I have been on the "In The Wings" waiting list for a membership seat for a few years now. I went to all the homes games in 05 including some interstate games. It was exciting times to be an Eagles supporter. Come finals time me and a mate were lucky enough to get tickets for the finals games. When the Eagles beat Adelaide at Subiaco we lined up all night to get our tickets for the GF and after lining up for hours we secured 2 tickets to the big game, we headed home and started to look at some accommodation and flights but to our horror all the flights were sold out. After looking around at all the options, we decided to book 2 seats on the greyhound coach and on Thursday morning we head to East Perth bus station to start our journey over to Melbourne to hopefully watch the eagles hold up the cup on the last Saturday in September. After 2 and a half days of travel, little sleep and no shower we were in Melbourne. A quick sleep, shower and lunch and we we're ready to go. Our seats at the G were in the top tier, I got shivers soon as I got a look at the ground. I won't go into the game we all know what happened that day, I was left sitting in the grandstand head in my scarf thinking about what could have been.
 
In 2006 I knew the eagles were more than capable to go one step further. When I got home from the 05 GF I booked some flights for September 06 and after another dominate season again my mate and I found ourselves with tickets to the Grand Final. This time we took our partners and went in the luxury of a plane. Our seats at the G this time were in the exact same block and there was a number of people we had seen the year before. Again I sat through a nail biter of a game between Eagles and Swans. When that siren went I jumped from my seat and hugged every one I could see. I'll never forget that day, watching the players collect the medals and hold the cup up.
 
Some supporters will never get to see their footy team achieve the ultimate success. The Eagles have given me the opportunity to this. To watch them work so hard and fall short in 2005 then get back there again in 2006 and take the cup was an experience I'll never forget. The personal experience of bussing it over and watching them loose in 05 made the experience of 06 so much sweeter.
 
I look forward to watching the eagles climb back up to be a top team and challenge for another flag.
 
David Salt.