STRAP yourselves in, footy fans – Damian Barrett’s Sliding Doors is back in full swing for 2025.
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.
IF …
the Crows want the footy world to believe, and more importantly if they want to believe themselves …
THEN …
they need to beat Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday. Overdue that they win a big match. No excuses.
IF ..
the Lions players’ minds simply weren’t where they should have been against North Melbourne last Sunday in Hobart …
THEN …
that won’t have pleased Fages, who somehow stayed positive publicly post-match. He won’t be as accommodating if the same lethargy is at play against Melbourne at the Gabba on Sunday.
IF …
Robert Walls also had AFL connections with Brisbane (both the Bears and Fitzroy) and Richmond …
THEN …
it was at Carlton that his legacy was most profound. Three-time premiership player, Blues’ team of the century member, a captain, a legend in the club’s Hall Of Fame, a premiership coach. He is an equal among not just the greatest Blues but the greatest AFL identities.
IF …
the forward line was badly depleted in round nine against Fremantle, with Brody Mihocek, Dan McStay and Jordan De Goey all out …
THEN …
their absences allowed the footy brains of Bobby Hill and Jamie Elliott to wreak carnage. They just deal with what they’ve got available, the Pies. Massive test against the Crows on Saturday. And Mihocek is back.
IF …
there has been a quicker turnaround in media commentary status, from supposed complete dud to budding generational superstar, than that achieved by Zach Reid between rounds three and nine of the 2025 season …
THEN …
I cannot recall one. Suddenly, he’s an AFL key back prototype. Love that he’s hung tough through all the injuries, and the critiques, and is finally getting a crack at being the player that his No.10 national draft pick status in 2020 indicated he would be.
IF …
it’s now round 10 …
THEN …
it’s pretty clear the mechanics of the Dockers’ backline are not conducive to the modern game. Jordan Clark is the only one who provides any sort of regular, dynamic game-breaking run. Might be worth, temporarily at least, giving Shai Bolton a half-back role.
IF …
Jack Henry has no All-Australian gongs and Tom Stewart boasts five …
THEN …
I may be wrong but right now I feel Henry is the most important player in the Cats’ backline. When he’s fit, everything seems to function ultra-smoothly. When he’s absent, there’s trouble.
IF …
they’ve teased before …
THEN …
this time it’s real. Suns will be playing in September. A mature win in a cracking game against Hawthorn on Thursday night. The only unknown now is when they exit finals. Prelim final weekend should be the minimum expectation. And Matty Rowell. Paddy Dangerfield Mark II?
IF …
Jake Stringer has now suffered two soft tissue injuries in his short time with the Giants …
THEN …
while others seem prepared to say his recruitment is already a bust, I’m holding and taking a positive view. Has had 21 scoring shots in his seven games, albeit for an 8.13 return. But my maths says that’s a solid three scores per match, and he looked good early against the Cats with two goals before the latest setback. If the Giants can patch him up, he might still have a big say in September.
IF …
James Sicily has rightly had a heap of praise thrown his way …
THEN …
it’s justified that questions will now be raised. He’s just not impacting like we had become accustomed to. And he’s lost his magical touch. The good players don’t want excuses once they cross the line, but in his defence, he looks injured.
IF …
Goody opted to play Clarry as a tagger last week against Jai Newcombe …
THEN …
I’d imagine he’s considering a similar brief for Sunday’s Gabba match against Brisbane, on Lachie Neale. Not sure the tagging/run-with task is one that can be assigned to Oliver every week, but given his mixed early-season form and the absence of Jack Viney, it is smart deployment, for a fortnight at least.
IF …
there comes a time in a football club’s rebuild where very simply a game of footy just has to be won …
THEN …
that time is Sunday, 1.10pm AEST. MCG, versus Richmond. Zero excuses. As Al Davis, the former owner of the NFL Raiders, once famously said: “Just win, baby.”
IF …
I’m not normally one to plead for players and fans to act a certain way …
THEN …
when it comes to Willie Rioli, I am going to. He clearly is struggling with words directed his way, on and off field, and the Power’s football operations boss Chris Davies has now brilliantly articulated his situation publicly on multiple occasions. Sure, Rioli needs to stop making threats himself. But, please, immediately cease the verbal baiting of him and go about your footy business a different way when it comes to dealing with him.
IF …
Tom Lynch is closing on 500 career goals …
THEN …
it’s still been a long time since he produced a bag of them in the one game. The final round of 2022, to be exact, when he kicked five against Essendon, having kicked eight the week before against Hawthorn. Hasn’t managed more than three in a match since. Gets a chance on Sunday against the Roos to fix that.
IF …
Ross the Boss has been given a whole lotta regular love in this column …
THEN …
not this week. Missed a massive opportunity in round nine. When Carlton was stricken at one stage with injury to four players (McGovern, Cowan, Haynes and Acres), he needed to adopt “go” mode, and not be conservative. Blues were able to sort out those issues, and win the game.
IF …
the Dean Cox era at the Swans was always going to take time to bed down …
THEN …
the 2025 season is now starting to slip away in the process. Sure, injuries have cruelled them, but there can be no excuse for the disposal errors.
IF …
Jeremy McGovern is a big out …
THEN …
Oscar Allen is a sizeable in. It’s overdue time, though, for the captain to have an impact on a season which has begun with a disastrous nine-loss stretch as he considers a future elsewhere.
IF …
it made no sense to play in Ballarat against Port Adelaide in round eight when crowd capacity was capped at less than 5,000 …
THEN …
I have no idea why it was scheduled. At least the mistake won’t be repeated, with the round 18 follow-up against Adelaide being moved to Marvel Stadium.
AND THIS ONE’S FOR THE AFL
IF …
the first statement needed a second statement to correct messaging, and a third statement was required to correct messaging in the second and first statements …
THEN …
at a minimum that is two statements too many. And it’s not finished yet, either. This unnecessarily messy AFL headquarters versus umpires feud is spinning off not just the Lachie Schultz concussion of round nine, but also several months of unease.
