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

[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....