| If | Doedee played for a Victorian club ... |
| then | he'd be equal, if not outright, favourite for the NAB AFL Rising Star with Stephenson. Has superbly filled the Lever role. |
| If | we've been harsh on the Lions to this point ... |
| then | we don't resile from that. But we are coming around. Quickly. Might even ask Swanny's permission for a seat on the bandwagon if they beat the Crows. |
| If | you're a club under siege ... |
| then | refer to Steve Silvagni's vulnerable and raw media performance this week as a potential way to galvanise your own. |
| If | Cox played last week ... |
| then | the Pies wouldn't have lost as heavily to the Eagles. He's back this week, and will shape the chances against the Roos. |
| If | this club had its time over again ... |
| then | it would have changed its ways long before the days after round eight. As we've said here before, love the fact it had the courage to dramatically change within-season, but feel that no matter what happens from here, it's ultimately a wasted year. |
| If | there was a player in 2015 we thought had sky-is-the-limit potential ... |
| then | it was Cam McCarthy. Troubled times off and on the field since. Really hope he can still make it. |
| If | |
| then | he has to be named Gary, doesn't he? |
| If | we were running the Suns ... |
| then | we'd be calling a press conference for Monday, and be telling Tom Lynch he'll be in attendance and that he'll be announcing whether staying or heading to Victoria. Given he's not playing again this year, it's time. |
| If | we had some reservations early ... |
| then | we have none now. Love everything about Toby Greene. The swagger, the super-elite talent, the I-don't-care-what-you-think approach, the deliberate way he goes about annoying every player on the other team, the desire to be the man with the ball when the game needs to be won. |
| If | last week’s loss to the Lions was a setback ... |
| then | it wasn't as big a problem as the injury to Sicily. Nothing major will happen in '18 unless he gets back. |
| If | we liked your chances against the Cats ... |
| then | we don't like them anywhere near as much now that Hibberd is out. |
| If | De Goey has proven too great a challenge for a lot of opponents at key moments this year ... |
| then | we reckon Macmillan looms as a perfect match-up here. |
| If | you're kept scoreless in a quarter against the Dockers ... |
| then | maybe you're pretenders. |
| If | we knew he could seriously play after what we saw in 2017, particularly with four goals in a prelim final ... |
| then | somehow in just four games in 2018 we have come to realise Daniel Rioli is even better than we had thought. |
| If | you go back one season and two weeks ... |
| then | you'll get to round 16, 2017, when the Saints, at one stage of a game against that season's premier team, Richmond, were 95 points in front. Given what has transpired for both clubs since, if that hadn't actually happened, it would be impossible to believe. |
| If | there are five teams with greater percentage in what is developing as a logjam for places in the final eight ... |
| then | this SCG match against the Suns presents as manna from heaven. |
| If | the cameraman physically retaliated with the overly zealous Eagles official ... |
| then | you really couldn't have blamed him under those circumstances. And that would've made it an even more unpleasant incident than it was. Well done, cameraman. Inexcusable, official. |
| If | you try really hard, Bevo ... |
| then | you could probably read something into this too. |
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| If | anyone thinks Steve Hocking will be spooked by some public pushback to his plans ... |
| then | you don't know Steve Hocking. The right man for the frighteningly large task of fixing a very broken game. |
Twitter: @barrettdamian
