We haven't played Bling yet and we were unlucky against Adelaide.
I don't agree. We were unlucky with one refereeing call at the end against Adelaide but the performance was poor. I don't think anyone can say we have played well and lost this season.
But this thread is about how we're tracking this season (cumulative results), not if we are playing well.
The table does not differentiate between "playing well and losing" vs "playing poorly and losing". It reflects the game results, regardless of how we played - so Junior82 is correct in saying we were unlucky. Unlucky, because we were very close to pinching a point from Adelaide, you could say "an undeserved point", in fairness to your opinion above.
I disagree. Conceding a goal in the last minute isn't being unlucky. It's poor defending and not playing well enough for 90 minutes. One of those goals we didn't mark a set piece and the other one was a howler. There was nothing unlucky in either. A lot of football results would be different if football was an 85 minute game. If we discounted goals scored between minutes 32 and 36 we would also have 2 extra competition points. I don't see why conceding in the last 5 minutes makes you unlucky but conceding between minutes 32 and 36 isn't unlucky somehow? Why do the last 5 minutes get some extra status as being the unlucky period? It's all just part of the game.
I think mentioning the performances and who we have played is relevant because the table by itself is meaningless. All the teams have had different playing schedules so to get a gauge on where teams really are you need to factor in who they have played. For instance, Perth is 1st but 7 of their 8 games have been against teams ranked 5th or lower and the only time they have played one of the top 4, they lost.
At the end of the season the table is God. Until that point the table is just a guide to how teams are going.
Ryan54, you are of course correct - we did not play well enough, or simply Adelaide were a better team. I am not arguing that point. I am simply saying that - as you say yourself - the table is not indicative of how we played but only what results we got on the day, deservedly or undeservedly, whether due to luck, to grit, to superior skill set of personnel, to strategy, whatever. In that sense the table is a meaningless indicator of performance, but only to a degree: good teams thrash bad teams 5:1, while when similar teams play, all bets are off.
"Phoenix till they lose"