Can Naughton return to his dominant ways?

DAVID King sees a resurgence from Aaron Naughton as the key for the Bulldogs to take their game to another level.

The Dogs have had a mixed bag to start the year, currently sitting 10th on the ladder with a 4-3 record.

The primary concern around the Dogs stems from the ineffectiveness of their forward line, with Naughton being the centrepiece of their whole attack.

While the key forward has consistently hit the scoreboard all so far this season, kicking 15 goals through the first seven games, King believes that isn’t enough for how often he is targeted.

“Aaron Naughton, he’s had a reasonable year, in terms of goals he’s gone 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 3, so up and down, a little bit here and there,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“He’s had the third most targets of any forward in the competition, 40 times he’s been targeted this year.

“Of the top 50 targets in the comp, he’s ranked 36th in terms of him turning that target into a goal, and he’s ranked 41st in terms of the teams scoring from that target, so pretty poorly.”

Considering this huge lack of efficiency, Kane Cornes questioned whether Naughton’s impact has become overrated.

“I think it’s a reasonable question to ask, is Aaron Naughton overrated on output, do we overrate his performance,” Cornes said.

“It’s been a long time since he has done that and taken a game apart.

“He hasn’t taken over 10 marks in a long time, a full season last year he didn’t take over 10 marks [in a game], even [Jamarra] Ugle-Hagan took 10 on the weekend.

“When’s he going to have a 12-mark, five to six goal game, I think that’s a reasonable point.”

While David King asserts that he doesn’t see Naughton as overrated, he agrees with Cornes that the tall is in need of a big performance.

“He’s definitely not overrated, but I just need to see him rip a game to shreds,” King said.

“I think in terms of the whole discussion about where the Dogs are at, I’m waiting for Naughton, how long do we have to wait for Naughton.

“I think he’s got an opportunity in the next couple of weeks to cash in and to absolutely fill up.

“I think the missing piece in the whole puzzle for the Dogs is Aaron Naughton.”

Despite being one of the most heavily targeted forwards in the entire competition, Naughton’s 15 goals currently has him tied for 12th in the Coleman medal race.

– BY JACK MAKEHAM/ SEN