| If | we're prone to making an early crow in an AFL season ... |
| then | of last year's entire draft intake, Darcy Fogarty will prove to be the player who has most influence at his club in 2018. |
| If | Stef Martin played for a higher-profiled club ... |
| then | he'd have rock god status. |
| If | the Blues are often difficult to watch from a purist perspective ... |
| then | that changes any time Charlie Curnow goes near the ball. Already one of our favourites. |
| If | the club isn't prepared to say it publicly ... |
| then | we will. There is an issue with the training surface at the Holden Centre. |
| If | Zach Merrett was All Australian last year ... |
| then | he's got a reality check in the early stages of 2018. Just hope his slump doesn't have links to a concussion in round one. |
| If | the Dockers are any hope of an unlikely win against the Giants ... |
| then | big Sandi will need to be best-on-ground. |
| If | you don't get Taylor or Henderson back really soon ... |
| then | this season is done. |
| If | we and others raised our eyebrows this time last week when Pearce Hanley was rushed back for a round three game ... |
| then | we shook our heads the next day when in the most innocuous of ways he again dislocated his shoulder, putting his entire season in jeopardy. |
| If | we thought Toby Greene coming back was finally a positive sign on the injury front ... |
| then | reality hit back when we saw Josh Kelly among the outs. |
| If | Maxxy Gawn is back to his best ... |
| then | in McEvoy this Sunday Gawn will be up against a player in career-best form. One of the match-ups that make this game the one we're looking forward to most in round four. |
| If | the McEvoy-Gawn clash is exciting us ... |
| then | so too is Mitchell-Vince. Bring it on. |
| If | Robbie Tarrant's main job this weekend is negating Curnow ... |
| then | his No.2 priority is to guide Majak Daw through his role in the backline. You never know, Majak down back might just work. |
| If | there's a player we're drawn to in Power matches ... |
| then | it's Dixon. He's got serious presence. And we like him even more when he plays angry. |
| If | you slot two goals and add an infectious vibrancy on debut ... |
| then | you're unlucky to axed. But we now know Jack Higgins is going to be a star. |
| If | before this week you weren't sure of what passing the buck meant ... |
| then | you do know now after hearing Chris Pelchen reflect on his time at St Kilda. |
| If | we have long viewed Jarrad Waite as the most unfulfilled super talent due to regular injury setbacks ... |
| then | Sam Reid is about one injury from taking the title. |
| If | you're 2-1 after three games, Nic Nat is officially back and better than ever, Kennedy is about to play his first game for the year, and the opponent in round four is Gold Coast at Optus Stadium ... |
| then | this season is starting to take a very nice shape. |
| If | you take your mind back to three-quarter time of the 2016 Grand Final ... |
| then | you'll remember that of all the heroes who emerged in the ensuing 30 minutes, none stood out more than Liam Picken. Sad to think a pre-season concussion may end his career. |
| If | you didn't know the next Victorian state election was due by November ... |
| then | you do now. Simply extraordinary what the AFL officially pulled off late this week with the Andrews government signing off on hundreds of millions of dollars of projects. |
