NAT FYFE'S renaissance as an elite player of the competition has been ticked off by fellow superstar Marcus Bontempelli after the Fremantle captain's imposing performance in last weekend's win over the Western Bulldogs.
Bontempelli got a first-hand look at the devastating form Fyfe has displayed this season, with the 2015 Brownlow Medallist amassing a career-high 43 disposals, 21 contested possessions, 13 clearances, seven inside 50s and a goal.
While the 'Bont' was one of the Bulldogs' better players in the 54-point loss with 22 touches, his effort didn't come close to Fyfe's unstoppable performance that netted him a perfect 10 in the AFLCA votes.
"You get an appreciation of how good Nat Fyfe is, and his ability to move from stoppage to stoppage, cover the ground and influence around the ground in marking situations," Bontempelli told RSN Radio on Tuesday morning.
"It is always great for me to come up against a player who is as tall and probably a tiny bit stronger than me around the contest.
"I think we're starting see him get back to that (Brownlow Medal) form more consistently throughout this year."
While he was in awe of what Fyfe achieved on Saturday night, Bontempelli said he and the rest of the young Bulldogs midfield could have done more to curtail his impact on the game.
"He's always a tough player to stop when he's going as well as he was on the weekend," Bontempelli said.
"You know he's having influence throughout the game, just purely though his involvements, and we probably weren't good enough at being able to stop it once he started to have an influence on the game.
"That's a growth for us as a group, and probably more a midfield group.
"We had plans going in to minimise his influence because he's such a great player, but we just couldn't get a hold of him."
One of the few highlights to come out of the game for the Dogs was the performance of key forward Tom Boyd in his return from mental illness and form issues.
Bontempelli said the premiership hero's first senior game since round 13 last year was a massive positive for the club after a tough start to the season.
The 22-year-old kicked two goals from seven possessions and hauled in three marks.
"It's great to have Tom back and enjoying his football," Bontempelli said.
"They're the little wins you get despite the game not panning out the way we wanted it to.
"He had an influence on the game, was really strong around the contest and took some really strong marks up forward.
"There were really good signs there."