{"id":95047,"date":"2021-07-04T11:30:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T11:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=95047"},"modified":"2021-07-04T12:01:04","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T12:01:04","slug":"fears-for-naughton-after-brutal-self-concussion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=95047","title":{"rendered":"Fears for Naughton after brutal 'self-concussion'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Bulldogs<\/a> star Aaron Naughton's concussion in a marking contest has raised questions over whether the high-flying forward needs to temper his ferocious aerial attack on the ball.<\/p>\n

Naughton was substituted out of the Bulldogs' 16. 12. (108) to 11. 13. (79) win<\/a> over North Melbourne<\/a> in the second quarter after he landed head first in a marking contest. <\/p>\n

The 21-year-old trails only Melbourne's Max Gawn in contested marks with 41 through 15 games this season, but while his marking prowess has been a signature part of his game, Kangaroos great David King urged caution moving forward.<\/p>\n

"They've got to temper his 100 per cent vigour for the contested marking contest," he told Fox Footy's First Crack<\/em>. "This is a self-concussion if you like, he's knocking himself out."<\/p>\n

\"Aaron<\/p>\n

"I know this is how he plays and I know it's hard to change the way a player plays, but just picture this in a preliminary final if he knocks himself out, with the 12-day concussion protocol he would miss [the grand final]. <\/p>\n

"He's only 21 years of age and I want this guy to play for 10-12 years. Do you think the coach needs to say to him, 'Look, let's not go in recklessly every time', or do you just roll on? Does he have to go every time, is my question."<\/p>\n

Following the Bulldogs' win, coach Luke Beveridge confirmed that Naughton had suffered a concussion, meaning that he will enter into the AFL's mandatory concussion protocol and miss next week's clash against Sydney.<\/p>\n

Despite King's concern for Naughton's wellbeing, former Hawthorn forward Ben Dixon suggested that the club needed to work on his landing technique rather than stopping him from flying for the ball altogether.<\/p>\n

\"Aaron<\/p>\n

"I come back to the fact that they should teach him how to land, he's landing with his head," he said.<\/p>\n

"We've seen clubs go to gymnastics, jumping in foam pits, going to bounce, get on a trampoline and learn how to land. I don't think you can take it out of his game."<\/p>\n

Naughton's concussion was the only sour note in another complete performance from the Bulldogs which sent them to the top of the ladder after Melbourne's loss yesterday.<\/p>\n

Star midfielder Jack Macrae recorded 30+ possessions for the 15th straight game this year with 31 touches against the Roos, while young forward Cody Weightman kicked four goals.<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/p>\n

Weightman's effort was matched by Kangaroos youngster Cam Zurhaar as the AFL's wooden spoon favourites gave a great account of themselves.<\/p>\n

"We are building belief. We want to be a team that is hard to play against. We probably left our run too late. They are a bloody good team aren't they?" Kangaroos coach David Noble said after the match.<\/p>\n

"I thought our side stuck to the task really well."<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs will face Sydney in a blockbuster clash of top eight teams next weekend, while the Kangaroos will face a smarting West Coast Eagles side.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Western Bulldogs star Aaron Naughton's concussion in a marking contest has raised questions over whether the high-flying forward needs to temper his ferocious aerial attack […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95047"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95049,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95047\/revisions\/95049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}