As I purchased a couple of new internal doors for Chateau Thomas last weekend, a thought popped into my head as I waited for the paperwork to be completed.

The chap behind the desk at a well-known supplier and installer of windows and doors was tidying up the transaction when the conversation shifted to the NRL. He is a Parramatta fan. Being a loyal member of the blue and white I resisted the temptation to rip his heart out and spit on his forlorn carcass as it lay on the floor.

Surprisingly, he seemed like a nice bloke. Perhaps he was thinking the same thing about me.

After a brief discussion around his ‘rubbish’ team and the disastrous season of the Bulldogs, I asked him.

“Do you have any of those premiership windows?”

He looked at me as if I was an idiot and as my wife constantly reminds me, perhaps I am. He didn’t verbally respond, rather he delved deeply into his memory bank and his seemingly considerable knowledge of the products in his warehouse.

After about ten seconds he said, “What is a premiership window?”

I replied, “I don’t know, I haven’t seen one at the Bulldogs for a while.”

It is a strange term, with implications that a certain NRL team is ripe, poised, primed and laden with the talent and new recruits required to make a serious run at the premiership.

Throw in an experienced coach, corporate support and a fan based hyped by all the positivity and potential of the squad and semi-finals here we come.

Unfortunately, in a salary capped competition where equalisation is the underlying intent of the lever, there appears to be a few teams wandering around the show room floor, unable to even locate the windows section, let alone the premiership one that would bring some hope back to the loyal fans.

Quite frankly, the Titans have never seen one and are relying purely on flyscreens at their place. Despite a couple of solid seasons in 2009/10 and an eighth place finish in 2016, their twelve season existence is marred with disappointment and low finishes.

The Raiders are in much the same boat. Amidst the hype and bravado so often associated with Ricky Stuart coached teams, the underlying reality is that this current squad is well outside the window, despite an overachieving 2016.

The Tigers are in much the same space, having not finished higher than ninth since 2012 and looking like emulating that performance in 2018. In spite of the odd great day, Wests are another example of a club chasing the daylight that is running a solid second behind the real contenders.

Manly-Warringah once possessed a stunning gold trimmed frame with a crystal clear window through which to peer. Sadly, the 2008 and 2011 premierships, built on the shoulders of back ended contracts designed at the Des Hasler Institute of Unsustainable Economics, are well in the past.

The club has since been an also ran, attempting to rebuild a base off which to launch in the future and some success they have had. Hasler went on to perfect his craft at the Bulldogs.

North Queensland’s story appears to be unfolding before our very eyes as it enters life without Johnathan Thurston. With his loyal and competent supporting cast, JT was the basic structure of the Cowboys’ window and they appear to be entering a significant period of regeneration without his presence.

The decision to let Kalyn Ponga go may haunt them for some time.

The Warriors look to have ordered the timber, purchased the glass and prepared for installation before getting screwed by an unreliable tradie and their window, despite everyone telling me it is there, never really arrives.

The Dragons have heaps of windows. They are all over the place. Unfortunately, the installers tend to use Perkins’ Paste and the entire structure crashes to the ground just as people begin to become interested in it.

The clichéd junior nursery and catchment area of Penrith has them supposedly moving into a window that, many feel, could produce multiple premierships. A little stability in the coaching ranks would help this process. Personally, I’ll believe it when I see it; doubting Thomas that I am.

And then there are those seemingly always in the window. The Broncos, Sharks, Bunnies and Roosters have representative stars on their books, considerable resources and despite the salary cap restrictions, find a way to contend each and every year.

Lastly, the inventor of windows, Melbourne Storm. In fact, I am pretty sure the head office of the club is just one enormous wrap around glass structure. In its 21 year history, Melbourne has missed the finals on three occasions and one of those for the most unsavoury of reasons.

When I Googled ‘premiership window’ for my research on this piece, there was a picture of Craig Bellamy in the results. I guess that says it all.