Luke Beveridge didn’t quite scoff but he did chuckle as he shot down talk of a positional move for a star forward.
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The Bulldogs have won seven games in 2023 and are in equal fourth spot on the ladder but have only kicked more than 100 points once so far this season, against Fremantle in round 6.
Their total points haul of 857 is the lowest of any team in the top eight.
But Beveridge rolled his eyes at a suggestion from one leading analyst that, with tall forward options Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Rory Lobb, Naughton could go back to bolster his team’s defence.
Ugle-Hagan and Lobb combined have kicked just 24 goals this season to Naughton’s 21, and Beveridge knows he’d be robbing himself of the chance to address the real issue with any move.
“So he’s (Naughton) kicked (more than) 100 goals over the last three years, and he’s probably been our most instrumental key forward,” Beveridge said on Friday, chuckling as he gave a few reasons why it was a bad call.
“The thing is that we‘ve got a lot of depth with our key backs and we’ve been pretty happy.
“Aaron’s been an amazing player for us, and he usually gets the opposition’s best defender, so we’ve got to do our best to help him play his best footy.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is not interested in moving a key forward. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
“Even now when we need to put one behind the ball in a save-the-game situation, we’ve stopped using Aaron.
“He’s not going behind the ball any time soon.”
Despite boasting a plethora of tall forwards, Beveridge knows scoring remains a problem and conceded it wasn’t a quick fix.
“We’re just scoring enough,” Beveridge lamented.
“Our intent is to score more, but we can‘t turn our mind away from the fundamentals that are going to get us there and we’ve still got a fair bit of work to do.”
Beveridge said the backline didn’t need bolstering anyway given the All-Australian form of fullback Liam Jones, who had delivered “more than we hoped for” in his AFL return after missing two seasons.
“It’s time for All-Australian nominations, that email has gone to clubs, and Liam is having an incredibly year,” he said.
“In the past we haven’t had a dominant key back … to make the impression on games he’s been having has been really important for us.
“What we have loved is his maturity and leadership and what he’s brought in terms of stability.”
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Aaron Naughton need more goals. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
The Bulldogs face Geelong at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night with the reigning premiers on a three-game losing streak.
Adam Treloar returns to bolster a midfield group that already includes Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Bailey Smith, Jack Macrae and Caleb Daniel.
Beveridge said it was up to him to work out how to maximise their output as a group.
“All six of them will play this week and then that’s our challenge to manage their impact on the game,” he said.
“We can‘t fit them all into that inside midfield brigade all the time, so they’ll need to share some responsibilities here and there.”