Yes, and yes.

But it's the Australian way, and everyone knows the rules when they sign the participation agreement.

Finals football is different. It's tougher, more physical, mentally demanding and is a pressure cooker through which only the strongest survive.

Victory, under first Ernie Merrick, and now Kevin Muscat, have proved that mental toughness and big game know-how are in their DNA.

Muscat has had his critics for his style of play and his reluctance to blood youngsters and fresh faces.

But his results show that the end justifies the means. Under Muscat, Victory has reached three grand finals in four years, winning two and losing the other on a penalty shootout to Sydney.

That they are now the most successful club in the competition goes without saying.

They have more fans, more trophies, draw bigger crowds, consistently break even or turn a profit and have a deep community engagement. They will surely only get stronger when their new $21 million training centre and headquarters comes on stream in western Melbourne.

Sydney are consistently good. Brisbane had a purple patch. Adelaide are always thereabouts. The Wanderers have come so close, Melbourne City has flattered to deceive, the Mariners' glory days are back in the past.

But Victory are the constant, and Muscat their main man.

This success was about the club and the players, but above all it was about their coach's sense of will.