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.
>> ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION FROM DAMIAN BARRETT
IF …
there are at least a dozen, maybe 15, higher-profile Crows players than Reilly O’Brien …
THEN …
there may be only a half-dozen who are more important. Provides great and reassuring presence every week.
IF ..
the Lions were 13th on the ladder at the corresponding stage of the 2024 season and regrouped to win a flag …
THEN …
they weirdly seem equally vulnerable 12 months on, despite being third on the ladder. No Daniher and now no Payne. Have won just two of their past six matches, and have a massive task under Friday night lights at the Cattery.
IF …
the unknown around TDK is where he will be playing next year …
THEN …
the known around him is that he is having an unconditional crack every week and playing brilliant footy as a Blue in 2025. The speculation is not adversely affecting him. I hope he’s leading the John Nicholls Medal.
IF …
there is one task the Pies must successfully manage between now and September …
THEN …
it is this: get Jordy properly fit. De Goey has played just five matches this year and only 18 times since the 2023 flag. Groin, Achilles and probably a half-dozen other ailments have seen him at times moving like a 65-year-old in matches this year. What a bonus, to be 11-2, without him.
IF …
Jye Caldwell hadn’t pinged a hammy early in the season …
THEN …
he might be leading the Essendon best and fairest award. Was the standout Bombers’ best against the Dockers on Thursday night.
IF …
Luke Jackson’s 30th AFL game was one in which he influenced the outcome of a Grand Final …
THEN …
his 109th, on Thursday night against Essendon, was arguably the most complete of his career. Not yet 24 years of age. The No.1 key to this club.
IF …
Danger on Friday night is going to be lauded yet again, this time for reaching game No.350, and just the 25th player in the V/AFL to get there …
THEN …
it’s extraordinary that in his 18th season he is still adding layers and depth to his long-established greatness. Friday night will be a celebration of longevity, and yet his true brilliance has always lied in him living in the moment. The next contest is the only thing that has mattered to him.
IF …
there have been some big home and away season moments in Dimma’s coaching career at two footy clubs over 16 seasons …
THEN …
round 15, 2025 is right up there. Consecutive losses, to Fremantle and Geelong, going into the bye. GWS coming out of it, in a game which may make or break their season.
IF …
the two outs for Sunday’s match against the Suns are Sam Taylor and Brent Daniels …
THEN …
that is borderline disastrous. Among the two most important players at this club. Toby returning is an obvious plus.
IF …
Josh Weddle has now got 56 games behind him …
THEN …
imagine the next 56. Just turned 21, and already displaying on-field leadership. Capable of seizing key moments. Hawks wouldn’t have won in Launceston last week against the Crows without his brilliance.
IF …
there have been many negative issues at the Demons since the 2021 premiership …
THEN …
the main problem has never been fixed. Inaccuracy in the forward line has been the most suffocating ailment, and it is an indictment on every senior person at this club that it has not been rectified. A reminder that the 2023 finals series was thrown away with embarrassingly bad kicking, 7.11 and 9.17 being the losing scores in matches lost by seven and two points, respectively to eventual premier Collingwood and Carlton. And in nine of the 14 matches of 2025, the Demons have booted more behinds than goals.
IF …
Luke McDonald had a torrid 2024 season, his second and final year as Roos’ co-captain …
THEN …
he’s been good this year. Glad to see him return to form.
IF …
the Power pre-bye were borderline dreadful …
THEN …
post-bye they have been excellent. Big wins against GWS and Melbourne, their established leaders dominating. There appears to be a re-emergence of a powerful steeliness to operations as Kenny enters the home straight of a very good stint as coach. Might yet make things interesting in the run home to September.
IF …
the toughest task in footy in 2025 has quickly become stopping Sam Darcy …
THEN …
it’s your turn this week, Noah Balta. Good luck.
IF …
in February, Saints footy boss Dave Misson said gun forward Max King was “touch and go for round one” after knee surgery …
THEN …
news of more problems with that knee during the week was yet another low for this club in 2025.
IF …
Errol, Tom and Joel are back …
THEN …
the Swans, on paper at least, look a whole lot better. Gulden, now recovered from serious ankle damage, hasn’t played a real game since last year’’s Grand Final. Still only 22 years of age and already with two All-Australian gongs and a best and fairest on his CV, cannot wait to see him back out there.
IF …
there are so many problems with the one-win West Coast right now …
THEN …
those attached to co-captain Oscar Allen are among the biggest. Now out for the remainder of the season, he may have played his last game for the Eagles. Knee surgery was announced by the club on Thursday night, with the accompanying line: “By undergoing surgery as soon as possible it allows Oscar the maximum rehabilitation period to be ready for pre-season training.” I wonder which club he will be doing that pre-season training. Allen has looked physically banged-up and emotionally troubled all year. There is a massive lesson for everyone here. Do not, as a club captain, get caught meeting the coach of a rival club.
IF …
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had no chance to play for the Bulldogs this time last week …
THEN …
he’s got a chance now. A still-unlikely and longshot one, yes. But a chance. What if he gets to play VFL four weeks from now? What if he kicks four goals for two consecutive weeks in the VFL? At least he has got this complex situation back in his control.
AND THIS ONE’S FOR THE AFL
IF …
the NRL effectively has four ‘Grand Finals’ each season – in the form of three State Of Origin matches and the actual premiership season decider …
THEN …
it benefits greatly from scheduling all those games in primetime night slots. The AFL has one Grand Final each season and yet again in 2025 it will be played in daylight, way off Broadway on a Saturday. I get the adherence to tradition, and used to advocate for that slot. But it makes zero sense to me anymore. A conservative million TV viewers are being lost every year.
