IN THIS week's Sliding Doors, brought to you by ventraip australia, our chief football correspondent Damian Barrett puts Brayden Sier, John Worsfold, Sandi and Ballas, Mason Wood, Brett Ratten, Isaac Heeney, and more in the Doors' spotlight.
What's Barrett saying about your club? What's he saying about the AFL? Check it out.
| If | double-teaming Grundy in the 2018 Grand Final worked brilliantly for the Eagles ... |
| then | the O'Brien-Jacobs double-whammy is an inspired Don Pyke ploy for the Crows in Saturday's match against the Pies. |
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| If | Chris Fagan was 20 when Journey first banged out the still-great Don't Stop Believin' ... |
| then | he should take control of the Lions' Gabba locker room playlist before Saturday's game against the Cats and hit play on that beautifully raspy voice of Steve Perry. And then hold on to that feelin'. |
| If | David Teague has magnificently crammed a lot into his own and his club's life in the past nine weeks ... |
| then | no matter what he achieves as permanent coach of the Blues, he's already responsible for two phrases which will forever live in footy vernacular. The Teague Train. Training wheels. Real impact before he even starts. |
| If | 'Fabulous' Phil Carman was once the most famous Magpie Phil ... |
| then | Brayden Sier has produced reason for a re-think. Playing basketball with mates while carrying a banged-up calf under the pseudonym 'Phill Inn' might have been one of the most ridiculous acts of a footballer in 2019 and, deservedly, will carry ramifications. But, for some reason, can't stop laughing at his stunt. |
| If | Woosha wants to sit in the dugout and refuse to engage with anyone ... |
| then | that's his call. He's a premiership coach. And no one raised it as a concern when he was doing the same thing when the Bombers were winning five in a row. |
| If | Sandi or Ballas cop hard, blood-causing hits against the Bombers on Saturday in their home-town farewell AFL matches ... |
| then | they'll be bleeding purple. Two great warriors who gave everything they had, maybe more, to the Dockers' cause. |
| If | the past nine matches have been the win-loss see-saw ... |
| then | there's one way to re-establish the dominance, and aura, which was attached to the 11-1 start: smash the second-placed Lions on their home turf. |
| If | the mercy rule was in play in the AFL ... |
| then | the Suns would have been justified in using it ... about three months ago. |
| If | your memory is short ... |
| then | give it a zap. And realise and appreciate that Brett Deledio, who will retire at the end of the year, was an outstanding footballer who always carried himself with class. |
| If | Clarko was to adopt the old Pagan's Paddock philosophy of the 90s ... |
| then | big Roughy would go out with a bag of 10 against the hapless Suns. Go on, Clarko, do it. |
| If | 2019 hasn't reached anywhere near the highs of 2018 for every player bar Maxxy Gawn ... |
| then | I still can't work out why Jayden Hunt has been axed, again. Felt he has been one who has tried his heart out every week. |
| If | you kick one goal for an entire match and make one player, Mason Wood, a selection scapegoat ... |
| then | that doesn’t make sense, given Wood was good against the Hawks the previous week. Obviously, more at play there. |
| If | Ryan Burton is back ... |
| then | this starting-to-look-OK Port outfit should win a third game in a row. Finals looking good. |
| If | the Tigers are going to tease us and name Marlion Pickett in extended squads for two weeks in a row ... |
| then | please, this week, stop the tease, and put him in the 22 for a debut game against West Coast. Could be the finals X-factor. |
| If | Shawry and the Teague Train have already landed the quinella of interim coaches becoming permanent ones ... |
| then | Ratts is a R22 win against the Teague Train away from securing the trifecta. |
| If | a Friday night stage is one this club doesn't actually deserve at this stage of this season ... |
| then | hopefully Isaac Heeney can use his red-carpet status to make it compelling to watch. |
| If | the Nic Nat return dream is still alive ... |
| then | I'm dreaming, hard. No one is more deserving of another crack at a premiership. |
| If | Bont has long been the Dogs' key player ... |
| then | Dunkley is now their second key. Compiling an incredible season, getting better by the week, sky is still the limit, mature beyond his years. |
| If | there's a Trade Period in October ... |
| then | I have no idea why there would be another one in the weeks before the season starts. Plonk it in the bye period, and make it open to any trades which clubs want to consider. |
