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.

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Will the Bombers' 2000 season ever be bettered?

While not perfect, Essendon's 2000 season remains arguably the greatest campaign ever completed in AFL/VFL history.

As mentioned, the Bombers blitzed all but one of their opponents to claim both a 96 per cent win-rate from their 25-starts and their 16th and latest premiership cup.

Although their Round 21 loss to the flood-happy Bulldogs was enough to eliminate their plans for flawlessness, it has allowed for the aspiration to remain open for the future.

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Despite finishing the regular season atop the ladder by a full five-games with a percentage of 159.1, the Dons' home and away dominance in 2000 has actually been bettered by a pair of competitors โ€“ the 1929 Magpies and the 2008 Cats.

Though, if you dig a tad deeper, you will find that it is still Sheedy's men that reign supreme.

Given Geelong's rigor mortis seize-up against Hawthorn in the grand final 13-years ago, they must be discounted as the best single-season side due to their claws missing the cup.

Geelong after going down to Hawthorn in the 2008 AFL Grand Final (Image: News Limited)

In regard to Jock McHale's Collingwood โ€˜Machine' in the midst of their four consecutive flags, they may have remained perfect from their 18 regular-season games that took place nearly a century ago, but when push came to shove in September, they too wilted.

Despite proving able to topple the Tigers by an average winning margin of 27-points from their pair of meetings at Victoria Park and Punt Road, when Collingwood and Richmond faced off at the MCG on semi-final day, it was the latter that reigned supreme by 62-points.

However, in what would be an incongruous move these days, McHale's men still progressed straight through to the grand final under the archaic challenge rule afforded to minor premiers until 1931.

Irrespective of the Woodsmen's victory in this secondary contest by just shy of three goals, the mere fact that the Coventrys, Colliers and company enjoyed a week off while the Tigers were forced to arm wrestle with Carlton in a โ€˜do or die' final takes some of the gloss off their 91-point turnaround.

As it took the wanton employment of cynical tactics to trip Essendon before they were able to win their stretch finals by an average margin of 76-points, there's little doubt in my mind that their most recent premiership marathon is the cleanest run by any team in history.

While there may be some dispute as to how long they are set to retain this crown, the almost socialistic induction of the draft and salary caps has levelled the playing field to the point where perfection is an impossibility.

And as perfection is what it would take to dethrone the likes of Lloyd, Lucas and Long, the crown jewels are likely to stay where they are for many seasons yet.

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