IN THIS week's Sliding Doors, made possible by ventraip australia, our chief football correspondent Damian Barrett puts Nat Fyfe, Carlton, the AFL, Toby Greene and his worshippers, Sydney's plan to get Joe, Oliie Wines and more in the Doors' spotlight.
What's Barrett saying about your club? What's he saying about the AFL? Check it out.
| If |
the Bulldogs of late 2014 taught the competition one thing ... |
| then |
it was this: if you decide you need a new coach at a late stage, then there is no rush. Beveridge wasn't appointed until post-Trade Period. Crows have as long as they want to get the right man. |
| If |
the season was a very good one on so many fronts ... |
| then |
it is also was one that was disappointing on other fronts. A straight-sets exit from two home finals was unsatisfactory. |
| If |
everyone at the Blues takes a breath from their premature excitement about the future ... |
| then |
they should revert to their original list management plan. Which means there is no place for a past favourite son who is soon to turn 33 and long past his best. |
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| If |
you want proof that hanging in there against all odds, and doing the right thing every single time while being a good bloke and clubman the whole way through can reap benefits ... |
| then |
here's Ben Reid. In his 13th season, with just seven matches in 2019 and none since round 15, he's deservedly back for a preliminary final. |
| If |
the interim senior coach becoming the senior coach (Shaw, Teague, Ratten) has emerged as the big trend of 2019 ... |
| then |
the Bombers are getting ahead of the curve of the next trend: officially appointing an assistant coach as the main man a season in advance. |
| If |
he won a Brownlow Medal in 2015 when his team finished top of the ladder ... |
| then |
the way the voting normally goes, it's going to be more difficult this year for Nat Fyfe to win again, given the Dockers won just nine games and finished 13th. But he has had a fantastic personal season. |
| If |
the 2019 finals series has been lacklustre to this point ... |
| then |
thankfully Chris Scott has livened things up in media space. Have enjoyed his offerings, particularly the mind games this week targeting the vulnerability of the Tigers. But he now needs his players to back him up, something they didn't do in week one of the finals. |
| If |
there's a lot going on next week in Melbourne ... |
| then |
for the Suns, there is nothing bigger than the result of an AFL Commission vote on their request for a top-of-draft priority selection. |
| If |
the anger about Toby's failed Tribunal bids from Giants officials and his management was understandable in the heat of the moment ... |
| then |
in the cool light of day, those same officials and management need to sit Toby down and tell him his behaviour, as compelling and as box office that it is on so many fronts, is simply unacceptable on one particular facet. Stop making excuses for him. The in-house hero worshipping is contributing to his problem. |
| If |
there's one thing you can lock in from here ... |
| then |
it's Clarko attempting another recruiting coup. He's managed to keep his 2019 plans a top secret to this moment. |
| If |
I've said it previously ... |
| then |
I'll back over it here. Sam Frost is a player worth keeping. |
| If |
they blinked once with the longer and higher priced renewed offer to Todd Goldstein ... |
| then |
it was no surprise the Roos blinked a second time with a fresh offer to Shaun Higgins. Still don't know who is making these footy department decisions given there's no one left in the building, and the new footy boss doesn’t start until December 1. |
| If |
co-captain Ollie Wines is contracted until the end of 2022 and his management says he's going nowhere ... |
| then |
his name comes up an extraordinary amount of times in discussions with rival clubs in the days leading in to the official Trade Period. |
| If |
you go back to this night last year ... |
| then |
you'll remember a big American destroyed the Tigers in a prelim final. The memories of that unexpected loss still burn deep for everyone associated with Richmond. Tigers couldn't bomb again, could they? |
| If |
I had doubts a few months ago ... |
| then |
I don't now. Building very, very nicely. |
| If |
the pursuit of Daniher is genuinely exciting ... |
| then |
it's also high risk. Swans already have one recently injury-prone key forward. |
| If |
you win just one of your final four matches of the season ... |
| then |
the numbers don't lie. Eagles a long way off retaining the title, with a lot of worries going into 2020. Josh Kennedy the No.1 worry. |
| If |
Bont loves having Dunkley and Macrae alongside him in the Dogs' midfield each week ... |
| then |
at some stage of Monday night's Brownlow count, he's also probably going to wish they weren't stealing so many votes. |
| If |
you are going to continue to manufacture outcomes, as happened with Toby Greene when he rag-dolled the head of Marcus Bontempelli ... |
| then |
the whole system is terribly exposed by those arrangements when the subject continues to a) place his hands on an opponent's face, and b) stick his middle finger up at authority. |
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