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1. It's actually 'reigning premier' - but I understand why Carlton supporters are so unfamiliar with the spelling and concept.I have some sympathy for this line of thinking - which is why a reasonable person would agree that Collingwood were not better than Carlton in 2023 - both teams won a game each against other and Collingwood due to some dubious umpiring decisions finished one game ahead in finals - which of course wouldn't have happened if Collinwgood had to play against Carlton in a preliminary final - instead of fluking an umpire assisted win against GWS and then fluking a win due to poor umpiring again ( if not biased) against Brisbane.
In fact I would suggest that the argument posted above has more gravitas since Collingwood "raining premiership" year has exposed Collingwood as being a middling Club battling to even make finals.
2. You've forgotten about the 4 to 5 game buffer Collingwood had on Carlton after the home and away rounds (regardless of the dead rubber Collingwood played against Carlton late in the season).