WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says the Dogs may turn to next week's NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft to help bolster the club's depleted key forward stocks.
The Bulldogs have tinkered with the make-up of their forward line in recent seasons, relying heavily on smaller or mid-sized targets like Billy Gowers and Sam Lloyd.
With key forward Josh Schache languishing in the VFL, and fellow big man Tom Boyd announcing his retirement last week, the club's deficiencies in the key forward department are apparent.
SCOTT'S DAY TO REMEMBER Full match coverage and stats
Exciting youngster Aaron Naughton has been moved from defence into a key forward post this season, but this has caused headaches for the Dogs down back, with Easton Wood forced to play at times as an undersized key defender.
Following Saturday's 25-point loss to North Melbourne, Beveridge admitted there was a gaping hole in the Dogs' key position stocks that the club would look to address.
"We've got our sights on a player or two who might be able to help us," Beveridge said.
"It's a big need on our list absolutely. We obviously didn't anticipate the finality of [Boyd's retirement] but whether it's in this draft or the next one we need to make sure that we bolster our stocks on our list from a key position point of view."
WATCH Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
Beveridge said the club may look to fill their key position needs as early as next week, with the Dogs holding two picks in Monday's Mid-Season Rookie Draft following the retirements of Boyd and Liam Picken.
"(List manager) Sam Power and his team have had their eyes on the pool and obviously we've been discussing it behind the scenes," he said.
"There may be someone there who we can take."
The Bulldogs' key position issues were highlighted during the loss to North Melbourne, with Naughton finishing with only eight disposals and a goal.
Meanwhile the Dogs defence struggled to contain North Melbourne key forwards Ben Brown, Nick Larkey and Mason Wood, who combined for nine goals.
Young ruckman Tim English was also unable to contain Todd Goldstein, who dominated with 57 hit-outs and 28 disposals.
Beveridge said he was disappointed his side let a winnable game slip, which leaves the Dogs sitting precariously at 4-6 and facing a daunting trip next week against the Eagles in Perth.
"We were dominated in the ruck in the first half and it gave them momentum. There were certain parts of the game we struggled with partly due to that," he said.
"It was another challenging learning afternoon for some of our younger players … we didn't get the output that we needed from our inside-mid brigade until late in the game.
"In the physicality of it, the spread away and ball use and efficiency they got the better of us and it's extremely disappointing."
The 2019 NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft will be broadcast LIVE on AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App and Fox Footy from 6:30pm AEST on Monday, May 27.
