| If | it's McGovern this year and in years past it has been Dangerfield, Davis, Vince, Gunston, Lever, Cameron and Tippett ... |
| then | something is very wrong. |
| If | Beams is indeed staying ... |
| then | that's great news for the Lions. A genuine midfield gun over a long period of time. But it took him ages to publicly commit, and he only did so after the CEO cleverly went decisively public that he would be held to his contract. |
| If | we were regularly confused this year about some goings-on at the Blues ... |
| then | maybe the greatest source of confusion came in the minutes after a 104-point loss in the final game of a season which had reaped just two wins, when some supporters gave players a standing ovation. |
| If | Mason Cox has been a breath of fresh air on the field this year ... |
| then | he's been equally so off it with some witty, creative, cleverly cryptic work on social media. Love it. |
| If | the season from a team perspective was a complete waste – and yes, Woosha, it was ... |
| then | significant, profound individual consolation was gained via the five late-season matches played by Aaron Francis. Really liked what we saw. |
| If | you've got Neale under contract for 2019 ... |
| then | it's really simple from here. You hold him to it. You've got enough 'relevance' problems without contemplating this genuine star's absence in 2019. |
| If | you wade through the unlucky players to miss All Australian selection ... |
| then | No.1 on that list is Tomahawk. |
| If | we've been saying it for six months ... |
| then | we may as well say it again. Everything about Steven May gives the impression he just doesn't want to be here. And Victorian clubs know it. His management has made that very clear. |
| If | Deledio is fit ... |
| then | he has to play against the Swans. There's no tomorrow for whatever lies ahead for the Giants in 2018. Only the now. |
| If | you've been without him as you've surged toward a finals double chance ... |
| then | having him back for a qualifying final against Richmond makes things very, very interesting. James Sicily. Born to play in September. |
| If | we think we know a little bit about Goody ... |
| then | he won't be satisfied with 2018 unless he wins the premiership. Simply making the finals won't mean a thing to him if the Dees get blown away next Friday night. |
| If | 22 matches came and went in 2018 without Braydon Preuss playing one of them ... |
| then | we get it, given Goldy held up all year in a courageous run at the finals. But, Preuss now knows that the Roos, deep down, don't rate him. And other clubs do. |
| If | every club adopted Kochy's it-is-finals-or-it-is-a-fail attitude ... |
| then | the AFL competition would be a better place. That's the way it used to be, before never-ending rebuilds came into vogue. |
| If | you take a close look at the club tie Dusty wore to the Virgin Australia AFL All Australian dinner on Wednesday night ... |
| then | we're not sure he's dry-cleaned it since it was (possibly) wrapped round his head and in all sorts of other places on Grand Final night last year. |
| If | our gut feel is right ... |
| then | the St Kilda Football Club under an Andrew Bassat presidency is going to be a vibrant place. That's not criticism of Peter Summers, for he oversaw a difficult phase of the club's life, but Bassat isn't going to die wondering here. |
| If | you thought the "kick it to me" line at the All Australian night was a throwaway one from Buddy ... |
| then | we don't think it was. That's genuinely how he rolls. And it's also why the Swans rejuvenated a sputtering season in round 20, when they, indeed, started to kick to him. Continuing to do so is their only hope of success this year. |
| If | Kennedy can get himself to, and then maintain, 80 per cent fitness for the duration of September ... |
| then | we see Eagles wins at Optus Stadium in qualifying and preliminary finals, and then a highly competitive outfit in a Grand Final. |
| If | Toby McLean can't make the AFL Players Association's Best 22 Under 22 team ... |
| then | that team is broken and needs to change its voting mechanisms if it wants to be taken seriously. |
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| If | you didn't know the meaning of 'au pair' before this week ... |
| then | you probably do now. |
Twitter: @barrettdamian
