Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne: Scores, stats and news from AFL pre-season

Many questions about the Bulldogs’ forward structure with all their talls were answered on Saturday to devastating effect against the Kangaroos. Find out how every player fared Saturday here.

Liam Jones.

Dashing defender Rohan Smith spent plenty of his 300-game career pumping the ball into the AFL’s smallest forward line led by his 182cm best mate Brad Johnson.

On Saturday Smith watched in awe as perhaps the tallest forward line ever assembled struck 22 goals in a demolition of North Melbourne.

The Dogs showed their hand at Ikon Park – surrounding 196cm spearhead Aaron Naughton with Rory Lobb (207cm), Sam Darcy (208cm) and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (197cm) … with 208cm ruckman Tim English rotating with Lobb.

The wash-up was four goals for Naughton, three for Jamarra, two for Darcy, one for Lobb and migraines for undersized defenders watching on TV from home.

The Dogs tall forward line fired. Picture: Getty Images

At one stage Roos co-captain Luke McDonald was left to man Darcy (three contested marks), giving away about 20cm.

“We wanted to have a look at it today, and the four talls really played well,” Smith, the Dogs’ backline coach, said.

“You kick 22 goals in a game and at times we looked really dominant in the air, which is a great sign for us.

“They worked really well together as well. There was a couple of times where they flew against each other – but that’s terrific.

“It shows their competitiveness and their willingness to fly in the air. But the synergy and the cohesiveness that they had in our forward line was outstanding.

“It was a pretty positive sign.”

The Dogs are told to play on instinct. But Smith said that with so much size there was a get-out option.

Rory Lobb in his new colours.

“We’ve always got to know that there’s three talls down there, and don’t be afraid to kick it to a 1v1 or 2v2 contest.”

Roos assistant Leigh Adams warned the land of the giants attack wasn’t the lanky giants.

“It’s a really unique forward line because they can all move as well,” Adams said.

“They’re all pretty good ground-level players, particularly Naughton obviously who can do it all.”

The Dogs play 12 games under their Marvel Stadium roof, where conditions will suit the stand-and-deliver targets.

STOPPAGE SCARS

One positive for North Melbourne was 2020 first-round picks Will Phillips and Tom Powell (both 17 disposals) are fit and firing on the verge of round 1.

The bad news was they were given a lesson around the footy from the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae.

“I don’t think we’re going to be the last team who gets a good lesson from them,” Adams said.

“They’re the benchmark when it comes to reactions to get out of the contest. When they’ve got the ball in their hands and they can flick it around they can cause a real bit of damage.”

It’s going to take a lot more than one summer of Alastair Clarkson to make North Melbourne competitive against top-eight teams.

Will Phillips wasn’t prolific but looks fit for round 1.

Bontempelli – who has looked banged-up in recent seasons – looked as fresh as ever, and with Charles Sutton Medal votes awarded after the Dogs’ 58-point thrashing at Ikon Park it is not a stretch to say he is leading the best-and-fairest he has already won four times.

Fox Footy’s Jonathan Brown screamed: “Bont for Brownlow!” seconds before the captain slotted the first goal of the second half.

By full-time he had 27 disposals, 10 clearances (five centre) and two goals.

IMPASSABLE JONES

Liam Jones started on Nick Larkey and started with nine disposals, five marks (one contested) and five rebounds in the first quarter.

The 32-year-old recruited for nothing from Palm Beach Currumbin finished with nine intercept marks as an impassable object at full-back.

Liam Jones marks ahead of Ben Cunnington.

With Ryan Gardner injured, Zaine Cordy at St Kilda and Alex Keath briefly sidelined for a concussion test (which he passed) it was left to Jones to stand up on Saturday.

And he did. The Tasmanian recruited to play full-forward for the Dogs 15 years ago might just be the missing link in their backline.

The positives flowed for the Bulldogs all over the ground.

Endurance machine Anthony Scott, restationed on a wing, booted three first-half goals while Oskar Baker showed outsiders why insiders have rated him as a pre-season standout.

The Melbourne recruit is a lock in coach Luke Beveridge’s best 22.

SHEEZEL MOVED BACK BY CLARKO

Alastair Clarkson is considering reprogramming natural goalkicker Harry Sheezel into a halfback in a move that would see the No. 3 draft pick follow in the footsteps of reigning Rising Star winner Nick Daicos.

Sheezel, who was lauded as a fast learner after Saturday’s practice match loss to Western Bulldogs, showed shades of Hawthorn champion Luke Breust when he snapped a beautiful goal off one step in the first quarter at Ikon Park.

But the kid with enormous footy IQ and creativity was sent behind the ball in the final quarter – and won 10 disposals, four handball receives, two rebounds and one inside 50 to cause a round 1 rethink in Clarkson’s box.

“It’s a tough one. Early days I was really keen that he should play as a forward,” forwards coach Leigh Adams said.

“But seeing him in that last quarter today he gave us something probably a little bit different that we didn’t have in our back six for the first three quarters.

“His ability to get in the right position for handball receives and then link up and get multiple possessions and put the ball inside 50m for us.

Harry Sheezel was experimented in the back line for the final term. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s going to be an interesting one. I liken it a little bit to Nick Daicos last year, where he came in as a midfielder and they decided to sit him behind the ball to start with and ease him into the game a little bit more.

“He looked pretty good there. It’ll be a call for ‘Clarko’ to make, but probably after that last quarter it’s put a little bit more pressure on him to go back.”

Adams said he loved how Sheezel, 18, absorbed information.

“If there’s an area of his game he needs to work on then you have the conversation with him and within the next week it’s fixed,” he said.

“He just wants to get better, he wants to be a really good player and what he’s got is some real X-Factor.”

Adams conceded recruit Darcy Tucker (knee) was unlikely to be fit for the round 1 clash against West Coast at Marvel Stadium.

But Aidan Corr and Aaron Hall played in Saturday evening’s VFL match against Footscray and are on track while Cameron Zurhaar (calf tightness) is certain to line-up despite being substituted out at halftime on Saturday.

“We think we’re going to have 40 guys available for round 1, which is a real positive considering we’ve been short on numbers (at this time of year),” Adams said.