AFL great urges Dogs to switch Naughton back as current mix ?can?t win finals?

[bornadog]

link (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/western-bulldogs/afl-2024-david-king-says-western-bulldogs-are-wasting-aaron-naughtons-talent-in-the-forward-line-first-crack-loss-to-melbourne-jamarraugle-hagan-sam-darcy-reaction-response-latest-news/news-story/2a467312a54cece4cc63a51895cec04c)

The Western Bulldogs are ?wasting? Aaron Naughton?s talent in the forward line, according to dual premiership Kangaroo David King, who implored Luke Beveridge to switch the star key position player into defence.

The Dogs were convincingly defeated in a 45-point loss to Melbourne to open their season, with Aaron Naughton booting only one goal from six disposals and one mark.

Originally drafted as a defender, Naughton has flourished as a forward, kicking 44, 51 and 47 goals respectively over the last three seasons.

However speaking on Fox Footy?s The First Crack, King believes the Dogs more urgently need Naughton down back, particularly given Sam Darcy can come into the senior side to fill the key forward void.

?I don?t know if I know a greater waste of talent in the forward half ? that?s a marquee player in our competition ? that should be playing centre half back,? King said on the program.

?I?ve said this for two or three years, I think he?s All-Australian caliber. They lack an intercept marker down back. Liam Jones is a fantastic intercept player, but he had to go to (Bayley) Fritsch, so he?s the next layer back.

?They need a Naughton down there. They?ve got Darcy in the twos, he can play that (forward) role, so why not utilise all the magnets and weaponry you?ve got and spread them evenly across the field.?

King highlighted how the Dogs against Melbourne only kicked to Naughton twice instead 50, saying ?he had to outmark five guys.?

Also pointing to Beveridge?s side?s inability to get intercepts in the defensive half ? and use it to counter punch ? King thinks the Dogs ?have to look at? moving Naughton back for the betterment of the team.

?Again only 59 intercepts (against Melbourne) ? and they were bottom four in the competition last year,? King said of the Dogs.

?If you can?t win the ball back in the game in 2024, you can?t win. You can?t win big finals and you won?t be there in September in any meaningful way.

?So they?ve got a decision to make ? do they stay stubborn with this all charge forward mentality they?ve got at the moment? Or do they accept what everyone else can see??

Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagana concurred, arguing the emergence of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who kicked 2.3 against the Demons, as the focal up forward gives Beveridge more flexibility to tinker with his mix.

?To support that argument, Jamarra is now their No. 1 man (up forward). He is growing and we spoke about it last year ? he was on the verge,? Montagna said on The First Crack.

?I thought he was very, very good (against Melbourne). I think they can build around Jamarra and make him the No. 1 man.?

[bornadog]

Over the past few years, King has said plays forward, then changes his mind and says move backline.

[Sedat]

You could mount an argument for him to go back and be right, and you could also mount an argument for him to stay forward and also be right.

Talking about individuals doesn't really interest me - I'm personally more interested in how the entire team is defending the entire ground when we don't have the ball, and what structures/tactics we have in place to win it back from the opposition? Do we have elite kickers to be able to work around the press, like Sydney have done the last 2 weeks against top 4 opposition?

Having a strong clearance/stoppage game is not enough - even Carlton have acknowledged this. Next month of footy will be very interesting.

[Countrydog5]

I truly understand those who want to keep him as a forward due to his success there in the last few years, but a part of me dreams of him playing CHB.

I can imagine Bevo telling him to back himself to mark every time, and him using his aerial marking ability, strength and agility to be involved at ground level also. He's fantastic at ground level pressure. I honestly see him as a Darcy Moore type who would rarely get beaten in a marking contest.

Unfortunately I think the ship has sailed though. Bevo has been too stubborn to at least consider it when required the last few years, and now Naughton truly believes he's a rockstar key forward only. I could see us asking him to move back really rubbing him the wrong way, and that's a decision we'll now have to live with for years to come.

[mjp]

Talking about individuals doesn't really interest me...

...I'm sort of with you. But the people do influence the plan and the plan influences the people.

Hit up option covered? Well - going short to a 1-v-1 is dumb...don't do that - kick it in.
Big pack in the goal-square (or wherever the 'long' option is)...kicking it to a group of players is also dumb. Show some composure and find a hit-up.

I'm a lot more relaxed about everything today.

[Grantysghost]

It's a no brainer, the side would look more balanced.
It's moot. Will never happen.

Lever would be a 50 goal a year forward.

Lobb and his recruitment over a KPD is the issue.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

It won't happen anytime soon. The reality is he hasn't played or trained as a defender for a LONG time.

I get the argument that he made the change to being a forward late, so why not the other way around.

As bad as he was yesterday, our problems are far deeper than where we play Naughton. IF we get a change of coach, it would certainly be an interesting discussion for the future.

[Grantysghost]

It won't happen anytime soon. The reality is he hasn't played or trained as a defender for a LONG time.

I get the argument that he made the change to being a forward late, so why not the other way around.

As bad as he was yesterday, our problems are far deeper than where we play Naughton. IF we get a change of coach, it would certainly be an interesting discussion for the future.
Easton Wood changed to the forward line seamlessly.

Yes agree we can't just chuck him back and expect a Jake Lever.

He's a forward for Bevo.

[bornadog]

Easton Wood changed to the forward line seamlessly.

Yes agree we can't just chuck him back and expect a Jake Lever.

He's a forward for Bevo.

Forward is much harder to play than down back. No way Lever kicks 50.

Naughton has kicked 44, 51 and 47 goals in past few years. Until we replace that, then we keep him there. If JUH kicks 50 plus this year, then maybe Naughton trains at CHB next year.

[azabob]

...
I'm a lot more relaxed about everything today.

How come?

Are you relaxed because you are confident moving forward we are going to improve?

Or you have accepted we are what we are and the season will be an up and down one?

[jeemak]

How come?

Are you relaxed because you are confident moving forward we are going to improve?

Or you have accepted we are what we are and the season will be an up and down one?

He's probably not into panicking over stuff he can't control.

[jeemak]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?

[DOG GOD]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?
And that wouldn’t surprise me at all.
For me Naughton is a rockstar fwd who is a flat track bully against shit opposition, and hardly gets a touch against the BEST defenders. Sometimes I think he worries more about his head band than his game.

[Grantysghost]

Forward is much harder to play than down back. No way Lever kicks 50.

Naughton has kicked 44, 51 and 47 goals in past few years. Until we replace that, then we keep him there. If JUH kicks 50 plus this year, then maybe Naughton trains at CHB next year.

He might kick 70. Point was, they put their best tall intercept players in defence.

[Grantysghost]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?

Then we are dickheads.

[Hotdog60]

It will interesting if we go to the mid season draft and look at a key defender.

[JanLorMill]

Over the past few years, King has said plays forward, then changes his mind and says move backline.
Thats not right. He has been advocating for a while now.
Our defence was terrible yesterday, Coffield or Khamis was never going to cover Brown(who was isn't very good anyway). Jones was great in the first half but he is 33. I understand JOD was suppose to play and now injured but we need someone there next week.
Too much weight was given to the 2 practice matches against the same poor side.

[JanLorMill]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?
How or why can any club guarantee that or why should a player expect that? More of the tail wagging the dog?

[JanLorMill]

And that wouldn?t surprise me at all.
For me Naughton is a rockstar fwd who is a flat track bully against shit opposition, and hardly gets a touch against the BEST defenders. Sometimes I think he worries more about his head band than his game.
Thats not true either, he has the wood on Harris Andrews

[Mofra]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?
Then I seriously doubt we would have allowed him to be our Vice Captain.

I think he should be a swingman. May was killing him, so move him up the ground a bit. Get the ball in his hands a couple of times. It's what small and medium sized forwards do if they've had a quiet half. A few minutes at the end of a quarter if he's had a quiet one is hardly throwing all of our plans out given we played Buks at CHB, who is shorter than Bont.

[EasternWest]

What if Naughton signed on the dotted line on the proviso the club would play him forward?

I would told him to walk. Tail doesn't wag the dog.

[GVGjr]

To me we have signed Naughton to be our key forward and he does appear to have a great synergy with Marra so I can see why we are chips in to try and maintain that. Largely because of Darcy's development I do however, think we should be open to use him as a defender a couple of times during the season if we have some injuries that need to be covered and this week could be one of those weeks.

Now while I have nominated Darcy as a potential in we should note that Darcy is often a slow mover when he is in the ruck. On a few occasions on the weekend he was caught a mile behind the opposition ruckman. Also at training when pitted against Lobb in the ruck Rory is by far the better option.

[Scorlibo]

Last year I was an advocate of 'make a move end of year and he trains as a defender in the pre season'. Unfortunately that ship has sailed and I'm not entirely sure why we wouldn't have provided him with significant minutes training there in the pre season. Perhaps blind faith in our lesser key defensive options. We have 6 proven AFL grade key position players. Just one is being played back (LJ) and as a result of the forward options, one is not playing AFL.

I would much prefer we had some better key defensive options, and Naughton plays forward, but at some point we've got to stop bluffing and play the hand we've been dealt.

[jeemak]

Then I seriously doubt we would have allowed him to be our Vice Captain.

I think he should be a swingman. May was killing him, so move him up the ground a bit. Get the ball in his hands a couple of times. It's what small and medium sized forwards do if they've had a quiet half. A few minutes at the end of a quarter if he's had a quiet one is hardly throwing all of our plans out given we played Buks at CHB, who is shorter than Bont.


How or why can any club guarantee that or why should a player expect that? More of the tail wagging the dog?


I would told him to walk. Tail doesn't wag the dog.

Isn't it just the same as let's say a Bailey Smith being signed to play at a club because that club said it would play him midfield?

Naughton and manager walk into meet the club, Naughton says he wants to be a forward and his manager says there's a nine year offer on the table from Sydney to make that happen. What do you reckon the Dogs need to do, and actually do, to keep him?

As if players with leverage don't have a huge say where they end up playing.....

[FrediKanoute]

I am on the fence with Naughton. Having put 3-4 seasons into him as a forward I think dropping him back would be a huge change that I can't see happening. I think though if he was having a day like he was yesterday pushing him back would be a good coaching decision.

The biggest frustration I have is that we did nothing and ended up with Naughton contributing SFA.

[Mantis]

I have huge concerns with Naughton's field kicking if he was to play in defence.

And I don't feel we would be having this conversation if one of JOD or Keath were available on the weekend.

Might be a conversation worth having when Jones departs, but I feel we are better suited with Naughton in attack.

And May is an absolute gun defender, especially if you stand shoulder to shoulder with him like Aaron does... Curnow is the best key forward in the comp and he was held to just 4 kicks by May in last year's SF.

[AshMac]

I sometimes wonder if Bevo reads the news and owns a TV

[bornadog]

I sometimes wonder if Bevo reads the news and owns a TV

Why?

[azabob]

What is the downside to playing Naughton down back for 6 weeks?

In 2023 we really struggled to win the ball back and 2024 has started off the same way.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

What is the downside to playing Naughton down back for 6 weeks?

In 2023 we really struggled to win the ball back and 2024 has started off the same way.

He's a shocking kick for one.

I think that ship has well and truly sailed.

Liam Jones was fantastic on Sunday. Adding Naughton down back won't change much when you've got players who don't want to chase or defend. Oliver outran half our side from one end to the other to setup an easy goal. It was the start of the 2nd quarter....

[kickit2Koly]

To me we have signed Naughton to be our key forward and he does appear to have a great synergy with Marra so I can see why we are chips in to try and maintain that. Largely because of Darcy's development I do however, think we should be open to use him as a defender a couple of times during the season if we have some injuries that need to be covered and this week could be one of those weeks.


I agree with this. Although I think it should be considered in game also. If he's not getting a kick up front(like on Sunday) let him play as the spare defender for 10 mins or a quarter. This could possibly solve 2 problems, stop run ons and help him get into the game.

I don't get with why our "flexibility mantra" only seems to apply to some players.

[Danjul]

To my mind Naughton finished 2023 poorly. He was unable to contribute much when we needed him in the last dozen games. In the games against Hawthorn and west coast he got a total of 1 goal. The club desperately needed a champion to stand up and help soothe open wounds. Not Naughton. Only Geelong did anything to give us some relief by fielding a reserves team.

But I don?t blame Naughton. I blame the game plan (too focused on minding grass), the selections (out of form players) and the inflexibility of those driving things.

Naughton only scares quality opponents when he has space and too often the two competing sides combine to deprive him of that.

If he is not generating a million dollars worth of goals put him where he might deprive the opposition of them.

May couldn?t have run with Naughton on Sunday. We made sure he didn?t have to.

If we had swapped Naughton and Khamis the result might have been significantly better, at least not seen as a continuation of last season.

[mighty_west]

I have huge concerns with Naughton's field kicking if he was to play in defence.

And I don't feel we would be having this conversation if one of JOD or Keath were available on the weekend.

Might be a conversation worth having when Jones departs, but I feel we are better suited with Naughton in attack.

And May is an absolute gun defender, especially if you stand shoulder to shoulder with him like Aaron does... Curnow is the best key forward in the comp and he was held to just 4 kicks by May in last year's SF.

All the more reason why i believe Aaron should stay forward but further up the ground, use his pace to run his opponent around, be that link man from defense to attack and being that more traditional CHF which also opens the forward line up for Marra and Lobb and our small jumping key forward Weightman, make the Demons continually change match up's if they preferred to keep May on him, it would keep Naughton in the game.

Just a thought but maybe the coaching staff were happy to have May continue on Naughton and leave him closer to goal to be more of a decoy for Marra, the ball was hardly kicked to Naughton anyway (conspiracy theory).

[JanLorMill]

I have huge concerns with Naughton's field kicking if he was to play in defence.

And I don't feel we would be having this conversation if one of JOD or Keath were available on the weekend.

Might be a conversation worth having when Jones departs, but I feel we are better suited with Naughton in attack.

And May is an absolute gun defender, especially if you stand shoulder to shoulder with him like Aaron does... Curnow is the best key forward in the comp and he was held to just 4 kicks by May in last year's SF.
Do we have a good kick that can play key defence?
Jones is only ok but he is 33. Keath not great but also old. Gardner forget about it. Jod has hardly played.

[Danjul]

Do we have a good kick that can play key defence?
Jones is only ok but he is 33. Keath not great but also old. Gardner forget about it. Jod has hardly played.
JOD has had 2 concussions in 6 months. Should we be playing him at CHB?

[Mofra]

What is the downside to playing Naughton down back for 6 weeks?

In 2023 we really struggled to win the ball back and 2024 has started off the same way.
I'm not sure about 6 weeks, but he was getting a bath from May in Round 1 so perhaps 5 minutes or so to get the ball in his hands and break up our structure, and try something different?

[EasternWest]

I'm not sure about 6 weeks, but he was getting a bath from May in Round 1 so perhaps 5 minutes or so to get the ball in his hands and break up our structure, and try something different?

Spot on. Can't get near it? Go where it is.

[Go_Dogs]

I have huge concerns with Naughton's field kicking if he was to play in defence.

And I don't feel we would be having this conversation if one of JOD or Keath were available on the weekend.

Might be a conversation worth having when Jones departs, but I feel we are better suited with Naughton in attack.

And May is an absolute gun defender, especially if you stand shoulder to shoulder with him like Aaron does... Curnow is the best key forward in the comp and he was held to just 4 kicks by May in last year's SF.

That?s all fair enough, however I think most advocating for this would say Naughton as a key defender is a JOD/Keath ++. Structurally yes, another ?key? would?ve helped but it?s the ability to be dominant like a May does, or a Moore, or Sam Taylor etc that we would really benefit from in the immediate term. Jones does a fantastic job at this already, however we don?t have the luxury of having someone able to do what they want at will because we can?t structure the backline to support it.


On Naughton v May, I suspect we had a plan and it wasn?t executed well. We really needed Naughton to either play much higher or play a decoy role / defensive role on him once he started chopping us. We?ve got 3 keys, let?s get a plan which creates the right time/space for the collective more often.

[Go_Dogs]

On the broader concept, I’ve long been a “Naughton is a forward” thinker

I guess I still am, however with Gardner and JOD out, it seems like a reasonable time to see if there’s buy in to try something different and see if it helps us get a different result. In some ways a player like Naughton saying “I’m going to do this for the team, it’s not my favourite role or where I personally want to play, but for the team, let’s give it a go” would be massive for this group. Shit, Naughts is sacrificing his game for the team!

More broadly, when Naughton is being beaten / having limited impact, I’d love to see him go into the centre square for a few clearances. Just shake it up a bit, have him stand next to and apply a few big tackles on their number one midfielder and then work forwards to create a mismatch.

[Critter]

On the broader concept, I’ve long been a “Naughton is a forward” thinker

I guess I still am, however with Gardner and JOD out, it seems like a reasonable time to see if there’s buy in to try something different and see if it helps us get a different result. In some ways a player like Naughton saying “I’m going to do this for the team, it’s not my favourite role or where I personally want to play, but for the team, let’s give it a go” would be massive for this group. Shit, Naughts is sacrificing his game for the team!

More broadly, when Naughton is being beaten / having limited impact, I’d love to see him go into the centre square for a few clearances. Just shake it up a bit, have him stand next to and apply a few big tackles on their number one midfielder and then work forwards to create a mismatch.

That kind of thinking calls for agility and flexibility in the coaches' box. Doesn't seem to be our DNA.

[hujsh]

On the broader concept, I’ve long been a “Naughton is a forward” thinker

I guess I still am, however with Gardner and JOD out, it seems like a reasonable time to see if there’s buy in to try something different and see if it helps us get a different result. In some ways a player like Naughton saying “I’m going to do this for the team, it’s not my favourite role or where I personally want to play, but for the team, let’s give it a go” would be massive for this group. Shit, Naughts is sacrificing his game for the team!

More broadly, when Naughton is being beaten / having limited impact, I’d love to see him go into the centre square for a few clearances. Just shake it up a bit, have him stand next to and apply a few big tackles on their number one midfielder and then work forwards to create a mismatch.

Bevo used to supposedly want versatility from his players. Naughton is one such player yet we seem super reluctant to ever utilise it.

[Grantysghost]

On the broader concept, I’ve long been a “Naughton is a forward” thinker

I guess I still am, however with Gardner and JOD out, it seems like a reasonable time to see if there’s buy in to try something different and see if it helps us get a different result. In some ways a player like Naughton saying “I’m going to do this for the team, it’s not my favourite role or where I personally want to play, but for the team, let’s give it a go” would be massive for this group. Shit, Naughts is sacrificing his game for the team!

More broadly, when Naughton is being beaten / having limited impact, I’d love to see him go into the centre square for a few clearances. Just shake it up a bit, have him stand next to and apply a few big tackles on their number one midfielder and then work forwards to create a mismatch.

Yes I think it's entirely ok to use him as a swing man.

[soupman]

Naughton is gonna stay forward. He's good at it, and is not infrequently great at it, and that is no small feat. This isn't even a Beveridge thing, Balta under two different coaches at Richmond is doing the exact same thing. He is an awesome key defender, and influential in the ruck, yet they are still intent on starting him as a key forward.

This "Beveridge just assigns random positions" meme is a little overblown, he has made some bold changes (Boyd to defence being one of the more inspired), but most of the moves have been in line with what literally every other club is doing. Really of the players on our list only Dale, Daniel, Naughton, JJ and maybe Richards count as proper moves, as in they had all shown they were best 22 quality in one spot, and then were switched to a vastly different role despite things largely being fine.

The other position changes happen everywhere, most draftees are some variation of midfielder or playmaker, but you can't pick 22 of them, so players need to be moved into different roles for opportunity.


Bevo used to supposedly want versatility from his players. Naughton is one such player yet we seem super reluctant to ever utilise it.

This is where I think we are kind of bad. We aren't actually versatile in games, and rarely change things up to try to spark a change. I don't really expect a fully fledged plan B, but often it feels like we don't want to change anything even when plan A isn't working because we are waiting for it to work again.

This is particularly evident with our forwards. How many games have we seen Naughton, Weightman, Bruce, Lobb, yes Vandermeer and McNeil play where we just do nothing to try to change their fortunes.

They can get zero touches for two quarters, and as Naughton on May demonstrated not even perform a task well, and we will refuse to entertain the idea of trying to ge them into the game.

Naughton last Sunday is such a good example. Would trying him in defence for 10 minutes to help steady us when they were surging and he was doing nothing helped us and gotten his hands on the ball and maybe some mojo going....maybe. When they were killing us in the middle would putting Naughton in there with the intention of using his big body to compete with Oliver have helped....maybe. Would just simply pushing him up the wing a bit to provide a marking target and make May choose between following him or hanging back have helped...maybe. Maybe nothing changes, but at least we ask a question.

The point is aside from maybe one established player a year getting a role change, and a few fringe guys being given a different position as an opportunity to get some AFL time (Khamis, Scott, Vandermeer etc.), we don't really throw guys around much at all. If anything we are super rigid with our lineup, even though training reports indicate we do try this stuff in not the real thing.

Regardless of whether they or the team is doing good or bad Weightman never actually plays midfield, West never gets time on ball, Naughton never gets swung back, Lobb doesn't really see any ruck time, Dale doesn't play forward, literally no one ever tags, JJ doesn't get swung forward, Richards never does anything but defence, English never plays not ruck. With the exception fo Cody all of those guys have proven in multiple games they can perform in those different roles, but the only player we actually seem happy to try in different roles mid game is Caleb Daniel.

I think based on the evidence we have seen the versatility mantra is a myth, what we actually want is players that will perform in a specific role and if they aren't we will wait them out until they do, even if that isn't until the next round.

[bulldogtragic]

Lobb seems to have played well in the VFL. The way WCE worked over English last year, he needs back up beyond Darcy.

Richards & Coffield are out.

Darcy needs to play ongoing.

JOD & Buss are not match fit.

Gardner not the answer. Keath not really either.

Naughton relatively quiet so far this year.

If ever there was a set of things simultaneously occurring to move Naughton back, even for a week or two, then they’ll never be a time to trial him back.

Not the cliche move him back and fix everything. But rather it might be the best move for the next game per all the above.