Over the course of the past month, the Essendon Football Club, in conjunction withย Fox Sports and Kayo, have provided their ardent supporters with a brilliant lens to view their storied past.
Throughout the course of seven half-hour instalments and a singular 60-minute special, the stitches of the Dons' rich tapestry have been held up to the light in the docuseries 'The Bombers: Stories of a Great Club'.
Despite being a footy disciple that prays at an altar away from Windy Hill, the tales, tidbits and illuminating talks were still wonderfully engrossing as an outsider.
Since the first pair of episodes aired on Tuesday October 19 until the series' completion seven-days ago, I have sat and let the Bombers' history blitz me each week while recording my wandering thoughts along the way.
So, with the shooting and interviewing now wrapped and Ben Rutten's 'Baby Bombers' back on the training track, here are my final set of questions from the last pair of episodes.
Would a premiership in 1999 have kickstarted a genuine dynasty?
As there have been many significant moments signposted throughout the eight episodes of this outstanding series, there are naturally going to be a plethora of โsliding doors' moments that crop up over the course.
While less pondered matters such as alternative legacies, jumper swaps and missed apologies have been raised within this collection of weekly reviews, this latest query is one that is sure to have crossed the minds of many Dons fans.
When the final siren sounded on the 29th of September 2001, Essendon's latest premiership defence came to an official close.
Although Kevin Sheedy's side had been soundly beaten by Leigh Matthews' Lions throughout the second-half of that season's decider, there remained a view that the Bombers would be back vying for the flag in 2002.
And with names like James Hird, Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas, Dustin Fletcher, Mark Mecuri and the Johnsons set to return after a summer of licking their wounds, this belief appeared grounded in reality.
Still, more than 20-years on from Brisbane's maiden premiership, every single one of Essendon's runs since 2001 have seen them trip on hurdles well before the last leap ahead of the finish line.
As much has already been made of the Bombers longstanding inability to progress past the first week of the finals, the previous chatter surrounding the club's missed dynasty has naturally died off.
However, when the now dusty petri dish is placed back under the microscope, the remnants of this missed opportunity are still impossible to miss.
Should you raise the Bombers' 1999 campaign with any of their many members, an array of ugly emotions are sure to follow suit.
Despite the pain of their one-point preliminary final loss to arch-rivals Carlton still lingering today, those involved with the infamous defeat claimed that falling short was actually what allowed them to fly higher 12-months later.
Essendon's near undefeated 2000 season may have seen them end the year with a 96 per cent win-rate from their 25 appearances, but according to that year's Coleman Medallist, the Dons' unparalleled results only arose due to Sheedy's willingness to hold his troops to account.
โWe had two or three days drowning of drowning our sorrows [after the loss in 1999], and about the Wednesday of grand final week, Kevin Sheedy sends the message out saying, โthe club has purchased 40 grand final tickets and you're all going to watch'.โ Matthew Lloyd said on Fox Footy.
When the ego-bruised Bombers rolled up to watch the Kangaroos claim their โgift wrappedโ premiership, the spearhead stated that the reception was about as warm as a winter's night in Alaska.
โThere was North supporters [and] Carlton supporters all grabbing their throats saying โyou've choked. You should be here, but you're not. You choked last week',โ Lloyd continued.
Still, prior to the final siren, the seemingly sadistic Sheedy made moves to rally his side before ringing in the 21st century a full three-months before anyone else on the planet.
After departing the scene of what was widely tipped to be their crowning moment, Lloyd explained that the painful viewing had served a purpose.
โWe walked out, and we were crossing the road just near the Hilton Hotel and there was a restaurant where Robert Shaw [then Essendon assistant coach] was waiting for us and he had a folder,โ Lloyd recounted with a stony face.
โHe handed out the folders and said, โthis is where our 2000 campaign starts'.โ
The dossiers divvied out amongst the playing group were said to state that if they were to atone for their fade out, they would need to make sure they won each time against Melbourne, Carlton and North Melbourne the next season โ a feat that was achieved with ease.
While the ultimate prize was eventually earned after club's pre-season training period was brought forward and stringent measures such as never singing the club song were adhered to, it's hard to imagine that such a hard line would have required towing if the 1999 cup was in their cabinet.
It's almost impossible to make a case for any side having the skill or will to beat the Bombers in 2000, but even if Essendon had repeated their deeds of the mid-80s by winning back-to-back flags, would this rolling juggernaut have had enough momentum to cap a three-peat?
Sheedy and Shaw's alternative methods may have lit a fire beneath the Bombers' backsides after losing face to Carlton in late September, but the same prod and ignite technique was used by Matthews when the Lions looked limp against the same adversary in mid-May of 2001.
Following a 74-point belting dealt out by the Blues in Round 8, โLethal' channeled Sheedy's โmethod from madness' approach to coaching by famously drawing inspiration from Schwarzenegger rather than the stats sheet ahead of their Round 10ย date with the Dons.
โIf it bleeds, we can kill it. And we reckon Essendon can bleed,โ Matthews famously said sans the thick Austrian accent.
And sure enough, after Brisbane's 28-point victory that set a 16-game winning streak in motion, the silver-haired steward was as right before the bye as he was by the end of their silverware winning season.
Given Matthews and his pride then proceeded to add further trophies at will, hindsight now tells us that the Sheedy's men lost to a better side that season.
Yet, if the 2001 grand final could now be looked at as a side going for their third triumph in a row against a collective that would actually become the side fifth group to do so, the game would have taken on greater significance than it did in reality.
Although the Essendon players of this era are likely to still silently rue these missed opportunities for a larger legacy, at least they can take solace in the fact that the Blues went zero from three throughout the same time frame.
