THERE were many things swirling through Sam Fisher's mind, an hour after St Kilda finished level on goals with the Western Bulldogs, level on points with the Western Bulldogs, and in virtually the same spot on the ladder as them.
The defender wondered how an off-balance Matthew Boyd had willed a long, wobbly running shot through the goals, to help bring what was a four-goal margin back to four points, with almost 20 final-term minutes gone.
He wondered how Andrejs Everitt had slipped into enough space to make it an even closer game, how Wayde Skipper had been allowed to snaffle a goal-line mark not long later, and why Nick Riewoldt's tricky kick had not managed to drop over the line at the other end.
Skipper's shot put the Bulldogs in front by a point with a minute-and-a-half left to play; Riewoldt's shot came after he marked a 60-metre Jason Gram torpedo with his back almost facing the ball, and with just 10 seconds left.
It was touched on the line, and could only level the scores. The teams finished the night where they started it — even — with each kicking 12.13 (85) to sneak temporarily into the top eight.
"The final few seconds were a shame. But really, we should never have let Skipper mark on the goal line," said Fisher, after playing in what he believed was his first-ever drawn game.
"We should have got that through for a point, you can't just let a guy come in and mark it right in front of you. It's something we needed to do better but, in saying that, we were pretty undisciplined right through the game.
"We gave away a few 50-metre penalties and a few free kicks off the ball. We weren't as intense as we needed to be early, and that's what probably cost us."
Jason Akermanis kicked the opening goal for the Bulldogs, their eight-point lead driven by Scott West and Boyd, but gobbled up swiftly by the Saints in the second term.
The Saints outscored the Bulldogs two goals to one in a third term that could have been even tighter, after Chris Grant lunged to mark a low ball, and took his shot after the siren. The ball may have touched the ground before he scooped it up; his shot, given no score, may have grazed the post. Things are closer than they seem in draws.
St Kilda pushed 23 points ahead midway through the last term, but it wasn't quite enough space. Daniel Giansiracusa kicked his fourth goal soon afterwards, starting the Bulldogs' last run.
While Fisher's head was filled with ifs, buts and maybes, he was certain of one thing. The St Kilda back six had become a more settled combination since Matt Maguire and Max Hudghton had returned, he said. But there was room for much more harmony.
"It probably takes a little bit of time to gel, when you have players coming back in, but we feel that it should have happened a lot more quickly," he said.
"We should be better together, by now. There have been a few benefits in the time those guys have had out — Jason Gram's been great all year and it's given an opportunity to guys like Sam Gilbert, who has really stepped up and who played well again tonight, I thought.
"Those things have happened, and it's good to get those good players back in, but we need to get better as a group. We need to just work in better together and make sure we don't get winning scores kicked against us. It's going to be important, from here."
