FOOTY fans can become a little obsessed with statistics.
Obviously, we look at team statistics each week to measure our efforts and we have certain key performance indicators that we'd like to achieve because hitting those targets means we generally win.
But we weren't paying a lot of attention to one particular statistic that was thrown up leading into our game against Collingwood on the weekend.
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READ NOWWe hadn't beaten the Pies in Melbourne for 12 years.
Historical data has no bearing on what happens in the game at hand.
We just prepare and focus on the match, concentrate on the game plan and the systems we need to give us the best chance of winning.
The win was another important step in our plans for the year.
The major focus for us this year was to improve and just in numerical terms that meant winning more games than last year.
By beating the Pies we have gone one better with 12 wins, but the job is not yet done.
It's a satisfying little milestone, but now we need to move on pretty quickly and look for our next win.
Another win and we will probably play finals.
That would be another step forward on last year when we finished ninth.
It's great to be second on the ladder, but now we face Sydney at Subiaco Oval.
We'll have to do that without Jeremy McGovern, who pinged a hamstring against the Pies and that will be a test for us as well.
One of the things we have taken some pride in this year is being able to cover for the loss of a few senior players.