Mick Malthouse: Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith one of AFL’s best midfielders

Coaching great Mick Malthouse has lauded the rapid rise of Bailey Smith, who he says is close to being the AFL’s premier on-baller.

Mick Malthouse says Bailey Smith is fast becoming one of the AFL’s premier midfielders.

There were danger signs for the Western Bulldogs in their Round 1 win against Collingwood.

The Bulldogs had 149 more disposals than the Magpies, but only won by 16 points.

With 465 possessions they went inside-50 60 times for a relatively poor return of 10.9 (69).

The Dogs did keep Collingwood to 316 disposals and 41 inside-50s, but the Pies’ 7.11 (53) was only one scoring shot less.

That is a profile fraught with peril.

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It means the Doggies need a lot of possession to get the ball into a dysfunctional forward line to win a game.

One could argue it’s a deficiency.

The Magpies are not mugs, they are a good football team, so it was a decent scalp to snare first-up.

But I wonder about the Doggies’ modus operandi of winning games on mass possession.

On Sunday, they take on West Coast — who had 390 disposals against an emerging Gold Coast.

The Eagles went inside-50 52 times and scored just 23 times.

Again, it’s a lot of possessions for a low score.

The AFL is looking for bigger scores because this is supposed to please the crowds.

The methodology and theory behind the stand-on-the-mark rule makes for a more open game. But sides are getting caught between the two 50m arcs and are continuing with the tactic of not wanting to give the ball up to the opposition, so any possession, if it hits a target, seems to be a good possession regardless of its outcome.

Western Bulldogs need to get more from their forwards, such as Josh Bruce.

Eagle Josh Kennedy kicked two goals from eight kicks and five marks.

Teammate Jack Darling had 14 disposals (four marks) and kicked 2.1.

Liam Ryan kicked a goal from four marks.

And the continued emergence of Oscar Allen is huge for West Coast.

His four goals and nine marks playing at centre half-back and fullback as well as forward, has him rapidly becoming one of the Eagles’ most dangerous players.

This is where I could come undone with my tip of a Bulldogs win.

The Dogs’ backline — outside Alex Keath who had a good night against the Pies with 18 disposals, and Caleb Daniel who is a most consistent defender — lacks in height and defendability.

Keath is 197cm and 96kg.

The next tall, Ryan Gardner, is also 197cm and 96kg, and rarely if ever takes a contested mark.

Gardner loses contact with his opponent and sight of the ball too regularly to be competitive against the best forwards.

He also needs to work on his disposal skills.

Stefan Martin and Tim English negated Brodie Grundy last week.

Bailey Williams did a tremendous job on Mason Cox.

But at only 187cm can the Dogs get away with playing him on that type of player each week?

Easton Wood needs more time to recover from injury and Zaine Cordy seems to be out of favour, plus Taylor Duryea is less than consistently reliable, so maybe it’s time for Josh Schache to become a key position back.

Many failed forwards have become fantastic backline players, because they can read the play behind the ball. I can’t remember too many great backs who started in the backline. So it might be a punt worth taking for the Bulldogs.

With an under-pressure backline the Dogs’ midfield must be on top, and with a defensive mindset to assist the backline.

That will be the Dogs’ biggest hurdle in winning on Sunday.

Oscar Allen will be a big threat for West Coast.

Their midfield did extremely well last week. Don’t underestimate the job that Stefan Martin and Tim English did on Brodie Grundy.

They will need to work just as hard on Nic Naitanui.

Grundy dominated the taps (Collingwood 46 hit-outs to the Bulldogs’ 19) but under such physical pressure from Martin, the clearances were well won by the Dogs 38-32.

Gold Coast had more hit outs against the Eagles and squared-off the clearances at 30 each, so for the Dogs to win they need to not only nullify Naitanui, but Bailey Smith needs to have another cracker.

Smith is only 20, but already he is the full package.

Tough, runs hard, kicks goals, and acknowledges the defensive side of his game.

It won’t take long for Smith to become one of, if not the best, midfielder in the competition.

Especially as he is well aided by Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Josh Dunkley and Adam Treloar (who will be far better this week after looking like a bundle of nerves against his old club).

They are all high possession getters, but the Dogs run so deep through the middle that it can sometimes lead to an exuberant overuse of the footy.

Today the Dogs have the tough task of keeping the ball off the likes of Tim Kelly, Dom Sheed and Andrew Gaff, while hitting targets in their own forward line past the hands of Jeremy McGovern, Brad Sheppard, and Tom Barrass.

Players like Aaron Naughton, Laitham Vandermeer and Josh Bruce have to stand up. It is disappointing that a senior player like Bruce isn’t giving a young player like Naughton the kind of assistance he needs.

Tim English on the forward line is a real positive.

He is mobile and can take a good mark, but he just needs to clean up his accuracy.

Originally published as Mick Malthouse: Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith one of AFL’s best midfielders