Marcus Bontempelli of the Western Bulldogs has taken home the AFL Coaches’ Association Champion Player of the Year award in convincing fashion, polling 17 votes more than second-placed Patrick Dangerfield.
The premiership midfielder polled 107 votes – the first time a Western Bulldogs player has taken home the gong over the 16 years of the award’s existence, joining past winners like Dangerfield and Nathan Buckley.
Bontempelli has averaged 27 disposals in season 2019 and has enjoyed a great last three rounds to the season, which saw him take home the award with 14 votes in the last three rounds. Six of the past 13 winners have gone on to win the Brownlow Medal and the other seven have polled extremely well.
This puts Bontempelli in great stead come Brownlow night, when we could see him take home the prestigious medal, just like recent coaches award-winners such as Dustin Martin and Dangerfield.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
When Bontempelli is at his best, he is one of the best players in the league, just like we saw in Round 20 when he finished with 35 disposals and a goal. Bontempelli’s outside play and penetrating left foot sees the Bulldogs into attack plenty of times each game, and when put together with the talented midfield group of Josh Dunkley, Jack Macrae and Lachie Hunter, they can be the best midfield in the league and have all been pivotal in cementing the Bulldogs’ position at seventh place.
This all coincides with the Bulldogs charging into September, with an elimination final against the sixth-placed GWS Giants next Saturday afternoon. This is set to be one for the ages with memories of the classic 2016 preliminary final, which saw the Bulldogs into the grand final in their premiership year.
This finals series will be a cracker, with all teams in form and raring to go in their respective games. The Bulldogs are a unique proposition coming into September with three wins in a row including a 104-point defeat of Essendon, their past history of coming from outside of the top four to win the flag in 2016 as well as having the Coaches’ Association Champion Player of the Year Bontempelli in their ranks, plus other in-form players such as Josh Dunkley and Aaron Naughton.
But it’s almost September now and anything can happen in the finals, just as we saw in 2016.
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