The result wasn’t what Luke Beveridge was looking for, but he would have been delighted with the performance of some of his young Dogs against the high-powered Cats on Friday night.
With veterans Matthew Boyd, Dale Morris and Matthew Suckling missing through injury, it was up to some of the Dogs’ younger core to step up and take some responsibility, and that’s exactly what they did.
In 20-year-old Tom Boyd, and 19-year-old’s Josh Dunkley and Zaine Cordy, Bulldogs fans got a glimpse of the future.
Boyd played his best game of the year, picking up 18 disposals to go along with three goals and seven score involvements, and Dunkley’s bravery and sense of occasion was on display all night long.
But it was Zaine Cordy who stood out to the coach, his relentless attack on the football epitomizing the spirit of this young Dogs’ outfit.
Speaking to ABC Grandstand on Saturday, coach Luke Beveridge said he’d been hoping to bring Cordy in for his third career game earlier in the season, but injury had held him back.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times over the course of the year, and we were planning on bringing him in but he’s been injured at training, believe it or not,” Beveridge said.
“We needed to have a tall up there to keep their intercept defenders occupied and he played a role down there in the last half."
The former father-son selection amassed 11 disposals at an impressive 90.9%, as well as seven one-percenters, the fourth highest number on the ground.
He even snuck forward for his first career goal.
"We were pleasantly surprised with what he contributed…it was good to bring him in.”
