Bailey Dale was being congratulated in the street following the Western Bulldogs' drought-breaking 2016 premiership.
The classy defender was then only 20 and didn't even play in the grand final.
But the magic of the club's first AFL/VFL premiership in 62 years lit up the western suburbs of Melbourne.
"We just had momentum going into that final series," Dale told AAP of the 2016 run.
"You only need to play four good games of footy from now on.
"To see how much impact it had on the people around there, hopefully we can do that this year.
"You walk down the street and you're getting people saying 'thank you' and pats on the back, everyone's saying congratulations - and I didn't even play in the game!
"So I can only imagine what those guys (that played) were getting when they were walking past people."
The comparisons between 2016 and the current-day Bulldogs are there for all to see.
Like the six other finals series the Bulldogs have qualified for under coach Luke Beveridge, this season they finished outside the top four, booking a blockbuster elimination final against Hawthorn at the MCG on Friday night.
In 2016, the seventh-placed Bulldogs won four straight finals - including two outside of Victoria - to claim the most unlikely of premierships.
One of those victories came against Hawthorn, who were vying to win a record-equalling four straight flags.
On the losing side for the Hawks that night was Taylor Duryea, who is now trying to help the Bulldogs win the third premiership in their history.
"Right on the (full-time) siren, I gave away a 50 (metre penalty)," Duryea told AAP.
"The game was over, but I threw the ball back at Caleb Daniel's feet after he got me holding the ball, then he kicked the goal."
Duryea switched to the Bulldogs in 2019, playing an important role in their charge to the 2021 grand final, which they lost against Melbourne.
The dual Hawks premiership player believes this group is more than capable of making it all the way to the decider, as the Bulldogs did in 2016 and 2021.
"It's up there in terms of the type of footy we've been playing, particularly since probably the Hawthorn loss (in round eight)," Duryea said.
"This type of footy feels like it's got good consistency to it across all phases of the game.
"In 2021, we were full of confidence and had a great team and put together a great season.
"It's hard to say whether we're in a better position than then, but we definitely feel like we're in a good spot to have a crack at this finals series and hopefully go all the way."
When the Bulldogs lost to Hawthorn, they slumped to 3-5 as the heat on Beveridge intensified after they had spectacularly missed finals last year.
"It was probably a bit of a moment where we thought we're going to probably change a few things up," Duryea said.
"As much as you want to think about a game plan or how you go about it, your style of footy, we were pretty much beaten up in the contest against the Hawks that day.
"That was one thing that we needed to get stronger at across the board, and then so many things flow from there."
The upcoming clash with the Hawks will be the Bulldogs' first final in Melbourne since the famous October day eight years ago.
After missing finals in 2017 and 2018, the Bulldogs were knocked out in an elimination final by GWS in Sydney in 2019.
During the COVID-affected seasons, the Bulldogs lost a final against St Kilda at the Gabba in 2020, before winning matches in Launceston, Brisbane and Adelaide just to qualify for the 2021 grand final held at Perth's Optus Stadium.
"To be able to play in front of family and friends, I'm super excited, and I know they are, too," Dale said.
"They've been waiting 10 years (Dale was drafted in 2014) to be able to watch a final in Melbourne with me playing in it."
