IMPRESSIVE Western Bulldogs draftee Aaron Naughton will be given the daunting task of spending time on Sydney superstar Lance Franklin in Saturday's clash at Etihad Stadium.
With just four senior games to his name, Naughton is the only key defender the Bulldogs have selected, with the 18-year-old likely to receive assistance from his skipper Easton Wood.
Naughton was taken with pick nine in last year's NAB AFL Draft.
Speaking on Friday, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said the West Australian would embrace the challenge of quelling the influence of the seven-time All Australian.
Since his debut in round one, Naughton has impressed with his competitiveness, intercept marking, and positioning.
"(Aaron will) see it as a pretty exciting opportunity to play against many young fellas' idols, so he'll enjoy it, and there's no doubt at different times he'll know why Lance is probably the best player in the competition," Beveridge said.
"To not turn your mind to how to combat (Franklin) would be senseless, so we'll go in with a plan there and at different times Aaron will be near him.
"I think you can tell in Aaron's first year he's a driven young player and he wants to perform at the highest level straight away."
Beveridge forecast Naughton's job will be made much easier if the Dogs can get the upper hand in the midfield, but they'll need to be even better than the improved showing in the win against Essendon last week.
Sitting last in the competition for contested ball and tackles, the Bulldogs will encounter a hardened Swans outfit possessing a star-studded on-ball division of Josh Kennedy, Daniel Hannebery and Luke Parker.
While he'd like his team to lift in those key statistics, Beveridge wants to see his side keep refining their pressure and ball use.
"What we'd like to do is have the ball in our hands more than having to tackle, and that happened a bit more last week," Beveridge said.
"So, we'd rather play that way and be effective and efficient in the tackling stakes when the opportunity arises. It's more of a second priority to be a better tackling side for me.
"(Contested ball) is important, but it's only one of many factors we know we need to turn our mind to.
"Our pressure was a little better last week and it helped us get the footy back, but what I think was telling was the way we used the ball and what we did in a team sense with our numbers (around the ball).
"Sydney would have learnt from what we did last week and can see some improvement there."
