Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has hailed the leadership of Marcus Bontempelli, suggesting the first-year captain has taken his game to another level.
There are just six rounds remaining in the shortened AFL season, meaning Saturday’s match between eighth-placed Melbourne and the 10th-placed Bulldogs is a quintessential eight-point game in the run to finals.
Mystery surrounds whether Bulldogs ruckman Tim English will be cleared to play after hurting his ankle in the Dogs’ last-start win over Adelaide.
English trained on Thursday, but Beveridge noted he still needs to pull up well on Friday to play.
Beveridge was likewise cagey about whether Jason Johannisen, Josh Bruce, Laitham Vandermeer, Hayden Crozier and Matt Suckling will return against the Demons.
“I’ll reserve our right to be protective,” he said.
The 2016 premiership coach was more forthcoming when asked about the development of Bontempelli, whose dominance of the Crows helped the Bulldogs snap a three-game losing streak.
The 24-year-old booted two goals in that game, having repeatedly showed this season he can be a handful in the Dogs’ forward line.
“He has had to grow into his captaincy responsibilities,” Beveridge said.
“And juggle an inauspicious start to the year as a team, to try to lead through action and words. He has come through that with flying colours.
“What he has added to his game this year … is an aerial component. It has sort of been there in the background, but he hadn’t really established himself as an aerial threat.
“He has taken more contested marks in recent times … we do it (play Bontempelli as a forward) here and there, it’s also to manage the load through that midfield as well.”
Bontempelli’s showdown with Christian Petracca at Metricon Stadium shapes as the headline bout between two impressive midfields.
“They’ve really got the ball rolling in there. Some of their mids have hit go on their match-winning potential,” Beveridge said.
“It’ll be a good game within a game. Hopefully we can take some control there, like we did last week, and that’ll influence the outcome.”
