The day-after headlines were as predictable as the jibes about Collingwood supporters and their lack of dental hygiene - will the Magpies be the next AFL dynasty?

We ask the same question after every grand final and, thankfully, the AFL's new voice of reason, Leigh Matthews, shot it down quickly on Channel Seven's GameDay on Sunday morning.

"That is said after every premiership victory and occasionally you're right. Dynasties are a retrospective view. You don't look forward to a dynasty, you look back and say 'yeah, that's now been a dynasty'."

Matthews went on to say that his Brisbane Lions of 2001 to 2003 were certainly a dynasty, as was the Geelong of 2007 to 2009. Hawthorn, which upset the Cats to win the flag in 2008 was also touted as a dynasty in the making, yet has fizzled badly the last two seasons.

Interestingly and surprisingly, TAB Sportsbet have installed Hawthorn as $7 second favourite for next season. Apparently the installation of Luke Hodge as captain will be enough to shoot Hawks straight back up the ladder.

The favourites? Collingwood, of course, with the punters already buying all this talk of a dynasty.

Certainly a look at the Collingwood list would suggest that the club will be in contention for the next few seasons. So many of those who were so impressive for the Pies on Saturday are ridiculously young - Steele Sidebottom (19), Jarryd Blair (20), Ben Reid (21), Nathan Brown (21), Brent Macaffer (22), Dale Thomas (23), Alan Toovey (23), Travis Cloke (23), Dayne Beams (20), Chris Dawes (22) and Tyson Goldsack (23) would appear to have between eight and 10 years of top-level football left in them.

Of the rest of them, only Ben Johnson (29) would be thinking about his football mortality and even then, would he would appear to have at least two seasons left in him.

The Pies will turn over their list after this season. Shane O'Bree has retired, Simon Prestigiacomo and Tarkyn Lockyer may follow suit, while Josh Fraser, John Anthony and John McCarthy will be among those whose names will be bandied about on Tuesday when the trade period starts.

But there is a core in place that should have the Magpies in contention for the next few seasons, with the the usual caveats.

The first is injuries, which didn't help Hawthorn in the year after its premiership and which can cruel the aspirations of any contender. The second is attitude.

The third caveat is game plan. Collingwood's triumph this year was as much about the system employed as the talent on the park. Mick Malthouse's box formation, which he explained on Saturday night was inspired in part by the Roman Legions, General Erwin Rommel and basketball wasn't really picked apart all season, but you can bet it will be dissected heavily over the summer.

Malthouse himself suggested that another club will either successfully counter the formation next season, or come up with a new strategy of its own that will make it a premiership contender. This is not to say the Pies can't win it next year, because with a few refinements of his own, Malthouse would expect a top-four finish again in 2011 as a minimum.

But after that it will become Nathan Buckley's team and as Malthouse intimated on the weekend, if will then be the new coach's call about what to do with the team and what style of football it will embrace.

Matthews was right. There are too many uncertainties in football, and with Collingwood itself in the next couple of years, to brand this team a dynasty in the making. But they'd be quietly confident of not having to wait another 20 years to add another piece of silverware for the trophy cabinet.