It's now or never!

[Lods]

That brings up the old discussion point - would you rather not play in a GF if you were a serious underdog or still be there and risk a beating?
These days just to make a GF is a great achievement and many players and supporters will have to accept that as being as good at it may get. Years ago, with 12 teams and us being a power team, we expected flags every so many years.
Personally I'd take a GF loss over a prelim final loss (or finishing out of contention) - sure the loss would hurt but as the saying goes 'there is always next year'. Glass half full for me.

It's an interesting point...
The 1999 Grand Final was one of mixed emotions.

We'd really probably played our 'Grand Final' the week before.
That win against  Essendon had most supporters thinking that was a pretty good year.
Even now, 25 years later that 'prelim win' ranks right up there with a flag.
I suppose it boils down to expectations.
If you expect to win you'll be much more disappointed if you lose.
If you expect to struggle and you 'beat the odds' the win means so much more.

I don't think any two flag wins are the same in a supporter's eyes.
The ones that stand out for me are 1970, 1972,1995.
I struggle to remember much about the others without referring back to match reports.

Yes, no doubt some supporters will share this opinion. For me, a GF just feels too close to fail. Also, and I most certainly haven't looked into this (and I'm happy to be corrected), but I suspect the players are more shell shocked after a GF loss and it affects their performance the following year.

A GF loss can probably have two very different outcomes for a side in the following year.
Some teams struggle with the loss, others use it as a spur for the next year.