WITH the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership season up and running, naturally, Damian Barrett's Sliding Doors is also up and about.

So what's Damo saying about your club? What's he saying about the AFL?

Oh, and be sure you tune in to AFL Daily as Nat and Damo put the spotlight on all the big issues. Check it out.

IF ...

I'm really glad David Mackay got off and also glad the "bump" in its most brutal fashion survived at least another week before its inevitable demise probably as early as next year ...

THEN ...

I'm also with Leigh Matthews in feeling contact with Hunter Clark wasn't a "complete accident". And everyone gets to play on, except Clark.

IF ..

Chris Fagan has racked up the wins in the past two and a half seasons – 39 from the past 55 matches ...

THEN ...

on the eve of his 100th match in charge it is worth remembering he lost nine of his first 10, and then another 10 in succession from late in his first season (2017) into 2018. One of the great coaching appointments.

IF ...

there was one thing the Teague Train needed as the independent review began into his credentials as coach of the Blues  ...

THEN ...

it was the signature of Harry McKay on a new contract. If there is a second thing he needs, it is the captain Cripps doing the same.

IF ...

it all got a bit hard for that supporter who had been seeking the media attention as much as the members' signatures in order to call an extraordinary general meeting ...

THEN ...

it was also so predictable. Korda and co. were always going to strike a cosy arrangement to make him disappear.

IF ...

the most significant AFL signature of the week was that of Harry McKay ...

THEN ...

the second most significant was that of Zach Merrett. The sky getting an even deeper blue in Bomberland.

IF ...

Jordan Clark isn't a Docker in 2022  ...

THEN ...

I'll be surprised.

IF ...

I was super keen on the Cats' flag chances at the start of the year ...

THEN ...

I'm convinced now. Going into round 14, daylight between them and the next best Grand Final candidate.

IF ...

the 2021 season is looming as yet another bust ...

THEN ...

a win against the brittle Port Adelaide on Saturday might just breathe some life into it. 

IF ...

Harry McKay is on a high after committing to a fresh deal with the Blues ...

THEN ...

there's a guy waiting to bring him down a few pegs on Saturday night. Phil Davis, missing with injury since round three, returns for the Giants. Forever crucial to GWS fortunes.

IF ...

as a club you have overseen a boxing session where one of your players was badly concussed, with the punch itself and the subsequent crash to the ground combining to leave Mitch Lewis in a terrible state ...

THEN ...

the language coach Clarkson used to defend the session needed to be better than "he zigged when he should've zagged" before copping one "on the scone". Cannot believe a player can get knocked out in his own workplace. It's 2021, and in the same week a player was cited for an accidental head collision - in a match.

IF ...

in the off-season Ben Brown was viewed as a key to what was to unfold in 2021 ...

THEN ...

it's time to unleash him. Injury, then form, ruined his first half of the season. Could still emerge as an X-factor.

IF ...

Cam Zurhaar played for a good team ...

THEN ...

he'd have a massive profile. Ticks a lot of boxes, this guy, particularly the have-a-crack box.

IF ...

there are at least a dozen bigger names than Scott Lycett on the Port Adelaide list ...

THEN ...

that does not diminish his value to this team. Back after a four-week suspension. So crucial. 

IF ...

a 7-6 scoreline would normally be a worry for a premiership-contending team entering the bye period ...

THEN ...

for the Tigers, it ain't a worry. They're the Tigers. And with the dreadful Saints up next, followed by the equally ordinary Gold Coast and battling Collingwood, no reason to think there won’t be a 10-6 scoreline going into a massive round 18 match against Brisbane. .

IF ...

there's one thing I've never got about unsuccessful teams which plan for a better future  ...

THEN ...

it is the phrase "we want to be a dynasty team" that they so often use. Saints the latest to do so, as revealed at a members' Q&A session on Thursday night. Maybe forget the dynasty stuff, and just focus on the next win. And definitely publicly shoot down, with authority, the insensitive, inaccurate and so-1970s comments made by Caro about, not just two players, but more pertinently their partners and families during the week. What a mess, on so many levels.

IF ...

progress was sound prior to round 13 ...

THEN ...

the unexpected loss there to Hawthorn was semi-disastrous. Port Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, GWS straight out of the bye. Crunch time, judgement time, has arrived. 

IF ...

the win against the Tigers was outstanding, as well as courageous, exciting and season-igniting ...

THEN ...

the victory the week prior was actually more so. It may have only been against Carlton, but it came without six of the Eagles top 10 players, and then Sheppard was lost in the run. If something big is to come of 2021, it will be round 12 that should be viewed as the key turning moment.

IF ...

the backline has held up stoically all season ...

THEN ...

it is facing a season-shaping test under Friday night lights in round 14, against Tomahawk, Jez, Gary and co.

AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFL

IF ...

it was made even messier than it needed to be when the Match Review Officer inexplicably initially refused to grade David Mackay's hit on Hunter Clark as it sent it to the Tribunal ...

THEN ...

we'd better get used to the confusion regardless. This type of hit ultimately survived the "system" this week. But it won't survive the future. Best we get our heads around that.