1. No Naughton, no worries
Don’t get us wrong – we all love seeing Aaron Naughton strut his stuff on Marvel Stadium, and hopefully it’s not too soon before we get so witness that again.
However, one of the main subplots coming into Saturday night’s clash with North Melbourne was how Josh Bruce would step up in the injured young gun’s absence, and how he’d work in tandem with Josh Schache.
In the end, Bruce and Schache – on an AFL field together for the first time this season - proved to be a match-winning combo, booting eight goals between them.
2. There’s something about Tim
Tim English can ruck a bit. We all know that by now. But he must also be the tallest midfielder in the AFL, based on how he’s accumulated the Sherrin in the last two weeks.
Against one of the game’s best rucks, Todd Goldstein, English racked up 22 disposals (nine contested) and took eight marks.
Only two players on the ground had more touches (Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore).
It was a similar story a week earlier against the Swans – another 22 possessions – making it back-to-back career-highs for the 22-year-old.
3. Where there’s a Wood, there’s a way
Dogs’ premiership skipper Easton Wood was understandably itching to get back on the field after overcoming a quad injury – and he played like it against the ‘Roos.
With Zaine Cordy and Alex Keath occupying the key defensive posts, Wood was at his intercepting and rebounding best, constantly cutting off opposition attacks.
He finished with a team-high nine marks (six of those were intercepts) and 14 disposals.
Wood played in the Bulldogs’ loss to Collingwood way back in March, and after working hard to be ready for the resumption of the season, he was cruelly cut back by the quad injury on the eve of Round 2.
That there was 106 days between AFL games for Wood makes his performance against North Melbourne even more noteworthy.
