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PRIZED draftee Aaron Naughton has impressed everyone at the Western Bulldogs this pre-season with his ability to match it with more seasoned teammates, says AFLX coach Rohan Smith.
Taken with pick No.9 in November's NAB AFL Draft, the 195cm West Australian has held his own in match simulation, with his athleticism, footy smarts and appetite for the contest catching the eye of the coaches.
Naughton has already added four kilograms of muscle over the summer, and at around 90kg, will vie with Marcus Adams, Jackson Trengove, Lewis Young, Fletcher Roberts and Kieran Collins for a spot in the club's key defensive structure come round one.
The Bulldogs faithful will get their first chance to see the 18-year-old when he lines up in Saturday night's AFLX hit-outs against Sydney and Brisbane.
The 2017 under-18 All Australian has already tested himself against grown men after several starring performances for Peel Thunder in the WAFL last year.
"He's a competitive bugger, he's really strong in the contest, strong overhead and uses the ball really well," Smith said on Friday.
"He's missed a little bit of training because we didn't want to expose him too much to the rigours of AFL (football), so the first-year players have been eased into training,
"But the way he's come into training the last few weeks in match simulation, it's been exciting for him.
"He's been exciting for us."
Fellow draftees Ed Richards and Callum Porter will join Naughton in donning the red, white and blue for the first time, with both adapting well to elevated training loads.
While they're not making the trip to the Harbour City, fourth-year playmakers Toby McLean and Bailey Dale have Smith bullish about what the duo can achieve after breakout seasons in 2017.
McLean evolved from a clever half-forward into a midfielder who averaged 22 possessions per game, while Dale finished the season as a dangerous goalkicker (17) after spending the first five weeks of the season in the VFL.
In his usual role as the club's development manager, Smith believes the pair's growth is crucial as the club looks to rebound from an underwhelming premiership defence.
"Those guys have really stepped up now (because) they're in their fourth year, and you'd expect in your fourth year to really stand up," he said.
"The way those guys have hit the pre-season running and really standing up during training, it's been great for me."
Smith is the latest at Whitten Oval to praise the pre-season efforts of Tom Liberatore, after the premiership midfielder's form in 2017 saw him dropped to the VFL for several weeks.
Senior coach Luke Beveridge questioned the 25-year-old's preparation following the Dogs' 2016 flag success, but Smith believes Liberatore is well on the way to redeeming himself.
"He'd be disappointed with the way he played last year, there's no doubt about that, but the best part about for us is that's he's looking forward, he's not looking behind," Smith said.
"From a coaching point of view, he hasn't missed a beat.
"He's been great from day one since he walked back into the club for pre-season."
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