It's an 18 team competition. The odds of any of those 4 winning a flag in the next 5 years is very remote. More-so when you consider the likelihood that next year's flag is statistically more likely to come from somebody who finishes in the finals this year.
You're quite right about dynasties, we're seeing Richmond in mid-dynasty, Port or Brisbane might be starting one and WCE and Geelong potentially too.
But I see no reason why Hawthorn and Sydney are organisationally stronger than Carlton. Hawthorn are going to spend all their time and effort on Dingley, which, from experience, isn't likely to change the world but will certainly cost plenty.
Not sure why Carlton or Melbourne don't have "a flag in them".
Interesting a Hawthorn person would take a swipe at the organisation of Melbourne and being unable to win a flag when last time Hawthorn had a down period they tried to merge with them.
It's simple really: the management at both clubs hasn't changed markedly over the past decade. Logiudice still remains at Carlton as President, and Bartlett still remains at Melbourne. This is despite the same culture of losing existing for over a decade, and literally nothing changing except the coaching staff.
Culture is built within a club, and is recognized over a very long period of time. Melbourne and Carlton have accepted 'honourable losses' for the better part of a decade, whereas clubs like Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong refuse to bottom out - Sydney is already showing signs of this. Even if Hawthorn are down for a few years, they'll rebound quicker because that 'winning culture' is ingrained in their club ethos. Nothing will change at Melbourne, Carlton, North, and Essendon for that matter, if significant cultural change doesn't occur within the administration - think Dodoro at Essendon and his stubbornness, and the rapid appointment of Rhys Shaw at North with no experienced heads around him by Ben Buckley and co. That requires more than bandaid fixes, that requires a recognition that those in charge aren't good for the club, and they need to move on.
P.S. this doesn't come from elitism or bias towards more recently successful clubs (including my own). Carlton are my second team due to my partner and my love of Cripps, Docherty and now Walsh, but the problems with their management are undeniable. The same are reflected in the other aforementioned clubs, which is a big part of the problem IMO
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