Sorry I should have give more info, I'm not firing on all cylinders this today.....
I can print $xf.reply.section to the screen before and inside the widget and it displays 'snogGroups'.
In the forums it displays 'foums', media gallery displays 'xfmg', resources displays 'xfrm' etc etc...
I know that 'snogGroups' value is in there, I just can't say 'Where $xf.reply.section does not equal it'
I know it's not XF's code, I'm asking why that second conditional may not work. It kills widget from displaying anywhere.