WESTERN Bulldogs defender Jordan Roughead is facing up to two months on the sidelines after dislocating the AC joint in his right shoulder in his club's two-point win over Richmond on Saturday.
Roughead was a pivotal figure in the club's gutsy victory, with coach Brendan McCartney revealing the tenacious defender played out the last three quarters with a "broken shoulder."
"He'll miss a fair whack of time – it was quite heroic what he did," McCartney said after the game.
"He stayed on the ground with a broken shoulder for three quarters. He's a very special young man and he'll become a pillar of our club and he's etched his name, always, as a person you want to play footy with.
"We'll replace him, but I think it's really important that our supporters understand what he was prepared to do today for his mates and his club."
With Roughead facing a lengthy lay-off, McCartney put the onus on young talls Michael Talia, Fletcher Roberts and Jack Redpath (who are completing their apprenticeships in the VFL) to come in and fill the void.
"They've got a bit of work to do but one of them is going to get an opportunity now," McCartney said.
"We'll find one. We've felt for a while now that our young talls and backs [are going to get there]."
Youth has been an important blend within the Bulldogs side, but the experience of the club's older players was critical in McCartney's team holding on.
Daniel Giansiracusa kicked the winning goal with just two minutes remaining, Matthew Boyd put his nose over the footy when it mattered and Adam Cooney showed enough composure to retain possession at frantic stages in the game.
"We had some really strong, mentally tough people stand up in the last quarter," McCartney said.
"Boydy bodylined the ball a couple of times late and we had a couple of people just put their heads down and run because their team needed it.
As the Tigers charged down the Bulldogs' 37-point half-time lead – even leading by four points late in the game – McCartney watched on, knowing his team missed the chance to snuff out Richmond's comeback.
"The game looked the way we wanted it to look. There was still that eight-minute patch at the start of the third quarter where we had so many chances to kill it off and we didn't," he said.
McCartney, or external observers for that matter, could not fault the Bulldogs' forward setup against the Tigers.
Despite being a point of contention in the Dogs' opening two losses, Liam Jones (three goals), Stewart Crameri (two) and Jake Stringer (one) provided the necessary scoring power when their team needed it.
"I get asked about our tall forwards all the time and I know what our fans' opinion is there," McCartney said.
"Hopefully they won a bit of trust and respect today."
Crameri had his best game for the Bulldogs on Saturday, storming up and down the ground on his way to 18 possessions and two goals.
"We asked for a bit more consistent output (from Crameri)," McCartney said.
"He's an incredible athlete for a man his size."
Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie
