MITCH Wallis has said Western Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley has regained the respect of his teammates, after his request to move to Essendon went unfulfilled.<\/p>\n
The son of former Dogs captain Stephen, Wallis was this week appointed the Dogs\u2019 vice-captain, while the leadership group Dunkley joined last season was scrapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit sticky there for a while, I must be honest,\u201d the 28-year-old told SEN Drive. \u201cYou want to support him as a person, but you understand the challenges he will face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallis dismissed any notion that Dunkley\u2019s heart won\u2019t be in it at Whitten Oval.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh will never back down on his application to training and his professionalism to his footy,\u201d he asserted. \u201cThat\u2019s the caring person that he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallis believes Dunkley has \u201cdefinitely got the respect back from the team,\u201d but suggested the matter won\u2019t be put to bed until he pulls on the hoops again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in our best 18, he\u2019s going to play a lot of time in the midfield, but it\u2019s about earning that respect on game day, and really buying into our team,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich he\u2019s done, and I had every faith he was going to do, but we\u2019re still waiting for Round 1 when he can put on the colours and fight in the right spirit.<\/p>\n
Tim Watson believes Dunkley may have been in the frame for the vice-captaincy were it not for the scuppered move to Tullamarine.<\/p>\n
\u201cDunkley wanted out of there, he wasn\u2019t happy with some of the things he was seeing and the way the place was operating,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you put the two of those together in any way?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou couldn\u2019t have voted for Josh Dunkley as a leader of your footy club,\u201d Gary Lyon agreed.<\/p>\n
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