The rebuild isn’t complete after you win a flag, it’s once you start continuously making finals and contending. Some sides go through rebuilds and never win a flag, doesn’t mean the rebuild never finished.
We weren't winning anything without Nankervis, Caddy Prestia and even Graham all taken in 2016 and all obviously played in the 17 flag.
Thats a continuation of the rebuild that started in 2006. Why 2006? easy because thats as far back as we can go for players who played in the premiership.
We could take it back to 2004 where we actually bottomed out with a spoon and got a new coach..
Then proceeded to bottom out in 09 with a second last place and proceeded to get a new coach. Or was it 07 when we won just 3 games and got a wooden spoon. The thing is the better players we had came to us in this period 06 - 09 and were the core of the 17 flag.
Our 2017 premiership players were aquired from 2006 with Riewoldt and Edwards and culminated in 2016 with Prestia, Caddy, Nankervis, and Graham.
The reality is all teams are in perpetual rebuild. Determining where a team bottoms out and starts a new is the hard part to determine.
From bottom in 04 to Flag in 17 with at least two unexpected bottoms outs inbetween took a total of 13 years.