There are no guarantees in football. We may not make the 8 next year. Look at Hawthorn. It is such an incredible achievement to make a Prelim, it takes a long pre-season, good recruitment, player and team management, luck with injuries, winning enough games to get in the top 4, and a lack of a dominating team like Geelong of the last two years etc etc.
There is plenty of room for optimism, I am a natural optimist and throughout these finals believed the Dogs would win the premiership. However our chance of winning the flag with this team may have ended with this prelim, only time will tell. Fate has to shine on you. Good management is not enough.
We can only hope and if you're a Bulldogs supporter you have that in buckets. Love you guys and the journey we share. Thanks for your posts throughout the year, previously my supporting was a lonely thing, you helped me share it.