Marcus Bontempelli should not captain the Dogs in 2017, says Brad Johnson — League Teams Don’t Argue
MARCUS Bontempelli can one day become the best midfielder in the competition.
However, in order for him to do that, I don’t think he should be the next captain of the Western Bulldogs.
It’s been a terrific season for ‘The Bont’ and one that I think warrants all of the praise he is already receiving. Remarkably, he will keep getting better.
But he needs to be able to develop in his own time.
Even if Bob Murphy resumes the captaincy next season, before passing the baton to the next player in 2018, it wouldn’t hurt the Dogs to let someone like Easton Wood become the skipper for a few seasons.
That way, Bontempelli would be able to focus solely on his footy before making what appears to be the natural step into a leadership position when he’s 24 or 25.
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I took on the captaincy of the Western Bulldogs when I was 29 and, despite being much older than Bontempelli is now, felt like I still had so much to learn. You also understand more — about yourself, about others and about the game.
There’s a lot of pressure and expectancy that goes with the position — something that I have no doubt Bontempelli is ready for. But there’s no rush.
Standing in for both Murphy and Wood earlier in the year, Bontempelli did a fantastic job captaining the side in an eight-point win over West Coast. But that was just a taste.
He is clearly a fantastic speaker and a great on-field leader and will undoubtedly captain the club on a fulltime basis one day. But he has such a high ceiling that I’d want to see him become the best player he can be before taking on the role.
I remember watching him as a teenager in his draft year at the AFL Academy and seeing a wonderfully promising player with natural gifts that was ready for senior footy.
Even still, I must admit I never thought his rate of development would be so quick where he’s already dominating games and being spoken about in Brownlow contention at 20. He could become anything.
This has already been a fantastic development year for Bontempelli.
A fortnight ago, we watched as North Melbourne tried to overwhelm him with physical tactics before their Saturday night encounter had even begun.
He responded with 19 disposals, nine tackles and a goal and was arguably the most influential and important player on the field.
For me, those types of performances are more pivotal than when he’ll be let loose, grab his 35 touches and never see an opponent.
It shows his maturity, his mental strength and his abundance of talent.
It also shows opposition clubs that these types of tactics simply don’t work. I’d have guessed a few finals contenders might have been thinking they would try something similar towards ‘The Bont’ in September.
Perhaps, after his performance against the Kangaroos, they will be reconsidering.
His hot streak continued last week. While Liam Picken played a key negating role on Steele Sidebottom in the second half, I felt the Dogs wouldn’t have beaten the Pies had it not been for Bontempelli’s performance.
His ability to win his own footy, tackle, pressure and go forward to kick goals were all on show — they’re also major reasons why he is the prototype midfielder of the future.
The Western Bulldogs have a special talent on their hands.
Now, they need to effectively nurture that talent in order to let Bontempelli flourish into the footballer we all know he can become.
If that means holding off appointing him as the club’s next skipper, then so be it.
CAN YOU ARGUE WITH THIS? JOIN THE PANEL ON LEAGUE TEAMS AT 6.30PM TONIGHT WHEN THEY TACKLE JOHNO’S OPINION