Well done KL,
I too have had numerous conversations with Club staff and officials and get the same confidence you do. There is a bigger picture with where we are heading and it's all good.
The club IS going in the right direction, but unfortunatly, the supporters can't visibly see the foundations being laid. It's not going to be a case of next year and every year onwards we can compete with Collingwood, Brisbane etc, but it'll gradually improve to the point that we wont realise the improvement has occured. I'd rather a gradual rise to the finals than finals next year.