Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Naughton may have his throat examined on Friday, and despite showing no early symptoms of injury right away after the Dogs ‘ most recent thrashing at Marvel Stadium, he is in fear to face Melbourne next week.
Rory Lobb, a key keeper, was dealt a blow by a hamstring injury that was worse than originally anticipated and was set to tip him out for a quarter, while ruckman Tim English is expected to lose at least another game.
The injury-ravaged Dogs, who were the last group to experience fight this time, are a ghost of the team that was the last to suffer defeat, and have now lost their past three games by a total of 181 points. They were on top of the ladder just over a fortnight before.
The Swans capitalized on the enormous holes that the Bulldogs ‘ injuries had caused. After missing Lobb and JamesO’Donnell, a week after Geelong star Jeremy Cameron slammed home 10 goals against their undermanned defense, Charlie Curnow and Joel Amartey booted seven goals and three, respectively.
The undersized Buku Khamis and Ryan Gardner, the latter playing only his second senior game since late 2023, were far too good for them.
With 35 hitouts, 18 possessions, and two goals in a standout performance, Ruckman Brodie Grundy capitalized on English’s absence.
After flipping midair and attempting a high mark on Jai Serong deep in the Bulldogs ‘ forward line in the third quarter, Naughton was forced to fall to his head and neck. Before being driven down the race into the rooms on a motorized stretcher, he was taken care of by medical staff who placed a brace around his neck.
After the game, he was expected to spend Thursday night with his parents, but he was walking in the rooms and not wearing a brace.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said,” He’s going to go home now, and he’ll have his neck examined tomorrow, and]we’ll get back to you on it.” He appears to have strained after the incident by extending down his neck.
The positive side is that there are no concussion symptoms, but we will have to report them once more information is obtained from a scan.
Sam Darcy suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear, and Naughton’s injury comes a week after that injury. The Dogs finished the game with a pair of third-gamers Will Lewis and Louis Emmett filling the important forward posts without their twin towers in the air.
Lobb had been anticipating playing for the Swans, but he injured another part of his hamstring during training the week, so the Dogs sent him for more scans, which revealed a more serious injury.
Something came off as a little risky, and we’ll need to be cautious with him, Beveridge said.
The initial indications were that he had a knock, a little bleeding, probably from that. However, something unexpectedly appeared in another location, and it caused him some discomfort, so we went outside to check it out. He’ll also be out for a good month.
I don’t believe he’ll be available next week because Beveridge claimed English didn’t move well during training.
The Bulldogs started the game quickly with the first three goals of the game, going only 13 points clear at the long break, but the second half saw a steamy start.
Skipper Marcus Bontempelli addressed the players in the rooms for about five minutes following the game on the night he and his team from the 2016 premiership were set to reminisce about the 10-year reunion from Sydney’s victory over Sydney. He had a lively discussion with Matt Kennedy after the half-time siren and was also vocal as he led his players off the field for the break. He was clearly frustrated during the game on Thursday night.
The senior dogs who had off nights included Ed Richards ( 18 ) and Kennedy ( 15 disposals ).
Beveridge referred to his captain as” an influencer, an authority, a powerful character, and he wants to take people with him.” No matter who is playing with him, his expectations are high.
He is pushing for it and wants things right now. He is working through that in his own leadership capacity by ensuring that we all understand what we can influence and control.
He’s always a great support for his teammates, but on nights like this, there was always going to be a lot of frustration with everyone, and he’s probably feeling some of that.
Due to injuries to their stars, Beveridge had to play eight players with fewer than 15 games of experience, exposing the depth on the Dogs ‘ list.
Young puppies like Jedd Busslinger, Lewis, and Emmett are difficult to convince, despite knowing full well that their team is severely weakened by their lengthy injury list.
” I believe it’s the two c-words capacity and capability,” Beveridge said. Many boys who haven’t played a lot of footy yet are just learning what AFL footy is all about.
” Form ultimately becomes connected to those things.
” And occasionally that’s connected to inexperience. We just didn’t have enough influence there tonight, and you still need your more experienced players to give you a little more of a chance.
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