Jason Pine: Top 8 is far from certain now

I saw Chanel Harris-Tavita afterwards and you could tell how devastated he was. Games aren't won or lost on missed kicks, Andrew Webster made that point afterwards. But the fact remains if he'd landed that last conversion from a pretty handy position, the scores would have been level, and this game might have taken a different path. The other kicks he missed were tricky. Kurt Capewell and Mitch Barnett both scoring out wide left, not ideal for a left-footed kicker. The Warriors now have 19 points from 18 games. They're 4 points outside the top 8 now, with 6 games still to play this weekend, so it could be 5 points outside the top six by the end of the weekend, and just seven rounds remaining. We're starting to get into the territory of talking about "mathematical chances" of making the top eight, which is never good. This was a team we were so optimistic about at the start of the season. After last season, and having arguably strengthened the squad, we were talking top four. That's not going to happen now. And top eight is far from certain, but still achievable. Let's look at the remaining games: Tigers at home Eels at home Absolutely must win those two Then, Dolphins away Sea Eagles away Bulldogs at home Sharks away And the bye to finish. Of those last 4 games, all against teams in the top 8 right now, you'd have to think the Warriors would need to win at least 2, and probably 3 of them This is getting really tough now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.