WITH the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership season done and dusted, Damian Barrett's Sliding Doors is turning an eye to the future.

So what's Damo saying about your club? What's he saying about the AFL? You can't say that, Damo, can you?

Oh, and be sure to tune in to AFL Daily as Mitch and Damo put the spotlight on all the big trade issues. Check it out.

IF ...

Jordan Dawson is a massive in for the Crows ...

THEN ...

THEN it still pales in comparison with the off-field acquisition of fitness guru Darren Burgess. Up there with Gawn, Petracca and Oliver when it comes to the most important figures in the Demons' 2021 premiership success.

IF ..

going out in straight sets in the finals for a second time in three seasons was a bad outcome ...

THEN ...

a closer look at the qualifying final shows they were within three goals of the rampant Melbourne late in the final quarter. Given the Dees then respectively won preliminary and Grand finals by 83 and 74 points, there's something to take out of that.

IF ...

the Blues' new footy bosses got together on the training track and someone threw a footy 20 metres in front of them and challenged them to get it and then bring it back...

THEN ...

that'd be worth filming. New coach Voss. New footy director Diesel. New assistant coach Hamill. Potentially Matty Scarlett. It'd be the hardest hard-ball get ever.

IF ...

ex-Dog Patrick Lipinski doesn’t play 22 matches in 2022 and finish top five in the Copeland Trophy count ...

THEN ...

I will be surprised. Reckon he's an untapped talent.

IF ...

it is a part-time development coaching role that has officially brought Alex Rance back to an AFL club...

THEN ...

I fully expect the Bombers to keep asking the bigger question: wanna play again?

IF ...

the off-field positions are equal in importance to the on-field ones ...

THEN ...

the Dockers are moving up the ladder. Bob Murphy and now Jaymie Graham key footy department appointments.

IF ...

three-time All-Australian Tom Stewart deservedly received the Cats' 2021 best-and-fairest gong on Thursday night ...

THEN ...

I'm tipping another Geelong gong to soon be added - captaincy.

IF ...

coach Stuey Dew was prepared to say this on the Suns' website: "It’s a pretty important 12 months for us, we think that we can play finals" ...

THEN ...

I love the sentiment and preparedness to offer it publicly. It is definitely time.

IF ...

getting suspended out of an elimination final and having the AFL appeal the lenience of a three-match ban was already a bad way to end 2021 (with that case still to be heard) ...

THEN ...

falling short to Josh Kelly in the Giants' best-and-fairest count on Thursday night was another unfortunate outcome for Toby Greene.

IF ...

it was a shock to some that Ben McEvoy was named captain for 2021 ...

THEN ...

it might also be a shock for others if he was to be replaced by James Sicily for 2022. Not convinced it will be Sicily, but reckon new coach Mitchell will make a change in that space.

IF ...

leadership can come in many forms ...

THEN ...

it is possible it presented itself in its purest form in the third quarter of last Saturday's Grand Final, when Maxxy Gawn – five-time All-Australian, and captain of that team in 2021 – encouraged then-19-year-old Luke Jackson (he turned 20 on Wednesday) to spark the Demons' most astonishing of premiership assaults.

IF ...

Ben Cunnington hadn’t missed seven matches in 2021 ...

THEN ...

he would almost certainly be adding a third Syd Barker Medal as North's best-and-fairest to his collection on Friday night. Hope he still does. This club's best player by a mile.

IF ...

Peter Ladhams is still a Port player at the end of the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period ...

THEN ...

I'll be surprised.

IF ...

season 2021 didn't go to plan ...

THEN ...

a rejuvenated Dusty and four national draft picks inside the top 30 is the start of great hope for 2022.

IF ...

he's got a mere five AFL matches on his CV ...

THEN ...

that shouldn’t stop him from being a key player for the Saints in 2022. Cooper Sharman, selected in the 2021 mid-season draft, showed plenty in those five late-season games.

IF ...

there is an exciting array of high-end talent on the Swans' list ...

THEN ...

there is no one more exciting than Braeden Campbell. Now re-contracted through to the end of 2025. This guy's highlights reel could rival some of the greats.

IF ...

it's good enough for the Cats and Tigers to load up and have one more crack at a flag with an ageing, previously successful list...

THEN ...

it's good enough for the Eagles. But JK needs to be part of that plan, and he's yet to fully get his head around that.

IF ...

you stopped watching the Grand Final the moment Bont's third goal was sailing over the goal umpire's head and returned 45 minutes of match-time later...

THEN ...

you'd be seeking a second opinion if you were watching the same game. And then a third, and fourth. And that's the dilemma for the Dogs as they debrief it. Do they focus only on that last quarter and a half? Or only on the first two and a half quarters? Or ignore it all, in the realisation they'd been hit with the greatest burst of pure football in the history of Grand Finals?

AND THIS ONE'S FOR THE AFL

IF ...

the 2020 season was problematic because of the COVID-19 unknown and the 2021 season arguably even more difficult due to the COVID-19 known...

THEN ...

the 2022 season is already shaping to be tougher again. The AFL will find a way, it's what it does, but the cumulative toll will continue to leave a trail of destruction.