Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has flagged Rory Lobb as a solution to his injury woes in defence after the ruck-forward's strong form behind the ball in a 17-point win over North Melbourne.
Beveridge lamented a raft of skill errors in the Dogs’ unconvincing 11.11 (77) to 9.6 (60) victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, feeling his players had let themselves down despite dominating the territory battle.
But captain Marcus Bontempelli was a shining light, shrugging off a back complaint to collect 35 disposals and 11 clearances, and the Lobb experiment was hailed as a success.
Out of favour for periods this season, Lobb had been the subject of trade speculation amid reports he was eyeing a move to a fourth AFL club.
And the return of tall forwards Aaron Naughton (knee) and Sam Darcy (suspension) against the Kangaroos had again brought the former Docker and Giant's place in the side into question.
But Beveridge sprung a surprise when the 206cm Lobb lined up at full-back in the ongoing absence of regular defenders Alex Keath (hamstring) and Ryan Gardner (wrist).
Lobb had game-high tallies of five intercept marks and a dozen intercept possessions alongside fellow tall backs Liam Jones and James O’Donnell.
“He was very good. We’re really happy with that outcome and how well Rory played,” Beveridge said.
“He took five intercept marks, had a number of critical spoils and was able to use his speed at times for a big man to close space.
“He was pretty composed when he had the ball for most of the night, so that’s a win for us.
“He’s too good a player to miss out week to week.”
Fuelled by midfielders Tom Liberatore (25 disposals), Ed Richards (21) and Bontempelli, the Bulldogs led by as much as 38 points during the third term.
But they conceded five of the last seven goals as last-placed North Melbourne threatened to fight back into the contest during the final term.
Beveridge highlighted the fact his side scored just 0.4 from 20 forward-half turnovers, while the Kangaroos managed 4.2 from 15.
“That’s not ideal from our perspective,” he said.
“We were coming off a bye, yes, but we don’t make excuses.
“We were floundering towards the end and we needed to see the game out.”
Cody Weightman kicked three goals for the Dogs, while Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Aaron Naughton and Adam Treloar added two each.
Jones was a brick wall, holding North spearhead Nick Larkey scoreless from just five disposals.
North tagger Will Phillips did well for periods in limiting the damage of Treloar, who made the most of mistakes from other Kangaroos to kick his goals.
Harry Sheezel (27 disposals), Bailey Scott (22) and Darcy Tucker (30) were all busy in a losing cause for North, while Cam Zurhaar and Paul Curtis kicked two goals each.
"We were beaten by a better side today," Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson said.
"If we had have somehow got ourselves back to being close, it would've been a travesty.
"They were able to win that (midfield) battle and gave themselves the better chance to have territory in their front half, and it was always going to be hard if we couldn't win that battle."
The Bulldogs' win gave them a positive 8-7 record in the hunt for a finals berth, ahead of a difficult away clash with Port Adelaide in round 17.
