No it's not as simple as that. Many other clubs have become powerhouses without sustained success.
In 2017 Richmond hadn’t won a premiership and hardly made finals in almost 40 years but their membership was over 70,000. The following year, after a premiership, they cracked 100,000, hardly sustained success.
Collingwood won one premiership between 1959 and 2009 but have been a powerhouse with a large supporter.
Carlton have almost 100,000 members but have been the poorest club in the league since 2000.
It's not just sustained success that builds a club, it's something more than that. And we certainly can't blame MCC members, most that I know have dual memberships and every Melbourne based club has a similar issue.