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No Riewoldt, Fevola, Lloyd or Brown, but no worries for the Western Bulldogs in attack this AFL season. The lack of a powerhouse forward is often highlighted as the Bulldogs’ weak spot despite their strong premiership credentials.
But the Bulldogs’ abundance of options provides more clout than any other side, as they enter Saturday night’s blockbuster against unbeaten St Kilda – the competition’s highest-scoring team.
And Bulldogs assistant coach Paul Williams, who oversees the side’s forward line, is under no apprehension as to what system he prefers in place.
“If I was an opposition coach and I was scouting the Bulldogs’ forward line I would think `okay, we can’t afford to drop off on anyone, we’ve got to make sure we’re accountable to a man because if you’re not someone’s going to pop up’,” Williams said.
“We have got six guys down there who can kick multiple goals, we don’t rely on two or three guys to kick a good bag for us to get across the line.
“That’s an advantage for us, if they (opposition) want to drop off on any one of our boys then they do it at their peril.”
The Bulldogs average 112 points a game this season and have been best served by Jason Akermanis (27 goals), Mitch Hahn (26), Shaun Higgins (25) and Josh Hill and Brad Johnson (both 24).
Add to that Daniel Giansiracusa’s 20 goals although he is currently injured, 17 to defender Ryan Hargrave, 15 to forward Scott Welsh and a sprinkling of majors across the midfield, and it is little wonder Williams has been satisfied with how the forward line has functioned in 2009.
“The beauty of our forward line is that we’ve got different guys who can play in so many different areas,” he said.
“When you look at our goal tallies, for the team to have five guys who have kicked 20 goals plus is a great bonus.
“It’s definitely yes, even if you stop one, then two, three, four or five of them might bob up on you.”
Aside from first versus third at Etihad Stadium, Saturday night’s clash will give an insight into how the best defensive side handles the highest-scoring outfit.
The Saints have been so effective defensively in 2009, both in their own backline and across the ground, they are on track to break Adelaide’s 2005 record of the fewest points conceded in a 22-round season.
The Crows conceded 1,517 points in 22 games in 2005, but the Saints on average concede nine points less per game than the Crows did.
It was against Adelaide last Sunday St Kilda’s defensive powers were on full display, when their zoning was impenetrable for much of the game.
Williams said the key for the Bulldogs was to zip the ball around and move it quickly.
“We can’t afford to play slow, we’ve just got to go as quick as we can and if they (St Kilda) can still stop us, then hats off to them, well done,” he said.
While St Kilda’s 16-game winning streak is easily the best in the league, the Bulldogs enter round 17 with eight wins from the 10 games they played since their defeat to St Kilda in round six.
Their only losses in the time since were to Geelong (two points) in round nine and Collingwood (one point) in round 15.
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