Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is adamant star tall Aaron Naughton stays essential as a ahead regardless of his aspect’s defensive personnel points.
Beveridge says Naughton will return to the ahead line towards Fremantle on Saturday, as an alternative opting to recall 197cm rookie James O’Donnell as a defender after surprisingly introducing him to senior soccer as a fourth tall ahead.
Naughton was swung behind the ball within the spherical 14 win over North Melbourne following severe accidents to Liam Jones and Tim O’Brien, with the Bulldogs struggling no scoring points as they piled on 10 objectives following the second-half change.
But the Bulldogs coach says the transfer is one he’s reluctant to make once more, insisting the versatile tall is an important cog in assault.
“I said at the time that if we were out of options we’d have to consider (moving Naughton to defence) … which wasn’t ideal,” Beveridge mentioned.
“Aaron is such an important player for us forward of the ball, and he’s still a very young key forward, he’s only 23.
“I think if you ask the other 17 clubs, ‘Where would you rather Aaron Naughton play?’ they’d probably say in the Western Bulldogs backline, so we won’t allow Freo that luxury.”
Beveridge praised the hassle of Naughton and reinvented wingman Bailey Williams to offer the Bulldogs “stability” in defence after the accidents and backed inclusion Ryan Gardner to supply related towards Fremantle.
Gardner has solely managed 5 video games in 2023 as a consequence of harm and type points however signed a three-year contract extension within the low season after a stellar 22-game marketing campaign final 12 months.
“(Gardner) has been an important staple in our backline … Gardy’s just had so many injuries to his upper body really, he hasn’t had the continuity that we would have liked him to have had, so he’s a pretty handy replacement,” Beveridge mentioned.
“James (O’Donnell) is in the infancy of his journey, but he’ll improve on what he did last time and he’ll provide a good blend with the rest of the boys we’re going to play down there, which is a bit of a different mix.”
Beveridge mentioned he needed his gamers to discover a “similar application” to what they produced of their spectacular spherical 6 win over the Dockers in Perth.
“It was probably our best game for the year, I would’ve thought … Fremantle will be after retribution, so we’ve got to be ready for their intensity,” he mentioned.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
