David King believes the Western Bulldogs must trial Aaron Naughton down back if they’re seriously thinking about winning this year’s premiership.
While the Bulldogs are tracking reasonably well through 11 rounds as they sit sixth with a 7-4 record, King believes they could go to a new level with Naughton in defence.
Even though Naughton has kicked a respectable 21 goals from 11 games up forward in 2023, King believes the Bulldogs could cover his absence inside 50 with the likes of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Rory Lobb and Marcus Bontempelli, who has the ability to float forward.
“They have to have a look at Aaron Naughton down back with Liam Jones for a week or two, just to see what it looks like,” King said on SEN Breakfast.
“They're not going to win the flag with what they do on offense.
“They're not going to win the flag because Aaron Naughton blows you away in the forward half.
“He's only kicked 21 goals for the year and four of those were against Hawthorn, so he had a bag of four.
“Looking at that, he's not dominating the scoreboard. So, can you have a look at just Lobb and Jamarra (Ugle-Hagan) down there who's playing some pretty good footy and then cobble together a forward six maybe?
“What about Bontempelli there? Can you look at that whilst you go with those two pillars down back?”
With Liam Jones a dominant force currently in defence, King believes pairing Naughton with him gives them a better chance of winning the premiership than how they currently set up.
While it may not end up being a permanent move, King is certain it’s a move Luke Beveridge must look at to see if it turns his side into a top four outfit.
“In simple terms, the other tall (defenders) are not up to high level footy and they wallpaper over the cracks with Liam Jones who's having an outstanding season,” King said.
“I think Luke Beveridge is clever enough to sort out how to score forward of the ball and still have Aaron Naughton at centre half-back, just intercept marking everything.
“You need to have a look at it because you could win it (the premiership) like that.
“They have a seriously good midfield, an awesome pairing of intercept defenders (Lobb and Naughton) and the smalls down there are pretty good in Bailey Dale, Ed Richards (and Caleb Daniel) … you’ve got no problem at ground level.
“It’s annoying me, I know it's a stone in my shoe, but I just think you need to work out just how good you can be.”
The Bulldogs head in favourites against reigning premiers Geelong when the sides meet on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium.