I disagree, to some extent.
Colquhoun is in our best 22, he was part of last years finals sides and would have held Impey out if fit at the start of the year. I also think we would have played Redden in our best 22 as an extra tall forward / ruckman for much of the year, so I think two of our best 22 missed the year.
Trengove and Carlile went down and we won 3 of 8 on the back of their absence.
So we had 4 first choice players missing for several weeks at once, along with White and Monfries with hamstrings/groins.
So from rounds 15-20 we had up to 6 first choice players missing.
Thats (nearly) a 1/4 of the year with (nearly) a 1/4 of your first choice missing.
Our run hasn't been horrific, I'll grant you that, but it hasn't been perfect.
Oh, and Hitchcock missed some games, we missed him.

If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.