| IF | THEN | |
| Adelaide | we look back on this era in 30 years time ... | ... we'll probably realise even more than we do now that Eddie Betts is out of this world. |
| Brisbane Lions | there's anything which sums up this club's standing right now ... | ... it is the complete lack of fanfare, or even care, about its search for a new coach. Need some spark. |
| Carlton | Liam Jones has a good 2017 in the third year of his Blues contract ... | ... the Blues will be able to start thinking that their giving-up of pick No.46 in the 2014 national draft to the Bulldogs was an OK transaction. Dogs pretty happy with Caleb Daniel. |
| Collingwood | your footy club is haemorrhaging with big names on and off the field walking out ... | ...it doesn't appear to be an ideal time for the CEO to have been spending significant time and energy acting as negotiator for a radio station seeking AFL broadcast rights. |
| Essendon | there was one image this week which rekindled those special school-kid memories of a love of football ... | ... it was Dyson Heppell rocking up at Tullamarine this week with a footy under his arm. Loved it. |
| Fremantle | you add McCarthy and Hill ... | ... that's going to make you better. But you can't stop there. Lobb would get you right back into top-eight calculations. |
| Geelong | Tom Hawkins has any further doubters in his career ... | ... all he needs to say is: "MCG. Finals." |
| Gold Coast | you stuffed it up way back in 2010 when you put the inaugural Suns list together ... | ... go back to the draft and get it right now. Six picks inside 26. And that's before you get anything for Prestia and O'Meara. |
| Greater Western Sydney | you go back to early 2015 ... | ... you'll remember Adam Treloar's public declaration of undying love for the Giants and commitment to re-sign. Keen to see what happens with Tomlinson from here. |
| Hawthorn | there's one thing we know about this mob ... | ... it is not in the business of having a gun player going public with a desire to join it only for that not to happen. O'Meara WILL be a Hawk despite the lack of obvious trade material. |
| Melbourne | Roosy's latest coach transition project proves even half as successful as his previous one ... | ... it will have been worth it. But Goody won't be prepared to settle for anything less than what Horse has achieved at the Swans. |
| North Melbourne | Wells really wanted to stay ... | ... he would've committed by now. And it could actually be the best thing for club and player if they were to part. |
| Port Adelaide | you have nine players on $500k-plus a year ... | ... something has to give. Dramatically. Hartlett and Lobbe won't be the only ones either. |
| Richmond | Balmey had been appointed to the Richmond footy department before the start of this season ... | ... he would have told us all year that Yarran was "only one or two weeks away" from playing. |
| St Kilda | the Saints were really, really ruthless ... | ... the two-game ban they slapped on Jake Carlisle for his drug drama would be served in rounds one and two next season. And not, as the club announced this week, "concurrently" as part of the WADA ban. |
| Sydney Swans | you'd queried the Rising Star winner ... | ... go back and take note of what happened in the backline last week after he went down. |
| West Coast | there's a player we've loved watching since becoming aware of his extraordinary talents in the 2007 finals series ... | ... it's been LeCras. We're now worried, though. Looks finished. |
| Western Bulldogs | we ever found ourselves in the trenches ... | ... we'd be feeling better about ourselves if we saw Liam Picken alongside us. |
| And wait, there's more, as per constant reader request ... | ||
| AFL | you do indeed finally purchase Etihad Stadium after years of talking about it ... | ... you'd better actually make sure that tenant clubs are significantly better off financially. We're going to need convincing. |
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Follow Damian Barrett on Twitter: @barrettdamian
