Four into one just doesn't go for eighth spot on AFL ladder Glenn McFarlane
From: Sunday Herald Sun
June 17, 2012 ST KILDA, Carlton and Richmond will head to this week's break uneasy about their ladder positions - eighth, ninth and 10th.They each sit on six wins and six losses, with only 13 percentage points separating them.
The Saints admit they are tired due to a series of six-day breaks and interstate trips; the Blues are battered and bruised with form and fitness; and the Tigers have limped to the bye off the back of a loss to Fremantle and a less-than-flattering effort against GWS yesterday.
Just below the trio sits the Dockers, on the same number of wins (six), tellingly with an extra game in hand, but a far inferior percentage.
That's how tight it is in the middle stretches. And it is going to get a hell of a lot tighter, with realistically only one of these four teams likely to be in the finals.
So is it any wonder that Saints coach Scott Watters was not copping talk about "honourable losses" in the wake of the club's four-point loss to Adelaide on Friday night.
A win would have been absolute gold; a loss just keeps them in the pack.
Twelve matches into Watters' first season as coach, the Saints are a very different team to the one that played under Ross Lyon.
Fans would be loving the fact that the shackles have come off, with the team going from 12th last year in terms of points for (86 per game) to the fourth-ranked side (105.8 ).
That's in keeping with Watters' pre-season pledge for a more attacking bent. The new faces that have come into the team have helped. They are faster, more attacking and higher scoring as a side.
But on the flip side, they have gone from the fourth-ranked side in points against (76 per game) last year to the 10th this season (87).
It's far from disastrous as they have only conceded 100 points on four occasions this season - with one of them coming against the Crows.
But if the Saints want to make the eight this season they might need to tighten up - just a little.
Unfortunately, they seem to be just lacking one big defender.
In the end, that elusive finals berth might all come down to Round 23, when the Saints and the Blues square off at Etihad Stadium.
If the Dockers - or even the Tigers - don't lock one in first.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/four-into-one-just-doesnt-go-for-eighth-spot-on-afl-ladder/story-fn7si1k5-1226397621645
