Marcus Bontempelli's Top 10 Games for the Western Bulldogs

Not sure if you've heard, but Marcus Bontempelli is rather good at playing football.

The Western Bulldogs captain is tonight celebrating his 250th game at the club, and we at The Salty Bulldog through it appropriate to reflect on his career and rank the top 10 games that he has played for the club.

Matt and Nick of The Salty Bulldog Podcast both went away earlier this week and established their own list of Bontempelli's top 25, assigning each game a points value, and combining the values of their respective lists to generate an average ranking.

However, because Bontempelli has had such an unbelievable career, we felt it unfair to include just the top 10, because that would leave so many stellar performances left out, so before we go through our top 10, let's roll through our combined top 20. Consider this our "Honourable Mentions" list:

20: Rd 18v 2023 v Sydney. 31 disposals, two goals, nine inside-50s, eight tackles, six clearances

19: Rd15 2015 v Gold Coast Suns. 28 disposals, two goals seven clearances, seven tackles

18: Rd21 2018 v North Melbourne. 35 disposals, two goals 17: Rd 19 2022 v Melbourne. 26 disposals, one goal, 11 clearances

16: Rd20 2019 v Brisbane Lions. 35 disposals, one goal

15: Rd5 2021 v Gold Coast Suns. 33 disposals, three goals, 11 inside-50s

14: Rd11 2016 v West Coast Eagles. 30 disposals, nine tackles, six clearances

13: Rd 13 2014 v Collingwood. 22 disposals, one goal, eight inside-50s

12: Rd8 2021 v Carlton. 32 disposals, one goal, 10 inside-50s, 10 clearances

11: Rd15 2021 v West Coast Eagles. 29 disposals, three goals, 10 clearances, seven tackles

And now, the top 10:

10. Round 1 v West Coast Eagles, 2015

Final Score: Western Bulldogs 14.13.97 def West Coast 14.3.87

Performance: 22 disposals, six clearances, six tackles, one goal

The top 10 begins with the very first game of the Luke Beveridge era; a famous win under the roof at the then-Etihad Stadium, and the beginning of the Bevo-Bont partnership; one of the best in Bulldogs history.

In truth, this performance is best remembered for the mental resilience that Bontempelli was able to display very early on in his career, as he couldn’t have started his time under Beveridge in worse fashion: 0 disposals to quarter time. The Bulldogs were in desperate need for their star youngster to get involved, and he was stuck on doughnuts at the first break.

Slowly, however, Bontempelli worked his way into the contest, and as he did, the Bulldogs lifted. While his numbers weren’t outstanding, he was making the most of the opportunities he had, and it was enough to keep the Bulldogs up by four points at the main break.

West Coast burst out of the blocks after half time, rushing out to a 15-point lead. But when the Bulldogs needed a goal to buck the trend, Bontempelli delivered. Grabbing the ball out of the ruck, he caught everyone off guard to snap a terrific goal from the pocket, and break the Eagles’ momentum. Five minutes after that major, the Bulldogs suddenly found themselves back in front.

The match ebbed and flowed from there, but Bontempelli stood tall in the final term, helping lead the Bulldogs to a memorable 10-point win, and made sure the Luke Beveridge-era got off to a winning start. Perhaps most incredibly, Bontempelli received the three Brownlow Votes despite going stat-less at quarter time.

9. Round 8 v GWS Giants, 2023

Final Score: GWS Giants 10.11.71 def by Western Bulldogs 13.8.86

Performance: 32 disposals, 26 contested possessions, 14 clearances, seven tackles, one goal

It’s not often in the modern game that supporters are treated to a genuine one-on-one matchup between two stars of the game, but in freezing Saturday night conditions in the nation’s capital back in 2023, fans were treated to just that.

The Bulldogs skipper went up against Giants midfield tyro Tom Green in a fierce battle that raged all night, yet even by full time finding a winner was a tough ask. Green certainly held his own, finishing with 38 disposals, three goals and the three Brownlow votes, but Bontempelli ran him awfully closer on a night that was stacked with personal bests. His 26 contested possessions and 14 clearances that night are both efforts that he has never bettered, with all of that packed into a 32-disposal, one-goal game that helped the Bulldogs to an important win on the road.

8. Round 2 v West Coast, 2021

Final Score: Western Bulldogs 14.16.100 def West Coast 14.9.93

Performance: 30 disposals, three goals

Across Marcus Bontempelli’s 249-game career with the Western Bulldogs, he has recorded the fabled ’30 & 3’ game (a performance that includes both 30+ disposals and three or more goals) six times. The first time he achieved that was in a thrilling win against the Eagles early in the 2021 season.

In front of an actual Marvel Stadium crowd for the first time since the pandemic, Bontempelli dominated the first half, as the Bulldogs built a narrow lead over the Eagles. But the undeterred visitors found new life in the second half, and early in the last quarter had edged out to a 14-point lead.

But the Bulldogs, under a skipper in his second season in charge, would come once more, storming home with a five-goal-to-two final quarter to secure a memorable victory. The last images of the win came in the final minute, where Bontempelli found himself in space inside 50 to take an uncontested mark, before going back and booting the game-sealing goal, setting the tone early for what would be a memorable individual campaign.

7. Round 5 v Sydney, 2015

Final Score: Sydney 10.13.73 def by Western Bulldogs 11.11.77

Performance: 23 disposals, nine clearances, six tackles, two goals

Every Bulldogs fan remembers where they were on Saturday, May 2nd, 2015. One of the most famous Bulldogs wins in recent history, it was the day where the world sat up and took notice of Bevo’s Bulldogs, and it was only fitting that his star player in the coming decade would play a decisive role.

This would be a performance that showcased the very best of what Marcus Bontempelli would offer the Bulldogs over the next decade. In a rain-soaked SCG, Bontempelli displayed tremendous skill and composure against a battle-hardened Sydney who just four games earlier had played off in a Grand Final.

In just his 20th game, he showed tremendous anticipation to cut out to Sydney kicks coming out of defence to kick important goals in both the first and third quarters, but also showed excellent intelligence to be able to make the right decision every time, regardless of the pressure around him. In a famous Bulldogs victory, the young champion stood tall.

6. Round 15, 2019 v Port Adelaide

Final Score: Port Adelaide 5.11.41 def by Western Bulldogs 10.6.66

Performance: 27 disposals, ten tackles, nine clearances

From the moment he set foot in the club, Bontempelli always promised to be something special. But you could make a very strong case that this was the match where he went from a prodigious young talent to one of the elite players in the competition.

The Bulldogs had been a rather inconsistent side in the first four months of 2019, with every impressive win being undone by a disappointing defeat, and as a result, few expected them to claim the four points at Adelaide Oval against the Power – a team in red-hot form who were threatening to climb their way into the top four late in the season. What made matters worse were the conditions; a torrential downpour threatened to curtail the Bulldogs desire to move the ball quickly with slick handpasses.

Enter: The Bont. While everyone else looked like they were playing underwater, he looked like he was playing under a roof. He set the tone with a clinical opening quarter, barely wasting a possession and making the conditions look easy, while the Power frantically searched in vain to find a way to stop him. His ball use was elite, and it played a huge role in helping the Bulldogs set up an early lead, and from there they kept the Power at bay all night, claiming an impressive 25-point win in miserable conditions that never abated. As for Bontempelli, it was only fitting that he was rewarded with another three Brownlow votes for a dominant display.

5. Round 12 v Port Adelaide, 2016

Final Score: Port Adelaide 14.13.97 def by Western Bulldogs 15.10.100

Performance: 29 disposals, nine clearances, two goals

Staying at the Adelaide Oval, and while the conditions in this 2016 encounter were far more pleasant, the Power still struggled to contain the same dominant Bontempelli.

While the Bulldogs would have control all night in that rain-sodden affair a few years later, this match was energetic chaos from first minute to last, with momentum swings and lead changes never far away at any point. Yet through the madness, the composed head of Bontempelli was an ever-present for the Bulldogs, starring in what was one of the best games of the year. He bookended the match with two outstanding goals; the first a sensational snap after a 50m run in the opening term, and then finally a calm set shot conversion to push the Bulldogs out to a nine-point lead with five minutes remaining.

In between both of those majors he was a force in the Bulldogs’ engine room, finishing with a game-high 29 disposals, and eventually polling the three Brownlow votes as the Bulldogs pushed themselves back into the Top 4.

4. Round 19 v Melbourne, 2021

Final Score: Melbourne 9.11.65 def by Western Bulldogs 13.7.85

Performance: 31 disposals, two goals, 10 inside-50s, nine clearances

As we approached the final month of the home-and-away season in 2021, fans were treated to a tantalising spectacle: 1st v 2nd on a Saturday night at the MCG. The winner would go to top spot on the ladder and assume Premiership favouritism.

The midfield was where the game was going to be decided. Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore and Jackson Macrae pitted against Clayton Olliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney. The only thing the game didn’t have was a capacity crowd, as Victoria was still on lockdown at the time.

Not that Bontempelli was fazed by any of those circumstances. In yet another game where rain played its part, this was arguably Bontempelli at his most clinical. He set the tone with the opening goal of the game, and led the Bulldogs midfield superbly against a supreme Melbourne engine room. After regaining the lead early in the opening term, the Bulldogs never looked back, holding sway right up until full time.

There was one point in the final term where Melbourne came close to catching the Bulldogs, closing the gap to four points with seven minutes to go. But The Bont stepped up once more to undo all of Melbourne’s hard work in a matter of minutes. He snapped his second goal out of a stoppage inside 50 to give the Bulldogs some breathing space, before winning the clearance from the resulting centre bounce, and hitting Jamarra Ugle-Hagan on the chest while off balance on his non-preferred foot. When Ugle-Hagan converted truly, the Bulldogs were suddenly 16 points up again, and the game was done, with the Bulldogs sitting on top spot on the AFL ladder.

3. Semi Final v Hawthorn, 2016

Final Score: Hawthorn 12.12.84 def by Western Bulldogs 16.11.107

Performance: 27 disposals, eight clearances, seven hitouts, two goals

This was the night where The Bont arrived.

After securing a famous Elimination Final win over in Perth the week prior, the young Bulldogs were given little chance against the Hawks, a side who had won the last three Premierships, and were a whisker away from making it through to a Preliminary Final the week before.

The pre-match expectations had played out to script early. The experienced Hawks had kicked four of the first five goals of the game, and had looked to have the upper hand in suffocating the Bulldogs’ quick style of play.

But after Jake Stringer broke the run with an opportunistic snap, the Bulldogs won the resulting clearance and drove the ball inside 50 to a precarious one-on-one: Bontempelli was playing at full-forward, paired against Hawthorn legend Luke Hodge. These were contests that stars like Hodge never lost; his experience, aggression and tenacity would surely prove too much for the young star.

Yet in a swift use of the body, Bontempelli stunned the world by nudging Hodge out of the contest with perfect timing, never taking his eyes off the ball, before falling backward to take the mark in one clean grab. Nobody could believe it: the Hawthorn captain was laying flat on his back, and the young Bontempelli had the footy in hand.

The mark remains one of the most iconic moments in Bontempelli’s career, but what transpired afterwards was just as impressive, showing that trademark composure to go back and kick the goal. It instigated a wave for the Bulldogs, who would kick 13 of the next 17 goals to tear away from the Hawks, with Bontempelli himself kicking a second goal in the Bulldogs famous third-quarter rush, before outpointing Hodge once more to guard against any late revival in the last term, helping the club secure successive finals wins for the first time in 55 years.

2. Grand Final v Sydney, 2016

Final Score: Sydney 10.7.67 def by Western Bulldogs 13.11.89

Performance: 22 disposals, seven tackles, six clearances, nine hitouts.

One of the most iconic days in the club’s history, Bontempelli played a crucial role on the biggest day of all as as the Western Bulldogs ended a 62-year Premiership drought with a stirring win over the Sydney Swans on the final day of the season.

While the team itself had produced a stunning finals campaign just to get to the Grand Final, Bontempelli himself had emerged as a beacon of hope for long-suffering supporters in the Western Suburbs. The face of the next generation, Bontempelli had dazzled crowds with a finals campaign that belied his age and experience, and as Grand Final Day approached, he was the name on everyone’s lips. For a 20-year-old playing in just his 63rd game, there was a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders, but true to form, he delivered right when the Bulldogs needed him

There were several performances that went down in Bulldogs folklore that day, including the dominance of Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannissen, the aerial feats of Tom Boyd, and the final quarter of Liam Picken, Bontempelli was a calming presence in a chaotic game where space to breathe was at a premium. He barely wasted any of his 22 possessions, but didn’t shirk the heavy stuff in the midfield, with seven tackles and six clearances, and nine hitouts, playing a critical rule in the ruck at a time when the third-man up rule was still legal. When the game was at its hottest, Bontempelli managed 12 disposals in the second half of a tense Grand Final – he had a disposal efficiency of 100% after Half Time. Such was his effectiveness with ball in hand, Champion Data rated Bontempelli as the No.1 player on the ground, despite not polling a single vote from the Norm Smith Medal judges.

1. Round 12 v Collingwood, 2024

Final Score: Collingwood 12.10.82 def by Western Bulldogs 15.10.100

Performance: 38 disposals, 10 clearances, nine tackles, two goals

Against a hostile Collingwood home crowd, the Bulldogs spent most of the night on the back foot, and trailing the reigning premiers by two goals at the final change.

However, while the Magpies held sway for most of the night, a fascinating contest had been unfolding between Bontempelli and Collingwood prodigy Nick Daicos, with both players taking turns in dominating the play. After Daicos recorded a staggering six centre bounce clearances in the opening term, Bontempelli took the responsibility upon himself to try and quell the Collingwood star. He could kick a stunning long-range goal in the opening term to keep the Bulldogs in touch, before taking complete control in the second term, helping the Bulldogs reclaim the lead midway through the second term, and remain in touch at Half Time. But Daicos and Collingwood returned serve after the main break, and at three-quarter time it looked as though the young star was going to be the man to lead the Magpies to a crucial victory.

But with the game on the line, the Bulldogs captain stepped up to remind the competition why he’d been regarded as the best player in the game for so long, producing a final quarter for the ages. Bontempelli recorded a staggering 14 disposals and a crucial goal in the final term to inspire the Bulldogs to a memorable win, keeping Collingwood goalless in the final term, while reminding young Daicos that The Bont was still the No.1 player in the competition.