THE PROSPECT of a shock finals berth isn't being discussed at St Kilda, despite the Saints' recent run of form leaving them just two and a half wins outside the top eight.
The Saints have won five games for the season and three from their last five, and face a winnable clash with the injury-ravaged Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
Despite the fact they are around the same ladder mark as finals hopefuls Port Adelaide and North Melbourne, the 'F' word hasn't come up at Seaford.
"It certainly hasn't been mentioned," coach Alan Richardson said on Thursday.
"We just want to play strong footy every time we go out and represent the club.
"Every player knows he needs to represent the team and the jumper in the manner in which is expected, they need to play their role and buy into what it is we want to do from a team point of view.
"That's really what we focus on, and if ultimately we end up in a position where you can qualify for finals ... we know we're a fair way off that, but in years to come that's going to be our aim."
It was suggested in the pre-season by some commentators the Saints would struggle to win a single game as they entered a crucial stage of their rebuilding project.
But they've surprised many with the emergence of Josh Bruce as an alternative goal-kicker to Nick Riewoldt, the addition of youngsters like Jack Lonie and Jack Sinclair, and the improvement of David Armitage contributing to their form.
Richardson said while consistency was still their No.1 focus, pushing for finals next year might not be out of the question.
"We'll see what happens for the remainder of the year and we'll assess that going into next year," he said.
"Our club has stated and the decisions we've made with respect to some great players who have left the footy club that we need to go to the draft and stockpile some elite talent.
"That potentially puts us in a really strong position 2016, '17 and '18."
The Saints are likely to name an unchanged line-up this week although Sam Fisher pulled up sore as a result of his first game since round eight and will need to train well on Thursday.
However, the Saints are confident he'll be right to travel and play.
Young defender Hugh Goddard likely won't play in the VFL this week because of back tightness.
The Saints will face the Giants at Spotless Stadium for the first time, which isn't something that concerns Richardson.
"We don't care where we play, we don't care who we play – it's much more about us," he said.
"The Giants will be keen to get their season back on track; I think it's the first week they find themselves out of the eight.
"They're going to want to jump back in so we expect to be up against a really aggressive footy team - we'll focus on what we do and there'll be a bit of the opposition that gets weaved into that.
"Primarily, we've been playing some pretty good footy and we'll just continue to focus on that."
