... can we PLEASE win the Grand Final for a change?

It's been 99 years since South Melbourne won the 1918 Premiership after finishing on top of the ladder. Since then, South Melbourne or Sydney have finished on top of the ladder six times. Each time, we have made the Grand Final only to lose it. We seem to find new and creative ways of losing the Grand Final in those years.

1935 - Finish on top with a 16-2 record. Bob Pratt gets hit by a truck the day before the match. South Melbourne loses the Grand Final to Collingwood by 20 points.
1936 - Finish on top with a 16-2 record. South Melbourne loses the Grand Final to Collingwood by 11 points.
1945 - Finish on top with a 16-4 record. South Melbourne becomes the first side to lose to the fourth-placed team in the Page-McIntyre finals system, to Carlton by 28 points. We also lost the fights by having more players suspended for longer.
1996 - Finish on top with a 16-5-1 record. Lost the only Grand Final in history contested for a solid gold premiership cup, to North Melbourne by 43 points.
2014 - Finish on top with a 17-5 record. Set a new record for largest losing margin by a minor Premier in the Grand Final, by 63 points.
2016 - Finish on top with a 17-5 record. Became the first side to lose a Grand Final under the current finals system to a side from outside the top four.

Grand Finals won after finishing on top: 1909, 1918 (under the Argus finals system where the Minor Premier had a right of challenge). South Melbourne also lost one Grand Final after finishing on top under the Argus system, in 1912.

Seasons in which we finished on top but did not make the Grand Final: Nil. Before 1931, the minor premier always made a Grand Final after the right of challenge became unrestricted in 1907.