IT is the sort of moment that inspired an American sporting great to mangle the English and French languages at the same time. "It's like déjà vu all over again," baseball legend Casey Stengle would say.
Port Adelaide today is seeking to complete a mission that has fallen short in 2020 (preliminary final loss to Richmond), 2021 (preliminary final loss to the Western Bulldogs) and last season (semi-final loss to Greater Western Sydney).
Sounds familiar to 2001-2003 - a semi-final loss (to Hawthorn) followed by preliminary final defeats to Brisbane and Collingwood.
Before the premiership triumph in 2004, coach Mark Williams was subjected to the public criticism of a major club sponsor, prompting the famous "Allan Scott, you were wrong!" remark on collecting the AFL trophy at the MCG.
Ken Hinkley has had a similar torment or two in recent times.
In 2004, Port Adelaide was smacked to a 92-point defeat from North Melbourne at the Docklands in round eight; this season, there is that well-noted 79-point loss at home to Brisbane when the club was reliving the 2004 grand final triumph against the three-peat Lions.
And the injury list in 2004 and today has a similar scar - captain Matthew Primus and Josh Francou with knee injuries then; Sam Powell-Pepper with his own knee injury from Round 7 and Kane Farrell by injury now. And then of course the suspended Dan Houston.
Each of the 2004 and 2024 campaigns powered Port Adelaide to the top four with eight wins during the last nine home-and-away games.
And the fourth crack at the title is to begin with a home qualifying final against Geelong ... at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
It's like déjà vu all over again!
"Funny how that has turned out," says Matthew Bishop, the ever-reliable defender brought to Port Adelaide in 2000 while Williams built the most-assertive football program to deliver success at Alberton since his father Fos had a golden generation for a golden era during the 1950s.
"Today's group is in a similar spot to where we were in 2004 ... who knows how it will turn out this time. It does have a good feeling about it."
Bishop will return to his Port Adelaide home this weekend to reunite with his 2004 premiership team-mates knowing history has to be made by today's playing group rather than relived by their predecessors.
"That is Port Adelaide - always striving for more and more success," says Bishop who today lives in his family territory in east Melbourne, working in real estate for the past eight years.
Port Adelaide has for the past decade won more home-and-away games than any AFL rival. From 2001-2004, it was the dominant contender from March to September as measured with three consecutive minor premierships, the McClelland Trophy.
"But the journey became very disappointing for three years in September," says Bishop, who came to Port Adelaide at the end of 1999 after 18 matches in two seasons at Melbourne.
"And 2003 tops the list for disappointments .... That finals campaign was the most disappointing ... and probably the one that forced us to deal with that monkey that was on our back."
It was a gorilla more so than a monkey.
In 2001, Port Adelaide rebounded from the horror show that was its close to the 20th century. After a 16-6 count in the home-away series, Port Adelaide made a straight-sets exit from finals losing the away qualifying final to Brisbane by 32 points and the home semi-final to Hawthorn by three points at Football Park.
In 2002, the club's first AFL minor premiership was built on an 18-4 win-loss record in the qualifiers ... and Collingwood, without Nathan Buckley, stung Port Adelaide by 13 points in the home qualifying final. The campaign ended at the Gabba with a 56-point belting from the premiership-bound Brisbane.
In 2003 it was supposed to be different after again finishing the home-and-away series with an 18-4 record.
This time it was the injury-hit Sydney that stung Port Adelaide by two goals in the home qualifying final at Football Park where legendary radio commentator Rex Hunt had to deal with Swans great Daryn Cresswell telling him to stick his pre-game predictions up his ....
Port Adelaide had to deal with the chokers tag.
"We beat Essendon the next week," recalls Bishop. "But that loss to Collingwood in the preliminary final at the G really hurt.
"That was the big kick in the guts. And after three final series as we had," adds Bishop who lived every final during the 2001-2004 campaign, "we could have gone either way. We could have collapsed ... or we could have changed the storyline."
There was a resilience that matches the Port Adelaide of today, as noted by Ken Hinkley.
"It's just so hard to get to the end, and it's a real test of endurance," notes Hinkley. "But the test that I love the most is the willingness to keep coming back and having a go. Because you get asked plenty of times whether you should, and we keep saying, 'Yeah, we want to keep trying' which I love."
In the lead-up to the 2004 flag Port Adelaide had to climb a mountain - Mount Harper in Christchurch, New Zealand - to complete the arduous ascent to the top of the AFL peak at the MCG on the last Saturday in September.
"We were smashed by Collingwood in that preliminary final in 2003," recalls Bishop of the 44-point ending. "Some home truths were dealt with after that match.
"We had a really good pre-season camp in New Zealand. That is where we dealt with all that had stopped us. We became galvanised to one goal. Our team ethos was born there on that pre-season camp. We had worked to team themes before, but this time we put an even stronger emphasis on what it meant to be a team.
"Everyone became so determined to finish what we had started late in 2000. And some of us were at that stage of our career that this was now or never."
Port Adelaide closed the 2004 home-and-away series with a 17-5 count that delivered the minor premiership and a home qualifying final against Geelong in the Saturday afternoon timeslot at Football Park.
"Beautiful day, sun shining ... and we started really well," recalls Bishop of the three-goal lead at quarter-time that became eight at half-time. Not even Port Adelaide could choke on that.
"Yeah that monkey," says Bishop. "Everyone was talking about that monkey in the build-up. We really needed to get it off our back. To win that first final (by 55 points) was a huge relief. But there was still plenty to play out in that final series.
"Why did we get that chokers tag? I would love to have the answer to that. We don't start finals intending to lose them. The qualifying final against Collingwood in 2002 was tough. The one against Sydney in 2003 was a bad day, a really bad day. The qualifying final against Geelong was the result of all we had learned along the way ... and we still had that preliminary final against St Kilda to get through. What a game that was," adds Bishop of the dramatic six-point win on a Friday night at Football Park.
"From those nightmares of not getting through the preliminary finals in 2002 and 2003, we were now living every kid's dream in 2004."
And Mark Williams challenged Bishop and his fellow defenders in the lead-up to the grand final against Brisbane that marked the first VFL-AFL premiership play-off without a Victorian team.
"Mark put us in grey jumpers at training on the Wednesday," Bishop recalls. "He told us we had to add flair to what had become boring. He wanted us to add polka dots to the grey. We had to add colour.
"We had to take the game on rather than be stagnant. We had to run hard out of the back lines to set up the game. We had to take on the game rather than chip the ball or go sideways in defence.
"That message was ringing in my ears all the way through the grand final.
"Our strategy was to out-run Brisbane. If we were with them to half-time and three quarter-time, we knew we would out-run them in the last quarter. And that is how it played out."
Bishop served Port Adelaide well in the football administration after closing his 150-game career, particularly with his forthright assessments during the reviews during the dark hours before the revival that has unfolded in the Ken Hinkley era.
The lessons from the 2001-2004 campaign are so relevant when it is déjà vu all over again. So if Bishop stood before today's playing group at Alberton, what advice would he leave with them?
"Stick together," Bishop. "And take the game on.
"I do enjoy watching this group - they are exciting and I do admire how they turned things around since the loss to Brisbane. They are playing well and with a good spread of players contributing, just as we had in that qualifying final against Geelong in 2004. Funny how it has turned out to be Geelong again this time.
"Mark Williams would always tell us to play to our strengths," adds Bishop. "Yes, work on your weaknesses but stick to your strengths, he would say. And enjoy the experience because you never know when you will get this chance again."
From 2001-2004, a special Port Adelaide group made sure it did not give up until the monkey was waved off with a flag. In 2024, is it déjà vu all over again?
