IF you take your mind back to the 2021 Grand Final … THEN
THE 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership season is over, but never fear, Damian Barrett's Sliding Doors is still going full steam ahead.So put your seatbelt on and enjoy the ride as Damo takes off the gloves and takes aim at your team.So what is he saying about your club? 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 ...Brand Petracca is again determined to sever ties with Melbourne ...THEN ...it seems to be down to Adelaide or Gold Coast. Two teams on the rise, both based in booming regions. It might come down to the off-field pitch: the extraordinary food and wine offerings in Adelaide, or the stunning outdoor and lifestyle appeal of south-east Queensland. What's better for the Brand 'Trac?IF ..the most revered status at football clubs is often reserved for those who win the best-and-fairest in a premiership season ...THEN ...welcome, Josh Dunkley, the Lions' 2025 Merrett-Murray Medallist. What a player. What a teammate. Three wins and two losses in five Grand Finals over 10 seasons at two clubs, and an indelible presence and influence on all those involved with the Lions, on and off the field. Michael Voss (co-winner 2001, outright winner 2003), Simon Black (co-winner 2001, outright winner 2002), Lachie Neale (2024) and now Dunkley on the list of Lions to secure best-and-fairests in flag years.IF ...the Blues' big post-season headlines have all focused on the official exits of De Koning and Silvagni, and desired exit of big Charlie ...THEN ...I still expect them to fire back hard with an inclusion before the October 15 deadline. Do not underestimate new CEO Graham Wright's ability to broker magic out of the likely Curnow transaction.IF ...good news descended this week in the form of gun forward Jamie Elliott re-committing ...THEN ...more good 2025 "trade" news is required for the Pies to produce an improved finish to the 2026 season. Realise there isn't a lot of cap space, but their list needs bolstering if they are to have another proper crack at a flag.IF ...he's a brilliant footballer, Zach Merrett, and now a six-time Essendon best-and-fairest winner ...THEN ...he's not as good when it comes to words. I realise it would not have been easy, given his desperation to again walk out of a contract, yet again. But upon accepting his latest Crichton Medal on Thursday night, his references to "complexities", "uncertainty" and "external noise and pressure" made no sense. He was also "fully committed to working with the club", whatever that meant amid the waffle, and that there were "factors at play". Blah, blah, blah.IF ...some Melbourne clubs keep enquiring about Sean Darcy ...THEN ...I expect the Dockers to continue to ignore them. This club wants for nothing as it prepares for 2026, and a fit Darcy is crucial to the grand plans.IF ...on Grand Final day most Geelong players didn't get anywhere near their optimum levels ...THEN ...that is going to make their next six months feel like an eternity. Lawson Humphries was an exception. I thought he was the Cats' best player by some distance.IF ...the Suns are open to giving Jamarra Ugle-Hagan a football lifeline ...THEN ...I'm all for it. It would no doubt be a risk, but it would come fully on their terms, and provide him with no guarantees. Let's see if he really wants to be an elite AFL player.IF ...I was running this football club ...THEN ...I wouldn't be choosing to publicly reference any aspect of last year's Giants players' dress-up party, even if you perceive there to be hypocrisy from AFL headquarters in a decision this week to do nothing against Cats players. Aspects of the Giants' behaviour at that gathering were simply disgraceful. Cannot believe CEO Dave Matthews opted to compare the two events.IF ...landing Zach Merrett would be a massive coup ...THEN ...returning Will Day to full fitness would be an even bigger one. The Hawks' best player, but unfortunately his body gets broken too many times. Really hope he finally gets a crack at a finals series.IF ...you take your mind back just four years, precisely to the third and fourth quarters of the 2021 Grand Final played at Perth's Optus Stadium ...THEN ...it is truly staggering that the Melbourne Football Club is preparing for life without Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Steven May. The brilliant Petracca-Oliver-May-influenced success of that September Saturday night back in 2021 was supposedly the start of a dynasty.IF ...No.1 overall pick Jason Horne-Francis wanted out after one year, and No.4 pick Zane Duursma now wants out after two, and the captain Jy Simpkin is exploring options ...THEN ...some things never change at this club. And still can't believe it opted to trade out its first pick in this year's draft.IF ...Ryan Burton has been cut after seven seasons with the Power and 10 in the AFL ...THEN ...I reckon he will still be on an AFL list in 2026. Injuries hit him hard over that time.IF ...Sam Lalor didn't register any votes in the 2025 Telstra AFL Rising Star count ...THEN ...he still did more than enough in 11 matches in his debut season to suggest he could emerge as the best of his crop. Tigers need to prepare him very carefully for his second season of football.IF ...the Saints will hopefully have Max King fit and firing for 2026 ...THEN ...there are still going to be a heap of smaller players at his feet. Jack Higgins, Dan Butler, Max Hall, Darcy Wilson and Liam Ryan to be waiting for the crumbs. An intriguing part of the Saints' strategy to get out of the doldrums.IF ...the Swans already have arguably the biggest all-round rock star in the game on their books in Isaac Heeney ...THEN ...it wouldn't hurt to add another in Charlie Curnow. Sydney, the city, almost demands that the Swans have rock stars.IF ...the Eagles won a premiership just seven years ago ...THEN ...it's extraordinary this once mighty organisation can a) ask for AFL national draft assistance and b) be given it. West Coast would have once been too proud to seek welfare.IF ...the Bulldogs missed after a sizeable swing on Callum Wilkie ...THEN ...they need to swing again at a quality key back. They have understandable reservations on Steven May. But surely he now looms large.AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFLIF ...that most intriguing time of year is now upon us, when we all get to see the secret herbs and spices at work in free agent compensation ...THEN ...we got an advanced taste of it this week with the AFL's national draft assistance package to West Coast. Pick 19 in this year's draft was a new herb. And it will assist the Eagles to still land pick two in the draft for loss of free agent Oscar Allen, despite also bringing in a free agent in Brandon Starcevich.
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