ones ... Bonti, [Jake] Stringer and Macrae and [Luke] Dahlhaus and these guys," he said.
"I think two guys that I have been impressed with - Ling Jong has had an outstanding summer and looks to be on the path, and Jack Redpath is a player who has gained a lot of confidence.
"He was kind of the poster boy for our Footscray VFL side that he had such an impressive finals series and grand final and I think he gained a lot of confidence from that. His pre-season has been really important and he has become an important player for us."
