Eagles V Central

[whufc]

Wasn't there a mass exodus when Laird took over after the 2002 Grand Final loss and on short notice when Clarkson left.

Apart from the first premiership obviously I think 2003 flag had the most first time premiership players during the dynasty being:

-Schell
-Sibenaler
-Cochrane
-Thomas
-Cowan
-Sansbury
-Switala

[StrayDog]

The Club had a total of 62 premiership players, which means an average of 5 new faces on the podium for each flag after 2000. For arguments sake, I'll ignore the losing GF years.

Either Laird (and the Club) was no stranger to players leaving during his time, or he was doing enough during his time to maintain a no bullshit winning culture that players were wanting to stay a part of a winning flags. Or maximising their exposure for the next level (if not both.)

Getting a Club into the spotlight is one thing. Keeping it there, or even competitive, is something else - as a couple of other clubs have ably demonstrated in the last eight seasons.