Will Bontempelli Win A Brownlow?

[bulldogtragic]

Arguably our two greatest players didn’t, in EJ & Grant. Will Bontempelli win one?

[mjp]

NO: Just like Robert Johnson he's done a deal with the devil...but he went down to the cross-roads and traded his Brownlow for 2x more premierships.

[EasternWest]

No. With extra characters to make WOOF's minimum character.

[SonofScray]

I don’t think he will now, though that’s not to say he doesn’t deserve too.

He’s a sublime player and doesn’t have a huge way to go to be our best ever, but a few things work against him:
- a few seasons where injury has tempered his form, or at least patches in seasons we he looks like he is labouring
- he plays a really skilful, cerebral and classy game, with the hardness at the contest and rarely in robust conflict with others, therefore he doesn’t have avg punters and media pundits jerking off over him being a “beast.”
- he set the bar very high, very early and I think expectations hamper our appreciation sometimes. Polls well, but think it might for umpires too.
- he gets pinged for HTB a lot, more so than any other star player ever, I believe. Just doesn’t get looked after the way Judd and Kerr etc used to.

[GVGjr]

I don't really rate a players value by this award but I wonder if he can stay in peak fitness for long during the season to win a Brownlow.
He will go close but there are probably 30 players each year that are capable of winning it so the odds are against him.
Bont's chances might improve if we can finish in the top 4 each season.

We need to maximise the years we have him playing for us.

[jeemak]

If we finish top four and he's played to his potential then yes, I think he will.

[Happy Days]

He did win one, they’re just letting Ollie Wines hold onto it as a joke.

[Flamethrower]

No - Great players don't win Brownlows - it is really just a participation award for midfielders who gather meaningless possessions and suck up to umpires.

[EasternWest]

No - Great players don't win Brownlows - it is really just a participation award for midfielders who gather meaningless possessions and suck up to umpires.

Priddis doesn't like this.

[bulldogtragic]

Priddis doesn't like this.

Shane Woewodin does. People might think he got more than his 22.16 average disposals across his winning year.

[The bulldog tragician]

I always think of Bont in our premiership win. 13 perfect disposals. He did not rack them up, but did not waste any. I wonder if his greatness is as evident to outsiders.

I think his absolute best is being curtailed by playing injured and the responsibility of being captain. Last year was the first time I saw him openly vent frustration at his teammates. Though he was the natural choice to be captain it also came too early. And he’s suffered from a lack of leadership around him and having to be The Man too often. If it is true that there is a “culture” problem at the club it could be hard for a genial guy like Bont to be part of addressing that.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Some really high quality threads coming in hot early this off season. Nice work!

I agree with Jee's assessment. If he's to win it, its going to be off the back of his best efforts in concert with those of his teammates. I suspect Baily Smith is a highly visible guy coming into his prime, who in the above scenario may also feature prominently at the Brownlow, and either win himself or take votes from Bont.

[EasternWest]

I always think of Bont in our premiership win. 13 perfect disposals. He did not rack them up, but did not waste any. I wonder if his greatness is as evident to outsiders.

I think his absolute best is being curtailed by playing injured and the responsibility of being captain. Last year was the first time I saw him openly vent frustration at his teammates. Though he was the natural choice to be captain it also came too early. And he’s suffered from a lack of leadership around him and having to be The Man too often. If it is true that there is a “culture” problem at the club it could be hard for a genial guy like Bont to be part of addressing that.

I agree with all of this but didn't he have 22 perfect disposals that game?

[jazzadogs]

I mean he polled 33 votes last year - do we think that was the best season he'll ever have? I think his best is still ahead of him.

Still needs a lot of luck with injury, team performance, and the umpires not being blinded by large quads on vanilla midfielders. But he can definitely win one.

[The bulldog tragician]

I agree with all of this but didn't he have 22 perfect disposals that game?

Oops.