STRAP yourselves in, footy fans - Damian Barrett's Sliding Doors is back in full swing for 2026. 

With the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season underway, Damo's got plenty of thoughts about all 18 clubs - and the AFL.

So what is he saying about your team? 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 BARRETT

IF ...

there are many bigger profiles at the Crows than Wayne Milera ...

THEN ...

there aren't many more important to 2026 prospects. Without injury, compiled his best season in 2025. And honoured this week with life membership of the Adelaide Football Club. When fit, a very smart, creative and reliable footballer.

IF ..

the Lions weren't already dominant enough, having made the past three Grand Finals and won the past two ...

THEN ...

they've now got the A to Z covered, too. The A is (Oscar) Allen, the former West Coast captain making his Lions debut. The Z, and it's a beautiful AFL-first double Z, is Zane Zakostelsky, a ruckman/key position player who has clearly worked hard enough to get a debut in this iconic team after being drafted late in 2023.

IF ...

the Blues were 22 points up in the third quarter ...

THEN ...

lost by 63, well, that is a shattering outcome to open a season which already had so many doubts. Consolation will come in the form of knowing the Swans will go on that type of rampage many more times this season. Fear will come in the form of Richmond next Thursday, given what happened in that game last year.

IF ...

it was a famous Collingwood match, the 2010 Grand Final replay against St Kilda, where the great Dennis Cometti made arguably his greatest call among hundreds of great calls with "he came up behind him like a librarian" after Heath Shaw ran down Nick Riewoldt ...

THEN ...

there is seemingly going to be nearly as much hype at the 'G on Sunday night for the Pies-Saints game. Hopefully 90k-plus in the stands, 1 million-plus on screens. What a way to close Opening Round. And extraordinary that Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom played in that 2010 match and will again be out there on Sunday.

IF ...

there are many holes on the Bombers' list ...

THEN ...

none bigger than the workings of the backline. Just can't see how they're going to stop fast-moving opponents.

IF ...

'Flagmantle' became a thing in 2022 and re-emerged in 2025 ...

THEN ...

it's never been more real than the beginning of 2026. Tipped them to make the Grand Final last year, and doing so again this year. They have everything a team needs to win a flag.

IF ...

Danger and Jez are massive outs for the first game of 2026 ...

THEN ...

Bowes' absence is also sizeable. Miers has been selected. We will now await official team sheets to see if he actually plays. What a way for Tanner Bruhn to be reintroduced to the Cats' midfield mix. After what he was forced to endure last year, really hope he gets to instantly re-establish himself as an emerging midfielder.

IF ...

it came as a surprise to some that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has been left out of the Suns' Friday night lights match against Geelong ...

THEN ...

I reckon it was a great call by Dimma. Gave him a taste of the real stuff in the pre-season, now making him properly earn the right to be part of it. I'd leave him in the lower league for at least a month, maybe six weeks. Had no interest in playing nor training for the Bulldogs last year and hasn't played since September 2024. 

IF ...

the injury list is already in the catastrophic category ...

THEN ...

there are far easier ways to open the 2026 season than facing Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Collingwood and Sydney in five of the first six matches. Giants need to conjure a way to win two of those just to keep their season intact.

IF ...

Mitch Lewis kicked just eight goals in 2025 ...

THEN ...

the three he booted in the preliminary final against Geelong – three of the Hawks' first five for the match - reinforced the class of this guy. Really hope that the 2026 season allows Lewis to be the player he was meant to be, before a spate of serious and sickening injuries curtailed his progress.

IF ...

Jordy De Goey and Jeremy Howe owned the 'best' AFL stories relating to injuries incurred by dogs ...

THEN ...

come on down, Bayley Fritsch. De Goey may have been very economical with the truth in blaming a dog for a break to his hand, which he may have sustained in a fight. Howe extraordinarily broke a finger when playing, wait for it, frisbee, with his dog. And now Fritsch, who required "surgery to wash out the infection" caused when he got bitten by a dog when he tried to break up a dogfight.

IF ...

Luke Davies-Uniacke has been in the AFL system for eight years now ...

THEN ...

it is time for him to step right up and properly present as an All-Australian candidate.

IF ...

a physically underdone Jason Horne-Francis will be forced to play mostly as a forward in the opening matches of the season ...

THEN ...

I like it. His footy smarts alongside those of big Mitch will be something to see, and guaranteed to pose problems for defenders.

IF ...

the kids look really, really good ...

THEN ...

they will only take the Tigers so far in 2026. So much still rests with Taranto, Short, Vlastuin, Lynch, Hopper, Broad, Balta, Prestia, Ross and Nankervis.

IF ...

I've been sceptical of the Saints' turbo-charged recruitment spree and blistering public attacks on AFL academies ...

THEN ...

as their Opening Round nears, and after listening intently to Ross revert to someone sounding like the beautifully dismissive Ross The Boss of 2009-16, I'm finding myself engrossed in every aspect of it, and want it to work. Time for talk is over, though. Now it's time for on-field action. Bring on Sunday night.

IF ...

you dare think there is a player who has more influence over the result of a match than Errol Gulden does on Swans matches ...

THEN ...

stop. Gulden is THE man. From oblivion, the Swans went on a 7-3 surge when he returned from serious injury last year. And from 22 points down against the Blues in the third quarter on Thursday night, they went crazy only after Gulden started getting the footy. 2.6 at half-time. 20.12 at full-time.

IF ...

I normally don't place great emphasis on game style and results in practice matches ...

THEN ...

I admit I winced at the Eagles' efforts against Port Adelaide. And now the Suns, on their home deck, await them first up in the home-and-away season. Ouch.

IF ...

it took Jordan Croft until the second last match of his second season to get a crack at the big time ...

THEN ...

didn't he look at home when that opportunity finally arrived. Two goals in each of those games, among 23 disposals and 10 marks. Really keen to see how he fits in with Darcy and Naughton inside the Dogs' forward 50 this year. 

AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFL

IF ...

the MRO had openly forecast change in certain assessments of incidents ...

THEN ...

as sure as night follows day and Zach Merrett wanting out of Essendon, the tribunal once again muddied the messaging with its Jai Newcombe verdict. Before the real stuff had even started. Rinse, repeat.