The whole bottoming out thing is a myth. Apart from Hawthorn, no one bottoms out and hits rock bottom then rebounds to the top - and look at how lasting the Hawks success has been.
The Saints did.
The Saints still had the likes of Harvey, Burke, Loewe, Spider, Wakelin brothers, some of them grand final players. Must be one of the best poor sides of all-time. Then they ran into a couple of very good drafts.
And despite having the most 'talented' list, they've always failed at the final hurdle, all through the 00's. They are the exception that proves the rule that bottoming out doesn't work.
hmm or you could look at like the saints went from a team that made finals the odd couple of yrs but because they tanked are regular fianalists and at least give themselves a crack at one each yr.
it never ceases to amaze tanking is judged solely on if you win a premiership. never mind it drags teams up out of the bottom 4 and into top 4 contention regularly. sheesh what wouldnt the rfc give for a top 4 finish right now or even 3 or 4 yrs of finals mediocrity finishing 5 thru 8.
