Depends on how far you go back. Wests were dubbed ‘the millionaire club’ back in the 50’s & 60s. The whole battlers thing was brought into play by Roy Masters in the 70’s and has been carried forward from there.
Balmain have won the third most premierships in their time and were considered a top club early on, but that certainly hasn’t always been the case. From what I can remember growing up they were a pretty average team, their underdog status in the 1969 GF attests to that. The 1980s brought change when they had some great line ups going around. I don’t ever recall Balmain being considered classier though by any stretch of the imagination.
As for Collingwood, they’ve always been one of the most supported and successful teams. Not sure about universally hated unless you’re a Carlton supporter lol. I think the Swans were at one stage on a par with being most hated club especially when they first entered the AFL.