That is the status of the Essendon Football Club after they showed no mercy this afternoon in disposing of Melbourne by 60 points to take out the 2000 Grand FInal.
Relentless, unyielding and uncompromising.
That was the way the Bombers did it, from the opening minutes to the dying seconds as they chalked up a memorable victory in front of 96,249 at the MCG.
And it was only fitting the captain James Hird was the recipient of the Norm Smith Medal for best player.
After struggling with injury for much of the past two seasons, Hird's has regained the form that saw him win the 1996 Brownlow Medal.
To Melbourne’s credit they were competitive in the first term, but simply weren’t in the same league as Essendon.
In fact, nobody was this year. And that is why this team will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
Despite the one-sided result, the match had its moments of confrontation as the Demons attempted rattle their opponents.
But the Bombers were having none of that, giving as good as they got and then some.
An unlikely goalkicker emerged in the form of Paul Barnard (4), whose performance was indicative of the versatility and evenness of this great outfit.
The star-studded Essendon forward line of Matthew Lloyd (4), James Hird (2) and Scott Lucas had a major say in proceedings as did Blake Caracella (3).
Dean Wallis’ hard play in defence along with Mark Johnson and Sean Wellman were significant in laying the foundations for the victory.
In Grand Finals even the most courageous of men commit the most fundamental errors, and today proved to be no exception to the rule.
Hesitation on some counts and simple errs in judgement on others resulted in goals for both sides.
An aborted handball from Anthony Ingerson gave Caracella his first goal while a superb tackle from Jeff Farmer on direct opponent Mark Johnson presented Stephen Powell with his second.
That pressure wasn’t limited to those in football jumpers as the men in white made their share of blues, one dropping the ball decision in favour of Mark Mercuri leading to a Matthew Lloyd goal and jeers from the Melbourne supporters.
But it was the Bombers, with poised running and delivery of the football, who settled first.
Caracella in his typical graceful style was creating havoc for the Demons as was Hird, leading opponent Alistair Nicholson to the ball on several occassions.
Several fiery exchanges between Wallis and Demon David Schwarz saw the latter leave the field late in the final term under the blood rule after a clash in the goal square.
However, several golden scoring opportunities were wasted by the Bombers due to some ill-directed kicks at goal.
Despite having fifteen shots at goal to seven at the eight minute mark of the second term, the Bombers were only thirteen points in front.
But in the end, the glut of posession the Bombers enjoyed throughout the match rendered this insignificant.
Undaunted by the seemingly endless streams of Bomber-directed kicks inside fifty, Melbourne defenders Anthony Ingerson and Matthew Collins spoiled well and gave no quarter.
With the tempo of the match evening out in the second term, Essendon began to assert their dominance.
Several Bombers began to lose their opponents while the Demons struggled to penetrate past half-forward.
Hird was looking extremely dangerous up front, kicking his second early in the term with the Essendon midfield moving the ball smoothly from defence into attack.
The match turned ugly in the minutes before half-time when Micheal Long effected an illegal bump to the head of Demon ruckman Troy Symmonds.
Symmonds was carried from the ground on a stretcher, but not before some aggressive remonstration from the Melbourne players.
With proceeding at flash point, the umpires did well to hold the situation in check and prevent a full-blown melee.
But despite dominating play for much of the term and going into the break 41 points ahead, the Bombers would have been praying their inaccuracy would not come back to haunt them.
Despite staring down the barrel of defeat and facing a potential nightmare afternoon, the Dees rallied somewhat in the second half, to at least match the Bombers in the first fifteen minutes.
Two goals to captain Neitz and some good play from Russell Roberston gave Melbourne a glimmer of hope.
With Jeff White showing John Barnes a thing or two on the art of rucking and the Melbourne defence holding steady, Melbourne were looking as good as they had been all day.
But there is no doubting the power of this awesome Bombers line-up, who cranked up another gear and laid on the next four goals.
The glimmer that Dees supporters were so desperatley hanging on to was all but absorbed in the shadows of the Ponsford stand when Coleman Medallist Matthew Lloyd booted his third after strong mark.
It was all one way traffic in the final term, with the only point left to ponder being the winner of the Norm Smith Medal.
The Dees were merely spectators as Essendon gleefully went about their business to well and truly erase any bad memories that may have been lingering after their debacle the previous year.
Brownlow Medallist Shane Woewodin had a fair day, but not even his fairy tale was going to have a happy ending.
He left the field late in the final term holding a hamstring, adding to a long list of Melbourne injuries.
Apart from Woewodin and Symmonds, Brad Green busted a shoulder in the first term and Paul Walsh carried a leg injury throughout the second half.
