Problem is I have all of these games (the "danger games") - Blues, Freo, Dons and Crows - as losses. We have to win every single game other than these to make the finals. Drop one of these other games and we have to win one of the "danger games" just to be a chance.
Last year come round 9 we were tracking along quite nicely at 4-1-4 with a decent win against the hot Bombers and a draw (where we should have won) against the Saints. The team was looking up and playing with confidence, and we'd done it playing 6 of the previous year's top 8 (Carl, Freo, Pies, Saints, Hawks, Dogs).
Sound familiar?
Then the team showed it's youth and inconsistency, we won 1 of the next 9 games, including losses against Port, Lions, Melb & GC.
Now, there are obvious differences this year. We have a functional back line, The Mullet and haven't been blown away since round 2, plus we actually won against top 8 teams not in the middle of a rut or sliding.
While I live in eternal hope, the team hasn't shown the ability to maintain it for an entire season yet, and it would be a HUGE step for them to achieve this consistency.
But then again, I thought we'd drop it against the Saints, so thats a great first step.
Sorry guys, don't want to be overly negative, but my ambitions for the year haven't really changed. Improve, win more games, less blowouts, more consistency, don't drop games against the bottom 4. Finals would be a bonus.