Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hopes Rory Lobb will quickly be rewarded with some ahead line “frills” after making a low-key begin at his new membership.
Lobb would be the centre of consideration on Friday evening when he returns to his former stomping floor for a crunch AFL conflict towards Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
The 30-year-old fired a parting shot at Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir final yr throughout his tense commerce to the Bulldogs, saying he felt “disjointed” from the Dockers’ teaching employees.
Longmuir was left stunned by Lobb’s remarks, and it is set the stage for a spicy reunion on Friday evening.
Lobb has endured an underwhelming begin on the Bulldogs, booting simply three targets throughout his first 4 appearances.
But Beveridge has valued different elements of Lobb’s sport.
“He’s had some good impact for us in recent times, but there’s still a lot of growth in him,” Beveridge stated.
“He’s helping others play well with his work ethic and the amount of game time he can play.
“As a ahead, all these frilly bits and attractive bits round scoring and direct rating assists – they’re those the forwards covet greater than something.
“But as long as he gets the other things at the forefront of his mind … I’m sure those scoring opportunities will come for him.
“We wish to use the ball a bit higher and we wish to discover our forwards in area, and hopefully he will get on the tip of some.”
Both the Bulldogs and Fremantle enter the match precariously placed with 2-3 records.
But Beveridge said it’s too early to view it as a must-win match.
“It’s positively not a fork within the highway at spherical six,” Beveridge stated.
“Neither workforce needs to go 2-4. To come out of this 3-3 with a little bit of momentum going into spherical seven is what you are after.
“But there will be no panic stations for either club I wouldn’t have thought if we don’t win the day.”
The ruck battle is ready to be a defining function of Friday’s match, with in-form large man Tim English and Lobb to go up towards Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson.
Fremantle can be hoping for one more breakout show from ahead Jye Amiss, who took 4 contested marks and booted three targets in final week’s win over Gold Coast.
“I loved his contested work last week. He’s getting bigger and stronger in the gym,” Longmuir stated.
“We saw him be able to hold his ground and even push some more experienced defenders out of the way last week.
“We know when he will get alternatives in entrance of targets, he will be fairly dependable.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
