Saints bank on team effort to combat Bont’s Bulldogs
Roger Vaughan |
Ross Lyon is far from alone when he admits he has not yet worked out how to counter Marcus Bontempelli.
But it’s the same for combatting the Western Bulldogs’ height advantage ahead of the AFL clash on Sunday night at Marvel Stadium – the St Kilda coach is banking on his team being greater than the sum of its parts.
Bontempelli will make a welcome return for the Bulldogs after their captain, one of the AFL’s best players, suffered a calf injury in the pre-season.
The Bulldogs have impressed despite a bad run with injuries, pushing Brisbane last Saturday in arguably the game of the season so far.
“I was hoping it was a Bevo (Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge) ruse – maybe he (wouldn’t) get to the line.,” Lyon said of Bontempelli’s return
Lyon was asked how to make life difficult for Bontempelli.
“How do you do that? He’s pretty hard to ruffle isn’t he?,” he replied
“I haven’t got my head around him yet.”
But Lyon also noted that the Saints have beaten Port Adelaide and Geelong, who made preliminary finals last year, and were competitive on Sunday in the loss to GWS.
“We’re certainly playing some really aggressive footy with the ball and our stoppage work has been really good, as a collective,” he said.
“We’re a weakest-link game. It’s more than just one dominant player, we need a performance across the board.
“We certainly don’t lack belief when we bring our best.
“We’ve had strong audits, we’re seeing real growth in us and we’re really positive (in) the direction we’re taking. So we’re up for this challenge.”
Lyon also spoke of “The Unicorn”, Bulldogs key forward Sam Darcy, who has made a blistering start to the season.
Along with Aaron Naughton in attack and defenders Liam Jones and Rory Lobb, the Bulldogs have a group of tall players that will test the Saints.
Saints key defender Callum Wilkie will go to Darcy, but Lyon said the key to stopping him will be ensuring “dirty ball”, or plenty of pressure on the Bulldogs when they go into attack.
It will also be a big night for former Bulldogs midfielder Jack Macrae, who will come up against his old team for the first time since joining the Saints.
“He’s been red hot, hasn’t he, rated the fifth-best player in the competition,” Lyon said of Macrae’s start at St Kilda this season.
“He’s an absolute pro. He’s a much-loved son of the ‘Scrays, right? (Bulldogs great) Dougie Hawkins probably would like to see him still there.
“But the fact is he’s with us, he’s embraced us, he’s building another phase of his career.
“It will feel a little bit weird for him, but it’s not something I dial into.”
Macrae wore a strong tag from Giants midfielder Toby Bedford last Sunday and was down on his output so far this season. But again, he is but one cog in the Saints machine.
“He still won the ball really well. He wasn’t at the top of his game, but … it’s the total sum of your parts, rather than the individual pieces,” Lyon said..
“When we’re all going well, we all look a bit better.”
AAP
