WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge used to refer to Marcus Bontempelli as ‘The Stallion’ in homage to his Italian heritage, but he also thinks there is a bit of Irish leprechaun magic in his skipper who will play his 200th game against Hawthorn on Saturday.
No one has achieved more in the red, white and blue since Beveridge became coach at the end of Bontempelli’s first season in the AFL.
The 2013 No.4 pick has won four Charles Sutton Medals, earned All-Australian selection four times, claimed a Leigh Matthews Trophy, AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award and, most importantly, helped the Dogs end a 62-year premiership drought in 2016.
Now the 27-year-old will become just the 23rd player in the history of the Footscray Football Club to play 200 games when he runs out on to Marvel Stadium this weekend, reaching that milestone quicker than anyone else in his draft class.
Beveridge said there are no hidden herbs and spices behind Bontempelli’s stellar rise and sustained success at the highest level, praising the Victorian’s desire to make those around him better while improving his own game year-in, year-out.
“There is no doubt the best footballers in our code, who either captain their club or represent as match winners, train really hard and Marcus is no different to that. He is an absolute professional and he works extremely hard on himself and his capabilities as a player,” Beveridge said on Friday.
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“But the special leaders, the exceptional people, they really go the nth degree to put time into other people and help them and care for them. Marcus is one of those; we are really fortunate to have him; he is an exceptional human being. The word selfless is representative of who Marcus is.
“In recent times he has been on a crusade to organise things for our connection piece and how close we can become doing things outside what’s normally expected of young players. His character and his colours have really shone through. He is a credit to his mum and dad, Geraldine and Carlo, just that spicy blend of Irish and Italian heritage. I called him the Stallion at one point, but in some ways there is a leprechaun in him as well because he is pretty magic with what he can do.”
Bontempelli finished runner-up behind Ollie Wines in the 2021 Brownlow Medal and might be leading the count after six rounds in 2023.
The Northern Knights product has missed only eight games since making his debut against Carlton in round 4, 2014 and looms as someone who could only be halfway through his career, following in the footsteps of veteran Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury, who has 364 games on the board and is showing no signs of slowing down, even at 35.
“He has been really durable and he hasn’t missed many games at all in his 200. He prides himself in that. We know that not many players can play without coping with some ailment or injury or discomfort; he puts up with that week-to-week. Hopefully he can play for as long as he desires,” Beveridge said.
“At some point they all slow up and the game can go past, but obviously the game hasn’t gone past Scott, yet. Marcus seems to have those Matrix-type traits where the game seems to slow down. A lot of that is courage and awareness and deception. We’d love for him to play for as long as he can.”
Star midfielder Bailey Smith will return against Sam Mitchell’s side after recovering from the minor calf strain that forced him to remain in Melbourne and miss the past two games on the road against Port Adelaide and Fremantle.
Beveridge said the 22-year-old will need to manage the issue that flared in January but is ready to return in the place of Tom Liberatore, who entered concussion protocols in Western Australia.
“After an interrupted last couple of weeks, you wouldn’t say he is absolutely going to be setting any records with the ground that he covers. He is such an important player to us and there is no risk, he is fine. We are looking forward to having him back in the team,” he said.
Liberatore has started training again after the late head knock in the 49-point over the Dockers last Friday night, but Beveridge was reluctant to declare the 30-year-old a certain starter against Greater Western Sydney next weekend.
“It is hard to give a definitive yes or no on that because we have to treat it so seriously on the concussion side of it,” he said.
“If you look at history he wouldn’t have probably missed this week with how we used to manage players 10 or 20 years ago, but definitely now there is some impediments with a player returning and what we need to put them through. It is still a maybe."
Second-year tall Sam Darcy has been recalled to the 26-man squad to provide coverage in the ruck after Jordon Sweet was ruled out of action this weekend due to a heel injury.
The 2021 No. 2 pick hasn’t played a senior game since being dropped after round two, spending the past month playing for Footscray.
After starting the season with a winless opening fortnight, the Western Bulldogs returned to Melbourne last weekend 3-3 after winning three of its past four games against opponents that played finals last September.