| If | it was a normal week ... |
| then | the big comeback story would have been Brodie Smith. That's not downplaying it, it's just that there are two other more feel-good selections in round 20. |
| If | Hodge plays on Ziebell all game ... |
| then | that's going to be one almighty, old-school tough, pointy-elbows-at-all-contests, battle within a battle. Hope it happens. |
| If | Weitering has had a really tough past two seasons ... |
| then | we were rapt to see him have good impact in last week's win. Needs to back it up. |
| If | you want to be glass half full ... |
| then | it's Jack Madgen, a former point guard at college in Mississippi, making his debut. But if you're glass half empty, his inclusion is the breaking point of a super-gallant team cruelly struck down with injury. |
| If | there's forever a powder keg about to explode when the Bombers play the Hawks with something meaningful at stake ... |
| then | the MCG from 1.45pm on Saturday is going to be carnage. Can't wait. Predicting Stringer, who has put together a very nice 10 weeks, will light the fuse. |
| If | the Dockers weren't fixtured for a derby this weekend ... |
| then | not sure we'd be paying much attention to them. Very, very hard to watch, this mob. |
| If | there's a curve ball to be thrown into the premiership possibilities ... |
| then | it's the Cats beating Richmond at the 'G. Reckon they will. |
| If | Gaz and now Tom as captains can't wait to flee the joint the moment they're able to, and Steve won't commit ... |
| then | we don't hold it against them. But we do, as we have since Demetriou hastily committed to establishing this club back in the late 2000s, wonder if the AFL really and properly thought the whole thing through. |
| If | there's one player who keeps coming up in trade talks ... |
| then | it's Shiel. Yes, we know he's contracted for 2019. But we also know there's a nasty cap squeeze. |
| If | Mitchell has been the standout all year ... |
| then | Smith is not far behind. Probably putting together his best season of the eight he's been in the AFL, and the captain in waiting. |
| If | Viney, Hibberd and Melksham don't get back soon ... |
| then | we fear that the stage will be set for another season-ending, final-round horror show. |
| If | big Ben doesn't kick a bag soon ... |
| then | his one-time hard grasp on the Coleman will continue to slip away. Not that he'd care, provided the Roos keep winning and make finals. Waite returning is big in many ways. |
| If | Port is the real deal, and we have held the belief all season that it is ... |
| then | it will toy with the Crows in Showdown 45. |
| If | our gut feel is right ... |
| then | the clash with the Cats will be the game of the year. Dusty, Selwood, Cotch, Gaz, Edwards, Danger, Rance, Hawkins, Caddy, Duncan, Riewoldt, Kelly. |
| If | it was a normal week ... |
| then | Freeman finally getting an AFL debut at a second club and five years after he was drafted would have been the most heart-warming player story of round 20. |
| If | ever you think of giving up on something that really matters to you ... |
| then | think of Alex Johnson. Six years since his last game at this level. Five knee recos. Twelve serious medical procedures. Immeasurable doubt. And endured it all with class. That should do the trick. |
| If | Sam Mitchell had waited another year before penning his autobiography ... |
| then | he'd have been able to add a riveting chapter. Interesting, maybe explosive, times ahead as he exits a club which is angered by him breaking a contract. |
| If | you've averaged five-and-a-half goals in your past two games ... |
| then | you probably need a few more against the Saints if you hope to return to the winners' list. |
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| If | working in this industry has taught us to be regularly sceptical ... |
| then | scepticism kicks in every year when the official club membership figures are released. |
Twitter: @barrettdamian
