Lin Jong a Western Bulldog who belongs

Date
May 1, 2015 - 8:33PM
Rohan Connolly

There are moments in young players' AFL careers that announce "this kid belongs". Lin Jong's might have come not with something he did, but what someone else didn't.

In round two, the Western Bulldogs were getting on top of Richmond late in the last quarter, one more goal certain to close the deal, when Jong, running with the flight of the ball, took a terrific strong mark over the Tigers' Dylan Grimes 25 metres out.

Well, not officially. Umpire Shane McInerney, unsighted, called for a ball-up, much to the disgust of the Bulldog faithful. And to the displeasure of Jong, who in his 12th game, proceeded to tell the AFL's most experienced umpire, with more than 400 games to his name, exactly what he thought.

"He ran up to me and said: 'Calm down, calm down.' I think I was a bit angry about it," Jong chuckles.

His passion wouldn't have been lost on his peers. Nor, of course, the quality of the work that preceded it. And both are proving instrumental in the Western Bulldogs' very impressive start to the new season.



http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...01-1mx6zv.html