Witness the ruthless Kangaroos of 1999, Essendon's complete machine in 2000 or the Port Adelaide 'chokers' of 2004 - nothing was going to stop them gaining redemption.
Publicly at least, Geelong's 2009 mantra is calm and simple - "business as usual".
If there has been any gnashing of teeth or sense of mission at the Cattery, they have kept it in-house.
"We do everything we can to try to get to that one day, we put everything into it and it didn't work," says coach Mark Thompson.
"Apart from that day, we had a pretty terrific season, (but) it certainly didn't work out for us the way we planned.
"It's disappointing, but we have to live with that - we can't dwell on it too much.
"We haven't looked backwards, we're looking forward to 2009 and I think we've improved our team, improved our club."
The obvious difference between these Cats and, say, the Power five years ago is that Geelong have already won a premiership.
This group understands what it takes and, even more importantly, knows it can do it.
Nothing should detract from Hawthorn's courage and iron discipline on grand final day, when they upset Geelong for the flag.
But everyone knows that if the Cats had converted a couple of those scoring chances that went begging either side of half-time, psychologically the effect would have been huge.
And it is Geelong's attack that looms as the most fascinating part of their game this season.
Cam Mooney and Steve Johnson have been the key members of a forward set-up where the goals are shared evenly and often.
Geelong have boasted the most potent attack for the last two years.
While Nathan Ablett has decided against an AFL career, Ryan Gamble is showing strong pre-season form and Thompson is excited about Tom Hawkins' prospects after a foot injury ruined last year.
"He's not a problem at all, he's as lean as he's ever been, he looks absolutely fantastic," Thompson says of Hawkins.
"He hasn't had any setbacks, all we've done is be very cautious because he really is a very important player for the club for the next 10 years."
At the other end of the ground, captain Tom Harley has endured a frustrating pre-season as he overcomes knee surgery.
But Thompson points out that players such as Harley and Johnson are not vital in the NAB Cup - it is September when they must be fit.
Harry Taylor has impressed at centre half-back in Matthew Egan's extended absence, while Matthew Scarlett and Darren Milburn marshall one of the meanest AFL defences of the last decade.
Just as the defence has iron discipline, the Cats midfield oozes class and creativity.
Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Joel Corey, Joel Selwood and run-with specialist Cameron Ling are outstanding.
The Cats need Mark Blake to improve as the ruck backup to Brad Ottens, but even if they do not gain first use of the ball they still win the midfield more often than not.
Thompson's quiet, calm confidence in his team is well-placed.
"It's been business as usual, we haven't had to do anything - we probably knew we wouldn't have to.
"We have a mature playing list, we're all hurt from last year, they've come back and put their heads down - they've trained particularly well.
"We've done what we've done every other year, sat down and tried to work out where the game is going and what we need to do to keep up with it, maybe try to get ahead of it.
"What we've seen in footy this year, we seem to be on the money and we've tried a few different things at training.
"No doubt, we're going to have to lift our game to suit the needs of it.
"I think we're one of the better sides in the competition, no doubt, we're one of the teams that have a chance."
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
