| IF | THEN | |
| Adelaide | there's one certainty in an AFL season ... | ... it is that there is no certainty in a Showdown. But even that won't stop us saying the Crows will stroll home in this one. |
| Brisbane Lions | everyone in a position of power approaches the coming days with class and respect ... | ... everyone's path into the future will be smoother. It's not going to be easy, but they are good people in these positions. |
| Carlton | you lose 10-in-a-row in a season ... | ... that season can't be assessed positively. |
| Collingwood | there's a player at the Magpies who deserves significant plaudits ... | ... it's James Aish. Love how he's worked through his early season issues. |
| Essendon | the Bombers lost the PR battle for the previous three seasons ... | ... they've fought back ferociously in that space this year. Well done. |
| Fremantle | the Dockers' board hadn't extended our man Ross The Boss' contract at the start of the year through to the end of 2020 ... | ... they most certainly wouldn't be doing so right now. |
| Geelong | we loved one thing out of last weekend's matches ... | ... it was Chris Scott ordering the key positional changes in-game. Taylor and Henderson should actually start forward this week. |
| Gold Coast | you've lost Prestia ... | ... you're ultra desperate to keep O'Meara. No better than 50-50 to do so. Maybe as worrying as 20-80. |
| Greater Western Sydney | Leon Cameron was as calm behind closed doors as he was in his media conference after that disastrous final play last weekend ... | ... we'd be very surprised. |
| Hawthorn | one thing slipped under the radar at team selection on Thursday ... | ... it was Clarko going with Ryan Burton ahead of Sicily, who was available after suspension. Clarko must have a soft spot for Burton. |
| Melbourne | Roosy wants to take a bow on the way out ... | ... he's entitled to. It might have cost the Demons a bomb, but every cent has been worth it. |
| North Melbourne | Brad Scott was in Las Vegas right now ... | ... we're picturing him at the main craps table at Bellagio, watching how the high-flyers roll the dice. We reckon he's going to roll his own in the next two weeks - Higgins, Jacobs, McDonald, Waite, Wright all to be rushed back in. No point not to. |
| Port Adelaide | we think we know what makes Kochie tick as the highly successful businessman and media performer that he is ... | ... he isn't going to cop what's happened in 2016. |
| Richmond | the Tigers, after rejections from the likes of Treloar, Hannebery, Hartlett and Shiel, have finally got one of the out-of-contract guns to commit ... | ... they won't be silly enough to fail to come up with a fair trade. Martin and Cotchin will love having Prestia in 2017. |
| St Kilda | you were told this time last year that Billy Longer would be overlooked for rucking responsibilities at the expense of Jason Holmes ... | ... you wouldn't have believed it. |
| Sydney Swans | Tippett comes back this week and Sinclair next week ... | ... the planets are aligning yet again for the Swans to swoop in an even season. Is it 2012 all over again? |
| West Coast | the Eagles went a fair way in killing off the flat-track tag last weekend against GWS ... | ... they can officially remove it on Friday against the ladder leaders. We think they will. |
| Western Bulldogs | Stringer's been listed on the interchange ... | ... we're seeing a message being sent, regardless of the final changes to come this evening. And rightly so. |
| And wait, there's more, as per constant reader request ... | ||
| AFL | you thought we were obsessed with our high-definition TV campaign ... | ... strap in for our quest to reduce the length of the home and away season to 17 rounds by 2023. Less will be proven to be a beautiful more. |
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Follow Damian Barrett on Twitter: @barrettdamian
