And we'd have lost. Adelaide were our absolute bogey team back then. We had only beaten them once in the previous yonks of seasons. West Coast did us a huge favour in getting rid of Adelaide in the finals in both 2005 and 2006 to give us at least some chance of winning.

Strangely, I look back at the 2006 grand final with a little fondness. Although we came up one point short, it was a wonderfully gutsy effort to come back from that dreadful first half and nearly pinch it - Kirk's dogged brilliance, some miraculous goals to nearly close the gap, and it was the game that was the making of Ted as a Swan. I'll never forget the moment late in the final quarter when he kicked the ball at almost right angles to where he'd intended and fell over in the process, all because he'd run himself to the absolute point of exhaustion.

It may have felt a whole lot different had we not finally broken the drought the previous year. That certainly softened the blow of losing in 2006.