Alternatively Ralphie, you could lose 4 of 5 games to teams that aren't figuring in Top 8 calculations, with one arguing that Souths are still in the hunt for a berth after yesterday's game (I don't think they'll get there).
Sure we played Brisbane without Lockyer - but would his presence have been enough to stop Manly from winning? I don't think even Darren Lockyer would make that claim.
The loss to the Storm was away from home in the very first round and was quite a tight game. Remember we had a try disallowed because of a scuffle in the ruck, which could have made the final score very interesting. Not to mention Stewart playing his first serious game in 12 months and Lyon leaving the field with an injury before halftime.
The Cowboys (away game again) loss was controversial and we made a great comeback to go down by only two points. I don't think the Thurston's presence would have saved them from a loss at Brookvale somehow.
The loss to the Dragons was the biggest of the year but we could have quite easily led by 12 nil early in that game (Ballin held up, Williams no try) and therefore probably gone on to win.
And then we only lost again by two points against the Tigers who had nearly blanket possession for the last half hour of the game, but only came up with the points in a six minute window in that period and with copious assistance from the referees, plus a few dumb plays by some of our players.
All in all, a pretty impressive season to date.
