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

With the 2026 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 ...

Izak is the Crows' most explosive player and a massive in for Saturday's match against Melbourne ...

THEN ...

don't underestimate the comeback of Mark Keane on this team's premiership hopes. Hasn't played since the semi-final of last year. Building beautifully, this team.

IF ..

the Bombers or Blues don't ask Lions footy department boss Danny Daly if he's interested in their coaching vacancies ...

THEN ...

they'd be remiss. Lions would be, too, whenever Fages decides to call it a day.

IF ...

five weeks after exiting the senior coach there has been internal debate about the merits of going all-out for a wildcard slot against the focus on the big picture ...

THEN ...

I'd suggest no more debate. Just go for it. The big picture will look after itself. And would look a whole lot brighter if there was a final to be played in 2026.

IF ...

you somehow confected outrage about how Collingwood "managed" Scott Pendlebury to his record AFL game No.433 against West Coast ...

THEN ...

make sure you maintain your confected outrage about him being "managed" out of Saturday's very winnable match against Port Adelaide at the MCG. He's 38, been playing 21 years. It's clever strategy, even with Bruz Maynard out this week.

IF ...

Welshy has waited and waited, and delayed and delayed, his public intentions on what the Bombers will be seeking in their coach search ...

THEN ...

one of the next five days will be his D-Day. Cannot wait to see the criteria he outlines. Cannot wait to see if that criteria allows Hirdy to apply. And if it precludes Hirdy, good luck on the wording where it would allow the even less credentialled Solly, Welshy's No.1 choice, to be in the running. Big days ahead for the Bombers.

IF ...

I've been trying to tell you for the past eight weeks there has been a new No.1 man looming in the comp ...

THEN ...

hopefully you're all onboard after Thursday night. Luke Jackson has now overtaken Bont as the best, in my four eyes anyway. What a player. And what a performance against the Cats. He rucks, he ruck roves, he takes hangers, he kicks goals, he runs all day, he contests every time the ball is near him, he never shirks a contest. And he just plays the game the way it's meant to be played, fairly and with a smile on his face. Hopefully the umpires look past the kick and handball accumulators and realise this guy deserves a LOT of threes.

IF ...

you're wondering why Tasmania Devils continually delay wanting to get near locking in their coach for 2028 ...

THEN ...

it's because they want the seemingly ungettable, Chris Scott. The best coach in the comp (contracted until 2029) was at it once again in Perth on Thursday night. Didn't win. But nearly pulled off the near-impossible.

IF ...

Dimma has been sooking and diverting and deflecting even more than normal this year ...

THEN ...

he will be desperate for a win against the Hawks under Friday night lights. Looks like he's about to explode. And they're a big chance, the Suns.

IF ...

I was really worried about the Giants before they recaptured some brilliance pre their bye in rounds 11 and 12, respectively against Brisbane and Melbourne ...

THEN ...

I'm again worried. Were OK against St Kilda post the bye, but still, to me, look a mile off even the best-placed teams below the tearaway ladder leaders Freo and Sydney.

IF ...

Tom Barrass is a massive in ...

THEN ...

Jack Gunston remains a massive out. I reckon they're tracking beautifully for a double chance, via third or fourth position on the ladder but the 34-year-old gun forward's continued absence might be an issue. 

IF ...

Tom Sparrow remains uncontracted ...

THEN ...

I reckon the Dees need to make him a compelling offer to stay. Having a good season. And just to be reflective for a moment, I still reckon his 55m, off-one-step, long bomb goal in the third quarter of the 2021 Grand Final was just about the best of the 16 goals the Dees kicked in the second half.

IF ...

North was furious that Paul Curtis, for a second consecutive season, was this week suspended for three matches for a tackle ...

THEN ...

I have no idea why it didn't take the Hamish Davis matter to the Appeals Board, just as it chose not to challenge the Josh Sinn matter last year. Collingwood would have. Fremantle would have. Maybe start rocking the boat, Roos. Being nice gets you absolutely nowhere in this comp.

IF ...

the Power have now lost five matches this season by a total of 11 points ...

THEN ...

I fear round 15 is going to be another one-kick loss. Going OK, the Power. But need to find someone other than Zak Butters, who will be leaving anyway, with a killer instinct. Collingwood at the 'G on Saturday night almost guaranteed to be close. 

IF ...

Tigers fans are rightly excited about the round 15 return of Taj Hotton, one of the eight draftees from the history-shaping 2024 national draft, for his first game of the season ...

THEN ...

they are still coming to terms with how myriad injuries have beset the vulnerable young group. Hotton (seven career matches), Lalor (18), Smillie (none), Faull (26), Trainor (28), Armstrong (11), Sims (11), Alger (eight). 

IF ...

I've questioned the Saints most of the season ...

THEN ...

I really liked what I saw in round 14. Very impressively, learnt from the hurt in the final moments in round 13 against Sydney in the way they stayed composed in the final minutes against GWS.

IF ...

the Justin McInerney injury is problematic ...

THEN ...

The Chad's return to his All-Australian best in the past month will more than cover it. Took a while to properly get going in 2026, The Chad. But he's baaaaaack.

IF ...

Jake Waterman's yips have cost the Eagles their past two matches, against Port Adelaide and North Melbourne ...

THEN ...

the bye has come at a good time for him. A gun footballer who is must-watch every time he plays. Hopefully he's using the break to have a minimum thousand set shots at goal, from 30 metres out.

IF ...

Bevo wanted to diss Jordan Lewis over his suggestions Tim English was exploring a way out of the Bulldogs ...

THEN ...

Bevo, too, in trying to do it with a half-smile on his face, merely made his claims with what he accused Lewis of - "half a scoop of vanilla". Bevo said: "If (Lewis) is going to speculate and make statements, he's got to give you the full scoop". Surely English won't be following Bailey Smith, Josh Dunkley and Jake Stringer out of his world?

AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFL

IF ...

there were 91,671 people at the MCG on a winter Wednesday night, a school night, and a further 4.3 million watching on broadcast, all of them watching a magnificent sporting spectacle under lights played by two teams not from Victoria, playing a game still considered secondary in the state ...

THEN ...

for the 437th time in the past five years I have zero idea why, yet again in 2026, the AFL's showpiece match, the Grand Final, will begin and end in daylight, on a Saturday in September. We may get there one day.