And while Osborne coach Daniel McAlister may not necessarily believe in the old wives tale, he admits the Cats have used up four lives in the opening month of the season.

Osborne’s 0-4 start to the year has been one of the big talking points and has raised queries if the Cats golden era over the past two decades could be finally drawing to a close.

McAlister said while the Cats were quickly running out of lives, he hadn’t reached for the panic button just yet.

“The way I look at it is 10 wins from 18 matches and you are guaranteed a finals spot,” McAlister said.

“So essentially you have got eight lives and we have used up half of those eight already.

“We have to play these good sides again in the second half of the season so we have to win one or two of those games as well as beat Lockhart, Walla, Jindera, Murray Magpies, Culcairn, Holbrook and Billabong Crows if we are to play finals.

“We have still got four lives left, while Brock-Burrum, who are undefeated, have got eight.”

One thing in the Cats favour is they are notoriously slow starters before building momentum as the season progresses.

McAlister admitted the Cats’ spine lacked class, while the midfield lacked one or two bigger bodies and was mainly comprised of slightly built kids.

The problem has only been exacerbated by triple best and fairest winner Matt Clarke going down with a knee injury in the first round.

It’s expected to keep him on the sidelines for up to 16 weeks.

McAlister said the Cats were still more than capable of turning around their fortunes, starting this week against Lockhart.

“Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding our start, there is still plenty of upside,” he said.

“Firstly we were only beaten by Rand-Walbundrie by a point and Howlong by six points, so it is not like we haven’t been in games for extended periods.

“Alex Rowell is yet to play a game and is a 190-centimetre athletic swingman.

“Steven Crowhurst played his first game back last week and is critical to our structures with his ability to play key forward or key back.

“We are yet to see the best of Trent Perczyk who had last season off and is taking time to hit his straps.

“Personally I hadn’t had been able to get a kick either up until last weekend.

“We just have to put it all together before we run out of lives.”