Looking back it's hard to believe the Western Bulldogs were the buzz team of 2007.
The Bulldogs went into this season widely tipped to be the big improvers and even possible premiership contenders but after their round 19 capitulation to Melbourne it's clear Rodney Eade's team is just making up the numbers this year.
And it's not as if they have gone backwards this season, rather it's a more a case of the team going into the year overrated and mostly on the back of just one performance in 2006 - its remarkable elimination final demolition of Collingwood.
With three rounds remaining the Bulldogs are one of six teams fighting it out for the last place on offer in next month's finals series but right now even eighth spot seems well out of reach.
Given their terrible percentage the Dogs would have to win their last three matches to be assured of a second successive finals berth but given they travel to Adelaide next week and finish the season with games against second-placed Hawthorn and the fifth-placed Kangaroos, it's hard to see the Bulldogs winning another game.
But while on the surface that seems a major disappointment, in reality they have not dropped off much from last year.
Remember the Dogs only fell into last year's finals series - their first since 2000 - when they finished eighth despite winning only three of their last seven matches.
They went into the elimination final against fifth-placed Collingwood as rank outsiders yet won by 41 points in front of more than 84,000 fans - the biggest crowd the club had played in front of since its last grand final appearance way back in 1961.
Such was the way the Bulldogs' youngsters played on the big stage that day, that it seemed greatness was almost inevitable this year.
It was almost forgotten that they were humiliated by eventual premiers West Coast by 74 points the following week, particularly when they then recruited controversial former Lion and 2001 Brownlow Medalist Jason Akermanis.
But while Akermanis has been serviceable, his best days are well behind him and their other big name recruit this season in key forward Andrew McDougall has been an abject failure - which has only continued to highlight the club's lack of key position players.
And it's a situation that is only going to get worse with the imminent retirement of veteran ruckman and former skipper Luke Darcy while the future of another former skipper in Chris Grant - the team's best key position player over the past 15 years - is in jeopardy following a knee injury sustained on the weekend leaving the club with two huge holes to fill.
The remarkable performances of the 182cm Brad Johnson in attack in recent years has masked the Dogs' lack of firepower and it was notable his absence on Saturday night due to injury - only the sixth game he has missed in his entire career - coincided with the club's worst performance of the season.
But it's not just in attack where the Dogs are lacking.
The defence is over-reliant on full-back Brian Harris, who himself is prone to making silly errors, while the midfield relies almost solely on the hard-ball winning abilities of veteran Scott West and his protégé Daniel Cross.
There have been positive signs this year with the polished debut seasons of Andrejs Everitt