Once again the presence of Travis Cloke proved the difference between Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
At half-time Cloke had four goals, double the Bulldogs goal tally and six marks.
At the same stage the inexperienced Bulldog Liam Jones had one mark and one behind.
Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney repeated a line he has used on many occasions when asked about their lack of a key forward capable of dominating the game.
"We know our young forwards are a work in progress. We're going to keep working with them," McCartney said.
However he admitted that the club would be keen to secure a key forward if the opportunity arose. The Bulldogs reportedly showed interest in Essendon's Stewart Crameri and were in the market for Chris Dawes last year.
At the moment however, they rely on Jones. He has played just 47 games and shown he is capable against good opposition on more than one occasion this year, kicking four against both Richmond and Geelong.
On Sunday his timing was a little out and he was up against quality defenders. Only Ryan Griffen, Robert Murphy and Dale Morris were capable of delivering the ball lace-out too.
"We need to keep teaching them and educating them about where to run, where not to run, where to be when there is a quick kick," McCartney said. "It just takes young forwards a fair while to learn the game and 40 games isn't enough."
Nathan Buckley has an altogether different problem at Collingwood. He would prefer to have a mobile third tall inside 50 such as Tyson Goldsack – still a month away with a hip problem – or Jackson Paine, who needs to improve defensively to get a chance.
Right now he is happy to rely on Cloke and Quinten Lynch, who continues to get the job done without damaging the scoreboard.
Buckley is happy with Lynch (although he thinks Lachlan Keefe would be a handy person to put pressure on his position) but his mind continues to tick as to how the forward line might improve.
"His [Lynch's] work-rate has been excellent," Buckley said. "He's an important part of our forward structure. We've really only got the two – being playing a two-four [set-up] more often than not over the last month. We could look at a second ruckman or a third tall forward."
Wouldn't the Bulldogs just love that luxury?
"We've got a fair bit of work to do but we need to add to our list in that area we know that but it is not the only part of the game," McCartney said.
