TOP DOG NAUGHTON NEEDS HELP
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has challenged his players to banish their “spasmodic” form and provide greater support for Aaron Naughton.
The Bulldogs have struggled with inconsistency and will gun for backto-back victories for the first time this season against in-form Gold Coast in Ballarat on Saturday.
After starting the season with defeats to top-four teams Melbourne and Carlton, Beveridge’s men have gone win-loss ever since.
“It’s notable we haven’t had any momentum beyond one week, and that, in many ways, has been a bit disconcerting,” the coach said.
“We’re obviously not overly happy with the fact that our formline has been spasmodic, so that’s our intention – to start to pile a couple of wins on top of each other – and who knows where that might head?
“But there’s no better week to do it than round 10.”
As Beveridge previously pointed out, the Dogs have been mostly competitive in defeat, with three of them by 17 points or fewer.
But one area he wants to see improved is the spread of goalkickers, so as to have less reliance on power forward Naughton, whose 22 goals are 10 more than the next-best teammate Cody Weightman.
Beveridge was buoyed to see Adam Treloar – who will play his 200th match against the Suns – Buku Khamis and Josh Dunkley join Naughton in kicking three goals each in last week’s 48-point win over Collingwood.
Son-of-a-gun Rhylee West also earned praise for his 16 disposals and five tackles in a forward role.
“We had 10 goalkickers against Essendon (in round 7) and Aaron Naughton didn’t kick one of those – he created some – and you win the game,” he said.
“Last week we had four guys kick three each, which was unusual, but it was a good spread and we’re looking for that again this week.
“The one constant down there’s been Aaron and he’s having a really consistent, really powerful year. I think if we were going a bit better, as far as our ladder position goes, his performances would be noted a little bit more.”
Gold Coast’s ability to kick 10.9 from only 36 inside 50s in its upset of Fremantle, with recruits Mabior Chol and Levi Casboult holding the fort without injured Ben King, caught Beveridge’s attention.
But he was confident Tim O’Brien’s return, alongside fellow defenders Alex Keath and Ryan Gardner, would boost the Bulldogs.
“They’ll give each other the requisite help in the air,” Beveridge said.
“It does mean at times that their fleet-of-foot smaller forwards might be a handful for some of our bigger guys ... but we will be well-equipped.”