| If | Sloane coming back has been the key to this club's resurgence ... |
| then | the lesser profiled Riley Knight can also take some recent credit after returning from injury. Developing very nicely. |
| If | the Lions have won three of the past four games without Harris Andrews ... |
| then | they might just be a sneaky chance down at the Cattery now that he's back. |
| If | there's a lot of people right now talking down the futures of Weitering and Silvagni ... |
| then | we're not. Still like what we see in both youngsters. |
| If | Bucks at some stage this week went all woe-is-me and started shouting and pointing fingers at the footy gods ... |
| then | we wouldn't have blamed him. Just when things finally seemed to be going his way, De Goey went down, following Treloar and Dunn. |
| If | the No.6 pick from the 2015 draft, Aaron Francis, can use the remaining rounds to display the footy smarts everyone knows he has ... |
| then | it will be one of the good stories of 2018. |
| If | Bailey Banfield started the season as a rookie-listed player but has played all 17 matches and been impressive in many ... |
| then | we're really looking forward to seeing him go head-to-head with Mitchell. |
| If | Tom Hawkins has been a very, very good player for a long time ... |
| then | when you assess his standing in the game, make sure you factor in his character. Never deviates with how he presents himself, no matter the circumstance. True class. |
| If | the endeavour displayed in the win last week against the Swans becomes the norm ... |
| then | the big-picture battle will be half-won. But we have our doubts. |
| If | you're free late on Saturday afternoon ... |
| then | plonk yourself in front of a screen and focus on one guy: Josh Kelly. Football genius. No coincidence that this club turned its season around the moment he returned from injury. |
| If | the bookies have the Hawks a pronounced favourite against the Dockers ... |
| then | we agree with the favourite bit, but not the pronounced bit. Another danger game. |
| If | Bernie dared to smile post-match last week when he came across Dangerfield ... |
| then | one can only wonder what he might do when he sees Texan (his best mate and best man at his off-season wedding) this week. Hopefully everyone can relax this time round. |
| If | the Roos are to make the finals ... |
| then | they can't lose this one to the Eagles in Tassie. |
| If | Ryder and Jonas are among the ins ... |
| then | the Power will be returning to the winners' list. |
| If | there's one selection in round 19 we love ... |
| then | it's Liam Baker in for his debut. Won't know what hit him in front of 90,000. |
| If | Jack Steele has had a good season playing a run-with role ... |
| then | good luck this week against former teammate Kelly. |
| If | there's one thing we're not going to let go ... |
| then | it is this: until Buddy is allowed to be the player this club recruited, and not just one member of a 22-man outfit, the Swans are going nowhere. |
| If | Dusty owns the AFL's best contract ... |
| then | Gov's new deal probably places him second. Well deserved, too. Regular match-winner. |
| If | Bont is a big in ... |
| then | collectively the outs in Boyd, Gowers and Dahlhaus are just as significant. |
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| If | this time last week we were glowing in how the changes-to-the-game issue had been dealt with ... |
| then | we're not now. Messy and mixed public messaging a bad look, and it left headquarters exposed to the justifiably negative headlines. |
Twitter: @barrettdamian
