WITH the AFL season back in action, Sliding Doors is hitting its straps. 

So what's Damo saying about your club? What's he saying about the AFL? Check it out.

IF ...

Kyle Hartigan had negotiated 101 matches in seven AFL seasons without attracting too much attention ...

THEN ...

he's made up for it since May. A punch-on with teammate Billy Frampton added to the Barossa golf resort COVID-19 breach made it a very big, headline grabbing five weeks.

 

IF ...

he's played just eight games since 2016 ...

THEN ...

his ninth, at a new club, is cause for proper celebration for Grant Birchall. If he stays fit, will be crucial for the Lions as they seek atonement for the straight sets finals exit of 2019. 

IF ...

I've been slow to embrace the loooong promised revival of this club ... 

THEN ...

I'll still be very keen to see how the forward line works against the Dees on Saturday. Mitch, Harry, Levi the bigs. Eddie and Jack at their feet. Super exciting on paper, at least.

 

 

IF ...

there's at least a half-dozen Collingwood players who get the big headlines ahead of him ...

THEN ...

that's not fair on Taylor Adams. As important as any Pie, and was very, very good against Richmond on Thursday night.

IF ...

the term "self reported to the AFL" has sent shivers down Essendon supporters since February 2013 ...

THEN ...

there were lots of shivers Thursday when it was revealed young backman Brandon Zerk-Thatcher had done just that. No ongoing problems with this issue, though – just a one-week ban for a breach of COVID-19 rules.

 

IF ...

Mundy and Wilson are among the ins ... 

THEN ...

as unlikely as it seems given bookmakers' charts, the Dockers are a chance against the Lions. Especially if they repeat the resilience displayed in their narrow round one loss to the Bombers.

IF ...

the 2020 season shutdown, and subsequent redrawn rounds 2-5 fixture for resumption, has been kind to a club ...

THEN ...

it is the Cats. Three of the next four games now at the Cattery, and the older players – some of whom were underdone in March – are nice and rested. 

 

IF ...

Sexton, Harbrow and Hanley are big ins for the match against West Coast ...

THEN ...

Swallow and Ellis among the outs still puts the round one to round two team selection transaction in the red.

 

IF ...

Bennell at the Dees and Higgins at the Tigers were the really big news lines out of team selections for the 2020 season resumption ...

THEN ...

Cal Ward being a confirmed starter for the Giants was next best. In true Ward style, he wouldn’t have wanted the big headlines anyway.

 

IF ...

Jono Ceglar was unfortunate enough to be an emergency in the latter two of the three consecutive Hawks flags in 2013-15, and then be smashed with injury thereafter ... 

THEN ...

his time is now. Fully fit, goes up against Stanley on Friday night. Has serious talent, hope Clarko gives him a chance to prove it. 

IF ...

Harley Bennell getting the all-clear for an extraordinary AFL return was one of the genuinely warm footy stories of the year ... 

THEN ...

it's still going to take another 12 months to watch him on a footy field without fearing that he's a second away from breaking down, again.

 

IF ...

the immediate focus is the 16 matches remaining in 2020 ... 

THEN ...

the big picture one is the post-2020 season trade and draft. Salary cap, list spots and draft picks to burn.

 

IF ...

the Power narrowly lose Saturday night's Showdown ...

THEN ...

it's on Ollie Wines' head. For a player once officially given the co-captaincy of this club, he's now responsible for a couple of incidents which don’t display sound leadership.

IF ...

I told you the video reviewer adjudicating the Jack Higgins 'mark' on Thursday night was the same bloke who was boundary umpire in the 1979 Grand Final when Wayne Harmes tapped the ball to Ken Sheldon ... 

THEN ...

surely you'd realise I was lying. But strange things do happen to the Pies at that City Rd end of the MCG.

IF ...

Marshall and Ryder do to Tim English on Sunday night what Brodie Grundy did in round one ...

THEN ...

it will be game on. Saints need to atone after a dismal second half against North back on March 22.

IF ...

the hype on Heeney was off the charts as far back as 12 months before his first game ...

THEN ...

right now, 103 matches into his career, he hasn't lived up to it. But, take away that pre-first game hype, and he's had a very good AFL time. And I reckon that 2020 will see him smash through into the elite.

 

IF ...

Nic Nat stays fit ... 

THEN ...

the Eagles will be back in a Grand Final.

 

IF ...

the elimination final last year and round one this year are to be forgotten ... 

THEN ...

the Dogs need, at the very least, to scrounge a win against the Saints on Sunday night.

 

AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFL

IF ...

two players copped one-week bans on Thursday for breaches of COVID-19 requirements ...

THEN ...

it would be very difficult, make that impossible, to believe they were the only two in the whole AFL system. And there's 16 Crows players, a few Crows officials and a Geelong player thanking lucky stars.