PREPARE to face every ace in the pack.
The Western Bulldogs are ready to unleash a super-sized four-prong tall forward line throughout the season, featuring each and every one of the club's multi-skilled and highly talented key-position players in attack.
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Experienced new recruit Rory Lobb, contested marking specialist Aaron Naughton and wonderkids Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Sam Darcy proved in last Saturday's practice match win over North Melbourne they can work together. Prepare to see more of it.
Lobb and Darcy stand at well over 200cm, while Naughton and Ugle-Hagan aren't far beneath that. All four have quickly become renowned as some of the competition's most athletic and long-limbed key forwards going around.
Individually, they could just about be the primary key-position talents for many sides across the League. But, together, Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli believes they're ready to form one of the most lethal attacking quartets in the AFL.
Against the Kangaroos, they combined for 10 goals and provided an intimidating taste of their collective ability to launch for high balls and find themselves in dangerous forward-half positions.
While many have privately and publicly pondered 'how tall is too tall?', the Bulldogs aren't willing to put a limit on size. Ahead of a blockbuster round one encounter against Melbourne, they instead appear destined to play all four.
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"I think with the nature of being able to shift one of them, particularly Sam Darcy, into the backline at different points, then I think there's some flexibility in that," Bontempelli told AFL.com.au.
"His ability to meet the ball at its highest point, whether it's at the front-end of the ground or the back-end, I think that will be really valuable. I think that gives us a great deal of flexibility.
"Right now, we've only had a small sample size from pre-season to look at it. But there will be a bit of finding out as we get into the early parts of the season, in terms of how it looks and how it lasts."
Bontempelli starred in the club's 58-point practice match victory over North Melbourne, relishing the ability to spot-up his new-look forward line to finish with 27 disposals, 10 clearances and two goals.
With a game-high 12 score involvements as well, Bontempelli was blessed with multiple options every time he looked into his attack. Naughton kicked four goals, Ugle-Hagan added three, Darcy kicked two, while Lobb chipped in with one.
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Even he admits the biggest challenge whenever he streams from a stoppage will be selecting which of his key forward options he kicks to, saying their ability to work in tandem is still being ironed out.
"The challenge will be not doing it every time," Bontempelli laughed.
"You don't want to fall into a rhythm of just sending the ball long to our key talls. They want it in there, that's for sure. They are all good marking players on the lead or in the air in a pack.
"There's probably a little bit for them to work through, in terms of them working together nicely. We don't want them spoiling each other at different points, but the good thing is that one of them wants it. That's probably the key."
Bontempelli, himself standing at 194cm, is one of the tallest midfielders in the League and can add yet more height and firepower to the Western Bulldogs' intriguing and exciting attack this year.
But the talented 27-year-old instead spent noticeably more time in the midfield throughout the club's pre-season matches, suggesting the abundance of forward options will mean longer periods playing out of the centre this year.
"I probably will (spend more time as a midfielder)," Bontempelli said.
"I think the nature of the height there … at any one time, one of them will probably be off the ground, so there will really only be three together and not four at all times. Obviously, there's also Tim English in the ruck.
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"It'll mostly be about where you feel you can get an advantage. If it means spending more time around the ball to support our stoppage and our structure up the field, then I think that's important.
"It's not a height thing, it's more about how we continue to make it difficult for the opposition to score against us but also for us to score. There will definitely be times where I'm down there and trying to float through and cause havoc, but it won't be through necessity. It'll be more through using the strengths that we've got."
Bontempelli's midfield time will also likely increase following the departure of reigning best and fairest and former premiership player Josh Dunkley, who was traded to Brisbane last October.
Although the club's captain believes there will be elements of the side's midfield that will need to improve to compensate for Dunkley's defection, he said the quality and depth in that area of the field remains strong.
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"Growth out of Bailey Smith and a few others – we've seen Caleb Daniel spend a bit more time inside and Toby McLean and Anthony Scott as well – these types of players are very good footballers and we know we can cover with them," Bontempelli said.
"It's not a question of depth, I think we've got enough midfielders within the team. It's more about how we cover some of the really important defensive stuff that Josh did. He was a mainstay and a staple from a defensive aspect with his ability to get back and support our backline through his tackling and pressure.
"I think it's one place where we're pretty well prepared to cover for him. But he's a great player and he's going to be a tough one to instantly recoup from. We'll all probably have to spread the load a bit."
