IF incoming CEO Graham Wright is firing up the blowtorch ... THEN
Sliding Doors is in full swing for 2025 .. and Damo's got plenty on his mindIF incoming CEO Graham Wright is just beginning to fire up the blowtorch ... THENSTRAP yourselves in, footy fans - Damian Barrett's Sliding Doors is in full swing for 2025.With the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season heading towards a dramatic conclusion, Damo's got plenty of thoughts about all 18 clubs - and the AFL.So what is he saying about your team? What's he saying about the AFL? You can't say that, Damo, can you? Check it out below.>> ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION FROM DAMIAN BARRETTIF ...the backline keeps getting banged up ...THEN ...the fairytale outcome will start looking doubtful. First, Butts with a punctured lung and now Michalanney with a nasty hamstring. Can't afford another.IF ..the official reason for McInerney's absence from Saturday night's match against Collingwood was "managed" ...THEN ...there is a possibility it was also a lack of form and impact. The poor bloke. Smashed a shoulder in last year's preliminary final, had to watch Darcy Fort replace him and win a premiership medal. And now can't get near it as his body seems badly out of condition.IF ...incoming CEO Graham Wright is just beginning to fire up the blowtorch he is about to unleash on this embattled club ...THEN ...while the coaches and footy department staff may cop the initial burst of flame, the players deserve most of it. For an unknown reason, complacency and even entitlement has descended on this playing group, and it is the area most in need of the nasty heat.IF ...'Fly' has been near-perfect in his four seasons as coach, and off the field and everywhere in between ...THEN ...he continues to add layers to that state. This week, it was another dose of his all-too-rare public honesty. Yep, he'd met with Jack Silvagni, and yep, he'd like to do so again. Wish there were 17 others like this.IF ...Archie Perkins had massive wraps on him when he entered the AFL in 2021 as a No.9 draft pick ...THEN ...he hasn't lived up to the hype. But there's a potentially very good footballer there. Hope he cracks the code, hope he realises his potential.IF ...Harley once had a monopoly on the AFL Reid market in WA ...THEN ...he's now got competition. Murphy is a bona fide star himself. I reckon he's now ahead of Curtin and Ashcroft, might even have half a hand on the official 2025 Rising Star award. What a season, what a player. Has twice kicked four goals in a game, is prepared to run hard away from goal, is selfless, and has the quality I love most – old-fashioned footy smarts.IF ...Jez bagged 11 big ones in round 20 ...THEN ...no reason he can't do so again in round 21. The Port Adelaide backline doesn't present on paper much more potently than the North one. He's kicked 49 goals from his past 10 matches, and that included none against Gold Coast and just one against GWS.Learn More 03:51IF ...Eagles duo Cousins and Kerr produced the quinella in the 2005 Brownlow Medal ...THEN ...an Anderson-Rowell one-two finish in 2025 wouldn't shock. What a duo. One of them, and usually both, stands up big-time every single week.IF ...this club "wasted" its talents in failing to reach a Grand Final in both of the past two seasons ...THEN ...it better not waste its talents in actually failing to even make the top eight in 2025. Embarrassed itself on Thursday night against the Dogs. Yes, Greene, Buckley and Kelly were out. But that was pitiful.IF ...choosing to play the four "key" forwards against the Crows for round 21's Friday night lights was a shock ...THEN ...I absolutely love it. Gunston was the lock, Chol simply had to return when fit and will be the back-up ruck, Dear could be anything in five years' time, and Lewis, even after the regular breakdowns of his body in his nine seasons in the AFL, has the footy smarts to fit in anywhere. Can't wait to see how it goes.IF ...there is still no permanent CEO or permanent president ...THEN ...the Demons are still operating without a rudder. Max Gawn aside, a lack of leadership everywhere. Oliver's inability to hit the scoreboard in any fashion from 25 metres late in the game was a new low, and ultimately disastrous against St Kilda, as it allowed Nasiah to propel himself into folklore.IF ...the 2026 season doesn't begin until March next year ...THEN ...for North, it simply must start on Sunday at 1.40pm, where St Kilda awaits at Marvel Stadium. Nothing has worked for Clarko this year, so maybe it's time to order an old-fashioned, backs to the wall, man-on-man strategy for the entire game. Make every single player accountable for the actions of an opponent. Realise footy isn't played that way these days, but North trying to play footy in the 2025 style hasn't worked either. This club needs to stand for something. Anything. Very, very soon.IF ...North Melbourne was 106 points in arrears to the Cats at three-quarter time last week ...THEN ...I fear it could be a similar deficit for the Power at the Cattery on Sunday.IF ...coach Yze attempted to explain away Tim Taranto's last-minute withdrawal against Collingwood in round 20 by saying he "just felt a bit of awareness" in his calf ...THEN ...shock, horror, he's not back this week to play Gold Coast. "Awareness". Please.IF ...some players this season have not been able to deal with out-of-contract status and have seen their form and demeanour plummet – and hello to you, Oscar Allen and TDK ...THEN ...Nasiah the Messiah has embraced the pressure of an unknown future. His form in 2025 was already brilliant, before he produced one of the all-time great footy moments in round 20. You will always remember where you were when Nas seized all aspects of that final minute against Melbourne.Learn More 04:10IF ...all of Sydney's players turn up with the right frame of mind to play a full game this Saturday at the SCG against Essendon ...THEN ...they may win by a three-figure margin.IF ...Harley Reid is out for the rest of the year ...THEN ...there is now next to zero reason for a neutral football follower to watch Eagles' matches. I've loved the back part of Reid's 2025 season. Has fought really hard, doesn't want to play "nice", occasionally gets too aggressive. Despite experiencing the euphoria of a win in just six of his 39 career matches, continues to play like a winner.Learn More 00:36IF ...Jez Cameron doesn't reach the ton in 2025 ...THEN ...Sam Darcy might in 2026. In just his fourth season, he's nearly unstoppable. Missed six matches in 2025 and yet has still kicked 43 goals. On pure maths, had he played the full quota, he'd have 61 goals had his knee not buckled in round six. And he's nowhere near his peak.Learn More 01:00AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFLIF ...a club suffers a self-inflicted period of pain ...THEN ...it must relinquish the right to request, and be given, priority national draft pick concessions. Have been saying this for at least 15 years. And hello, West Coast, in 2025. The draft is already way too compromised and manipulated with NGAs and father-sons.
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