Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has been praised for a match-defining performance against Brisbane.
As the Dogs spluttered to a winless start from the opening two games, there were calls externally for the four-time All Australian to drive a harder edge on match day, particularly against the Lions’ star-studded midfield.
On Thursday night, Bontempelli answered those calls, finishing with 28 disposals, a game-high 16 contested possessions, 543 metres gained and seven tackles in the 14-point win at Marvel Stadium.
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“You can’t help but notice him and get on his coat-tails,” defender Alex Keath told foxfooty.com.au of his skipper.
“He’s an unbelievable leader, incredible person. You see the way he plays. The brilliance that you see, that’s just the cream on top, he’s unbelievable at the one-percenter side of the game.
“His defensive efforts, leading from the front. We saw some clips of him during the week that was just inspiring.
“His level hasn’t changed throughout the first three weeks and it’s great to see him get some reward as captain as well.”
While not performing poorly, Bontempelli appeared below his lofty best in the opening two matches of the season, but returned to form against the Lions and former teammate Josh Dunkley, who he matched up on at stages of the night.
One passage of play saw Bontempelli nearly kick a brilliant goal from the centre-bounce, but his shot on the run from 50 metres out sailed to the left.
His performance, however, did not go unnoticed.
“It’s a star-driven league, that’s what we always say, and you need your best players to play somewhere near their best,” David King said on Fox Footy post-game.
“He’d been down a little bit, we questioned whether he’d been at his toughest over the previous couple of weeks. I just think tonight they decided he was going to be the hit-to player at centre bounces.
“He’s taken a back seat to (Jack) Macrae and (Tom) Liberatore over the first couple of weeks, but I think he just said tonight ‘You know what, hit it to me, I need to be the man in at centre bounces, I need to be the difference.’
“He had seven clearances and they smashed them out of the middle … they were tougher than Brisbane tonight in heavy traffic and that guy was the reason.”
