ONE AND DONE?!

“The word is about, there's something evolving. Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving. They say the next big thing is here. That the revolution's near but to me it seems quite clear. That it's all just a little bit of history repeating.”

The Propellerheads’ 1998 hit History Repeating has so eloquently explained the new catchphrase creeping into the AFL’s vernacular, One and Done. This term describes how teams are finding it increasingly difficult to win back to back premierships. The One and Done phenomenon has cruelly taken another victim. Collingwood Magpies did not defend their crown as Premiers in 2024. The Pies’ slow start to the season meant that they were behind the 8-ball from the get go. A 9th placed finish extended the One and Done curse for another season, much to the delight of every footy fan who wasn’t a Pies supporter. 

The Geelong Cats were the outliers to the One and Done phenomenon due to their ageing list and winning the premiership in 2022 much to the surprise of most footballing experts. With the upcoming arrival of Bailey Smith from the Western Bulldogs and the retirements of Tom Hawkins and Zac Tuohy, who knows how The Pivotonians 2025 season will pan out. Uncle Oyster is praying to the footballing gods for one more grand final push before the eventual retirement of #35. 

The Melbourne Demons felt the wrath of One and Done with consecutive straight sets losses in consecutive finals campaigns in 2022 and 2023! The experts were spruiking about a Demons Dynasty for years to come. How the mighty have fallen. The Dees didn’t even make the Top 8 in 2024! The injury to superstar Christian Petracca was too significant a loss to cover. Even with a squad the envy of most rival clubs, the fall from grace for the Red and the Blue was spectacular! 

Similar talk was bandied about after The Western Bulldogs 2016 triumph against the Sydney Swans. 8 years later, the hangover from their 2021 second half Grand Final capitulation is still lurking in the shadows down at Whitten Oval. Will inspirational leader Marcus Bontempelli once again lead them to premiership glory? Unlikely. The West Coast Eagles’ 2018 Premiership win at the death against Collingwood also brought false hopes of reigniting another period of domination. Time will tell if the Eagles’ will rise from the ashes and once again be a footballing powerhouse. Harley Reid’s rookie season was reminiscent of the great Chris Judd’s back in 2002. If he is half the player Chris Judd was, the future's looking bright. 

The Brisbane Lions had arguably the greatest four week finals run winning elimination matches against Carlton, GWS, Geelong and Sydney to win the 2024 Grand Final. Three of these were away matches at Sydney Showground and the Colosseum of Melbourne. It was a well deserved premiership win after losing a heartbreaking grand final the year before. Chris Pagan orchestrated the Lions first premiership win since their three-peat ended 20 years previously. It’ll be interesting to see how the Woolloongabba Gorillas defend their crown in 2025 but with the young guns at their disposal, is it too soon to mention the possibilities of a dominating dynasty for years to come? It’s quite scary to think that reigning Norm Smith Medallist is only 20 years old! Kai Lohmann’s finals series was exceptional considering he is only 21 and about 30 games into his career. 19 year old Logan Morris is the likely candidate to take over from the retiring Smoking Joe Daniher as the key target up forward. The future is looking extremely bright for the Lions. 

So the question lies, will the Brisbane Lions continue their reign of terror or will they be another victim of the One and Done club? Time will tell! Whatever happens, there’s no doubt that Lachie Neale will continue to be the umpire’s special pet, and give him Brownlow Medal votes that he does not deserve. Uncle Oyster guarantees it!