Five years ago, Ulster got to a Heineken Cup final which they ended up losing to Leinster.
But in the years since 2012, former Ulster back row Stephen Ferris believes the province has not moved forwards - indeed he feels progress has ended up going in the other direction.
He joined Joe and Wednesday Night Rugby and shared his thoughts on Ulster's development in recent season.
You can listen to the full interview on the podcast player:
"Yes, the team have got to a point where we were starting to get into position to try and achieve silverware," he said.
"In 2012, we got to the Heineken Cup final against Leinster and that seemed to be like foundations and everything were put in place. Since then, to the fans and myself and to the supporters of Ulster Rugby it seems like the club has gone backwards and to back that up, you've just got to look at the recent years and last year coming fifth in the league, coming bottom of the pool in Europe and it really wasn't a great season.
Pictured today (L-R) Director of rugby Les Kiss, Iain Henderson and John Cooney ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
"And of course, Neil Doak, Alan Clarke, they more or less got the bullet by Les and by the men above them to get rid of them.
"They have moved on to new pastures and I think everybody's just got this expectation of Ulster and they haven't yet delivered. And I was part of that team as well. I was a part of a couple of those years where we didn't deliver and it's very difficult to put your finger on it.
"But hopefully, they've turned a bit of a corner. Les Kiss in his interviews tells everyone how positive it is in there and they're moving, that they've got the right coaching team in place etc etc but they're going into a tough run of games over the next five weeks and we'll see what they're made of for sure."
He added that he's "not buying" it yet, pointing out "unconvincing" results against teams that would be regarded as relatively mediocre.
He also feels they are conceding too many points at present.
