Surrey the thing you keep overlooking is we are not top four. We haven't beaten any of the top four, we are not as good as the top four, we don't reside in the top four , we don't deserve to be top four.

Yes we have got close to them, but we are not there yet.

Don't mistake good efforts and being a couple goals off the top four as meaning we are top four.

Hopefully next year we will be but we will need a big fwd to seriously emerge and for our rucks to develop more for us to get there IMO

Wasn't junk time. Gibbs kicks that last goal and it's 6 pts the difference with 2 minutes to go. That's not junk time, that would be cliff hanger if it went straight.

Junk time would be a 4 goal loss after kicking 3 late ones after the opposition took their foot off the pedal. Did that do that? Not bloody likely. That fightback started 5 minutes into the 3rd qtr.

I thought we'd be top 4 to be honest - before the season started that was.

West Coast has come from no where. If we can win our way back into the top 4 i'll be pretty happy.
We are better than 5th - 6th IMO.

top 4 is a pass mark.

regardless of how we go from here Ratts deserves a 2 year plus contract.

We might end up the only side ever to miss the top 4 with just 6 losses.

That's true and at a glance you could say we have been un lucky. Hawtorn being handed 4 wins player the GC and Port twice. I reckon we are about on par with Hawthorn and West Coast really. Just didn't get the results, and we let our selves down with that bloddy western bulldogs game.

That why if we win our way back into a prelim, i'll be somewhat happy.

I still believe we can beat anyone on our day and therefore thing we are still a contender this season, but gee we'd need an awful lot to go right from here.

We have been a bit like Noahs Ark. Done things in pairs.

2 bad kicks cost us 6 points (Kade and Warnock)
2 bad games cost us 2 losses. (WCE and Dogs)
2 close wins (St Kilda and Adelaide) early got the season kick started.
2 bad halves against Collingwood (1st time) and Hawthorn cost us although we are a class behind them both.
2 X 100 point wins were both followed by losses.

I think we have been good. We are like a little boxer taking on the big boys. We are getting beaten but not knocked out. There is room for improvement but we need some KPP one for either end. Henderson, Duigan,Laider and Yarran and Jamison form a nucleus of a potentially very good back line.
Our midfield needs to use the ball better against the top sides.
Rucks we are competitive with Hampson and Kruezer.
Miss Waite down forward.

However on a whole a lot of players that had questions over them heading into this year have thrived. Some of the older squad players are possibly looking at the retirment paddock (Thornton, Houlahan) in particular.