From an outside perspective, a pre-season premiership might seem like an insignificant achievement.
Practice matches are now seen as a way to test new players, to try new strategies and get the team ready for what lies ahead in the AFL season.
On paper it may not look like much but Geelong's triumph in the 2006 NAB Cup saw a club, that had been starved of success, get a taste of glory and gave the Cats young core that winning feeling.
From 1988 through to 2013, the V/AFL established a pre-season competition that would see teams play in a knockout tournament with the loser of each match eliminated.
Across the competition's history Geelong had been competitive reaching four Grand Finals, but symptomatic of their struggles in the regular season, the Cats failed to take home a premiership losing all four deciders.
With Geelong's Premiership drought extending beyond 40 years, the club and its supporters were longing for a taste of success.
When the 2006 NAB Cup rolled around, it marked 43 years since the Cats last triumph when Bob Davis and Fred Wooller led their team to the 1963 VFL Premiership.
The 2006 edition of the NAB Cup had some different rules, including a nine-point super goal for any goal kicked from outside the 50 metre arc.
Geelong started their campaign with a solid 28 point win over Carlton, backing that up with victories over North Melbourne (26 points) and Fremantle (20 points) to progress through to the NAB Cup Grand Final.
Featuring in the Grand Final clash against Adelaide were future household names such as Gary Ablett Junior, Jimmy Bartel, Matthew Scarlett, Corey Enright and Paul Chapman.
The Cats trailed for much of the night, but three goals to Cam Mooney and a super goal from Joel Corey in the final quarter helped to lift Geelong to an eight point win at AAMI Stadium, securing the club's first title in 43 years.
It might have been a pre-season premiership but it meant more than that to the Geelong Football Club, evident at the annual family day shortly after which saw Kardinia Park packed with Cats fans to celebrate the success.
But as Cameron Ling remembers, the win also helped to recognise the deficiencies in the team and what they needed to change to be competitive in the regular AFL season.
Reminiscing on the success, Ling told the Geelong Advertiser that it was an eye opening moment for Geelong's young core, experiencing success but understanding how much further they had to go to reach the ultimate glory.
“There was too much made of it but I don’t think we knew what to do as a group after winning something,” Ling said.
“We enjoyed it a bit too much and then won the first two games of the year by heaps and started to believe our own hype. We didn’t understand what it took at that stage.
“We didn’t celebrate like we’d won a premiership but we celebrated like we had achieved something special and while it was nice to win, it wasn’t what we were playing for. We had a lot more important things to do and we didn’t do it that year.
“It was a good snapshot of where the group was realistically at as far as maturity and what it took to be a great team that won premierships. You win a NAB Cup grand final and two games and think you’re flying, but that just says to me you don’t fully understand the mental approach you need and the preparation you need to have genuine success.”
