The average footy fan who was not a supporter of either of the competing teams may have taken some interest but realistically is still waiting for "the real stuff" to arrive, while I think most Essendon fans were thrilled with their club's direction.
As for the premiers and their fans, a little bit more silverware in the trophy cabinet is handy but they have their eyes firmly fixed on a far bigger prize and that is back to back AFL premierships.
In recent weeks there has been great debate on the value of the NAB Cup as a lead up to the home and away season. Do teams take it seriously, are they all trying, is anyone interested and is there a better way to do it?
These questions seem to arise at this time every year. The reality is that all clubs are in different stages of development, while also coming off varying pre-seasons.
Preparation and injuries will have them adjust their NAB Cup and NAB Challenge squads virtually to the last moment.
Clubs spend an enormous amount of discussion time regarding the preparation of playing minutes required for each individual on the playing lists, but changes will be made as most clubs at this time of the year take a "no risk policy" into this month of football.
List management is also a critical component of the structure of teams through the NAB Series with all clubs taking varying approaches.
As the Sydney Swans did under Paul Roos for many years, they used the NAB Series to view the progression of their younger players who were not gaining senior opportunity.
Roos believed in a settled senior line-up throughout the official season so this competition at least allowed him to "seed" his younger players in their readiness to be next in line for a senior berth.
Other clubs believe a month of full-scale warm-ups with a settled team allows them to hit the AFL premiership season in round one with a full head of steam.
A third type of club is regularly seen in this environment and they are clubs who do not want to build up unrealistic expectation and hype prior to the opening of the season.
You usually find that they will pick a young squad but still play enough senior bodies so that they don't get belted.
One issue that has arisen with more media scrutiny on the game is that teams over the past few years have been written off on the back of practice match (NAB Cup) results, which realistically shouldn’t be used as a perfect measuring stick.
We have seen teams play well and poorly in this series and it may have no impact either way on the season as it is a marathon journey played over seven months .
Personally I find it fascinating to watch the varied preparation.
The Bulldogs (after last year’s NAB premiership) and the Hawks decided not to show their full hand in the first week of the NAB Cup, but still got great value in blooding some young future stars.
Essendon have been excited all summer and their players are portraying that attitude and approach. In my belief they have thought it good to be able to practice their new structures and plans in more realistic conditions plus they have a tough opening five weeks so they need to hit the ground running.
As for the premiers, they simply have been out to make a statement from day one: No premiership hangover here.
As for the NAB Cup going forward, I think it completely depends upon the structure of an 18-team competition and its fixture in 2012.
The first question I always have is: "What will replace it?"
I prefer solutions rather than problems. Any pre-season format will never be embraced by everyone, so unless there is a better alternative I wouldn’t change for change sake.
As a romantic, I would still love to see one day where we hit round one of the AFL season with no exposed form.
Teams have been able to play intra-club matches or games against marginal leagues (i.e. SANFL, VFL, WAFL, etc).
This would place even more emphasis on a club's football department being smarter and better organised than the opposition to structure the best possible outcomes for the first AFL match.
Imagine the build up to all the round one games when supporters either have not seen their team since the final round of the last season, or when they were knocked out of the finals series.
If you are Collingwood your last view was the boys holding up the premiership cup. The excitement levels would be at fever pitch.
Regardless of how this month looks, by now every AFL team is just itching to get the season started and all of us who love the game concur.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
