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West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has revealed his decision not to follow Todd Goldstein to the goal square in Monday night's loss to North Melbourne was a tactical move rather than a lack of effort.
With the Eagles trailing by four points and just over three minutes remaining on the clock, Goldstein pushed forward and took a big contested mark.
Naitanui was more than 50 metres away at the time, with the subsequent goal to Goldstein sealing a shock 10-point win for the Kangaroos and consigning West Coast to its third straight loss.
West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has revealed his decision not to follow Todd Goldstein to the goal square in Monday night's loss to North Melbourne was a tactical move rather than a lack of effort
Fans and expert commentators were quick to criticise Naitanui for not following his man to the goal square at such a critical point in the match.
But Naitanui said it was a tactical call.
"Any ruckman from junior level to senior level, you get back to the (goal) line," Naitanui said.
"But for me I was rolling the dice. We knew it was a late stage in the game. We were down by four points,