| If | the commentary about this club has been of the doom and gloom type ... |
| then | it's justifiable. But with two wins, the season is far from a write-off. We'll learn a lot in Saturday's match against St Kilda. |
| If | we're determined to get Hodgey's word "knob" into the Lions' Sliding Door offering this week ... |
| then | this is our best crack at it: there are no knobs on Sliding Doors. |
| If | big Charlie is fit ... |
| then | the odds of a second consecutive win will be trimmed significantly. Blues get the Hawks in a vulnerable state. |
| If | it didn't have a player who kicked nine goals and also didn't end with tied scores ... |
| then | that's about the only thing this 25th edition of the Pies-Bombers Anzac Day match didn't have when compared with the first, and now only marginally greatest, April 25th game. Wow, on so many levels, and that's including Bucks' on-ground, post-match speech. |
| If | you wanted to be critical of Dylan Shiel ... |
| then | you could, of his last quarter missed goal, dropped mark and sprayed miskick which ended up with Pendlebury. But with 747m gained, nine inside 50s and seven clearances all part of his 34 disposals, he was simply outstanding and Pendlebury-like. |
| If | the Dockers reach the ton for a third time in six matches ... |
| then | we're jumping back on the Ross The Boss bandwagon. Haven't felt right since we jumped off, either ... |
| If | we're really worried about one aspect of the AFL ... |
| then | it is the booing of Gaz, and the reasons behind it. Hope that this week's game being played in Geelong will give respite, and that footy fans can actually grow up and refrain from the pathetic mob mentality verbal trolling displayed by Hawks supporters on Easter Monday. |
| If | Touk Miller can bring down Dayne Zorko in a third consecutive QClash ... |
| then | the Suns' hopes in this game will increase dramatically. But might coach Dew assign him Neale? Hope not. |
| If | this game has taught us one thing ... |
| then | it is to forgive, at least once anyway, a generally good team after a particularly bad loss. So the Giants – fresh off an unexpected drubbing by the Dockers - will beat the Swans in the Battle Of The Bridge, or whatever it is they call it these days. |
| If | the Hawks are complacent and assume this Sunday's match against Carlton in Launceston will naturally go the way most games against this opposition go (won 15 of past 16) and overall at this venue (46 wins from 60 games) ... |
| then | they'll get a reality check. The Blues are a big chance. |
| If | 2011 and 2013 were nightmares for supporters of this club ... |
| then | 2019 is also lurching toward the definitions attached to that word. As of the Anzac Day Eve loss to Richmond, this season has been an unmitigated disaster which seemingly has no end point. |
| If | the Roos don’t stand for something, anything, against the Power on Friday night ... |
| then | chairman Ben Buckley will have no choice but to launch an immediate review into every aspect of the club, his own board at the top of the list. |
| If | we've been burnt several times before by this club in falling for its regularly solid early season form ... |
| then | we need a whole lot more evidence everything is in good order in 2019. |
| If | you remember back to the 1980s, specifically Kevin Sheedy's pet project obsession with the regularly-criticised Kevin Walsh ... |
| then | we reckon we've got an even bigger coach-player obsession right now - Dimma's with the young man every club didn't want, Sydney Stack. Sheedy got all doe-eyed when talking about Walsh. Dimma gets borderline teary over Stack. Love it. |
| If | Dan Hannebery … nah, we'll leave that alone this week … If the Saints play to even 90 per cent of their 2019 form |
| then | they will beat the Crows at Marvel Stadium on Saturday. Emerging as the genuine feel-good story of the year, and even more so if they can cover the massive loss of their beloved, terribly injured captain Geary. |
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| If | you're 1-4 ... |
| then | your season is on the line this week, against the Giants. This is the type of game in which Buddy could remind the footy world he's still the best. |
| If | we're Adam Simpson ... |
| then | we're sending Mark Hutchings straight to Dangerfield, who is in his 2016-season Brownlow Medal winning form. And wishing him good luck. |
| If | it was a genuine all-club premiership hangover which ruined 2017 and then questionable player commitment which marred 2018 ... |
| then | we're yet to determine what is causing this season's woes. Have some people got too comfortable? Right now, it is looking like another mess. |
| If | you hadn’t noticed simply because of the low-profile carried by Taylin Duman ... |
| then | the Tribunal yet again reached a decision which compromised the messaging of the AFL footy ops department. Another off-ball hit downgraded. Nearly a weekly occurrence. We repeat - time to scrap the Tribunal. |
