Cats on cusp of missing finals

“It’s been the story of our year, unfortunately,” LBU coach Stacy Fiske said following the loss.

“We know that we’re good enough, it’s just a matter of if we can do it together for four quarters, and we were unable to do that.

“In saying that, it was a much better performance than the last two weeks that we threw out there. We’re frustrated and disappointed, but we also take a positive out of it that we did play some pretty good footy for three quarters against the ladder leaders.

“If we can do that for four quarters, then we are more than capable of being able to compete and beat the best.

“We’ll see how it all plays out, but as I said last week, we’re running out of time to be able to prove that, so we’ve got to make the most of the next two weeks.”

The Cats led the Saints by five points at quarter-time, before Heathcote returned serve with a five-goal-to-two second term and entered the main break with a 12-point lead.

LBU drew the margin back to just two points after grinding out three majors in the third term, until it all fell apart in the last.

Despite the loss, Fiske remained upbeat at the fact his side put together a much better performance for the first three quarters at least.

“I think the third quarter especially was probably our best quarter for the last month or six weeks,” he said.

“It was nice to see that our pressure was up, our ability to cover exit points, but also how we used the ball was a lot better going forward, which has probably been our biggest issue over the last six weeks.”

With two rounds remaining, LBU finds itself on the cusp of missing finals, falling to sixth on the ladder behind Leitchville-Gunbower, who has impressed in the second half of the year.

“For us, it’s all about us,” Fiske said.

“If we win the next two games, then we make it, it’s as plain and simple as that. For us, it’s as straightforward as that — if we can get our best footy out there and we can win the next two games, we play finals.

“We know exactly what’s on the line and now there’s no room for error. If we go out there and we don’t perform the way that we need to perform, then finals isn’t there, so that’s how we look at it, and we can’t look at it any differently I don’t think.”

In his first season at the club, Fiske will be leaning on veterans such as Brodie and Jessie Collins to use their experience to guide the younger members through this high pressure period.

“It is huge when you’ve got blokes that have been there and done it before. You can’t buy experience in those situations,” he said.

“To keep a bit of a blue head is what I talk about, your calmness and your focus on what we can control, rather than what’s happening around you, is really important.

“It’s the leaders you expect to drive that, and the Collins boys are a big part of those ones there.”