At the end of 2014, the Western Bulldogs were at a low ebb. The captain had walked, the coach was gone and there were plenty more familiar faces about to leave Footscray in a bloody off-season cull.
It was a grim time for anyone involved in the red, white and blue. As the oldest player on the list, I felt a deep sense of responsibility and shame about where things were at. But, as the old saying goes, the night is darkest right before the dawn.
Marcus Bontempelli collects his jumper from then coach Brendan McCartney on draft day in 2013.
During that difficult 2014 season, a young player had emerged as a shining beacon of hope. Taken with the fourth pick in the 2013 national draft, Marcus Bontempelli had an immediate impact. Tall, lean, strong and graceful, the young lad from the Eastern Ranges via the Eltham footy club had something special about him.
If there was any doubt about his star’s trajectory, it was erased in round 15 of his debut season with a goal of rare creativity and skill from deep in the forward pocket of the Docklands stadium.
The Dogs were in a tight tussle with fellow strugglers the Demons, and it was going down to the wire. In what would soon become something of a signature move, Marcus stood tall in traffic and feigned handballs to multiple teammates before deciding to complete the job himself, on his opposite foot, no less.
As I recall, it was the moment this young prodigy went from Marcus Bontempelli to “the Bont”. He’s been the Bont ever since.
Between the 2014 exodus and the arrival of the new coach, Luke Beveridge, there was a function of some kind and I found myself sitting across from the Bont and I couldn’t shake this feeling when I looked at him. What was it? It was embarrassment. I was embarrassed at where things at the Dogs were at, and it hurt my heart to think about the first impression we had given this young man.
The only consolation was that there was time, hopefully, to turn things around, and show the Bont what our football club truly was and how it feels to pull on the jumper when there’s momentum in our legs and our hearts.
Mercifully, we didn’t have to wait too long. From that forgettable function, with its tired chicken and cheap chardonnay, the Bulldogs, under the guidance of a new coach and a gang of beautiful young mongrels, jumped on a magic carpet ride that ended with a fairytale premiership just two years later. That feeling of embarrassment was gone for good.
The Bont is the only teammate I can think of who players would giggle about in team review meetings. Among the tactics and strategy that dominate those meetings, the Bont’s exploits on-field would bring out in the inner child in his teammates, elbowing one another and whispering to each other, “Did you see that?”
I think it’s fair to say that we are all in awe of the No.4.
I have a theory that all Bulldogs champions fall into one of two categories. Almost like two family trees, side by side. At the top of one of those trees is John Schultz. John was graceful, dignified, loyal and charming in a way that made teammates and supporters feel connected to something deep in their soul.
Marcus is definitely a part of that lineage. His 250th game, against the Swans on Friday night at the SCG, is not to be glossed over, but it’s hard not to hold a little back as he shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. There are still mountains to climb, milestones to tick off.
The other family tree has Tony Liberatore at the top. More than the sum of his parts, Tony played with aggression, working-class grit and a maniacal devotion to the cause. It’s kind of absurd to imagine he could’ve played for anyone other than the Dogs.
Tom and Tony Liberatore share a moment after the 2016 premiership.Credit: Getty Images
Tony’s son, Tom, will play his 249th game this Friday and will emulate his captain’s milestone next week. Tom is not the best player at the Western Bulldogs, but he might be their most valuable. Like his father, Tom is more than the sum of his parts and his influence goes well beyond the weekly stat sheet.
Tom tells me that he is six feet tall. I would argue that there are few players who stand at that height and have as much physical presence on a football field. Tom makes his teammates feel braver.
To my eye, it’s not that Tom doesn’t care what people think of him, he just knows who and what his priorities are. In a modern football world of homogenous, sterile image conscious footballers, Tom is unapologetically himself.
There has long been a magnetism for people like this and that’s how it is for Tom. His teammates adore him. They always have. He plays for the team, he’ll go out of his way to protect them and his devotion to the cause carries on a proud tradition of Bulldogs champions.
Marcus Bontempelli and Tom LIberatore arrive at the 2020 Brownlow function on the Gold Coast.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images.
The 2016 premiership team is shrouded in mystique in some ways because it was a team that really wasn’t on the page.
One of the crucial elements, I believe, was a direct influence of Tom. That team had a collection of young players who were risk-takers, ratbags and utterly charming.
Shane Biggs, Luke Dahlhaus, Jack Redpath (who injured his ACL mid-year in 2016), Clay Smith, Lachie Hunter, Caleb Daniel and company were the furnace that drove our team’s engine, both on the field and in the locker room. But Tom made training hard the cool thing to do.
It’s a part of his public image that is too often overlooked. The Bont and Libba, almost 500 games between them, so much grit and grace, grace and grit.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
