Marcus Bontempelli

[Happy Days]

They had this in the can before the Saints game.

[Grantysghost]

Could you imagine the lambasting we'd get if we prioritised Bont's signature right now instead of the three key out of contract players?

Id be fine with it.

[jazzadogs]

He'll be 30 when this contract ends. I hope we're not offering him an eight or nine year deal!

[bulldogtragic]

He'll be 30 when this contract ends. I hope we're not offering him an eight or nine year deal!

12 year deal? Magic Johnson 25 year deal?

[azabob]

He'll be 30 when this contract ends. I hope we're not offering him an eight or nine year deal!

From what I understand Bontempelli likes the shorter contracts to keep himself on edge.

From memory the biggest contract was a four year deal.

[angelopetraglia]

I would be happy with a 10 year deal. Even 20 would be OK.

[MrMahatma]

I would be happy with a 10 year deal. Even 20 would be OK.

50 year deal at $100k per year.

[GVGjr]

50 year deal at $100k per year.

One day a club will structure a long term deal like this that goes 5 years or more past the players actual career and the AFL will shut that option down quick smart.

[Happy Days]

Didn’t work out when Vince McMahon tried it with Bret Hart.

[ledge]

One day a club will structure a long term deal like this that goes 5 years or more past the players actual career and the AFL will shut that option down quick smart.

Franklin was always the plan , if he retired early they just had him as a coach of some sort was my thought.

[bornadog]

What a game

[EasternWest]

What a game

It's easy to forget just how good Bont is because he does the top level stuff without you even really noticing.

Then he busts out a quarter like the last one to remind you he's actually one of the greats.

[The bulldog tragician]

It's easy to forget just how good Bont is because he does the top level stuff without you even really noticing.

Then he busts out a quarter like the last one to remind you he's actually one of the greats.

I don’t ever forget!!

He does something freakish and amazing every single week in even his “poorer” games. That pirouette through the middle on Friday night was sublime.

He played all the last quarter. We ask a lot of our superstar but in a couple of our close losses he somehow ended up marooned on the bench for too long and given who He is, might well have meant we won the game.

Craig McRae’s joke that he would look good in a Collingwood jumper was not funny. Not funny at all.

[jazzadogs]

Was it the best individual game across the comp all season?

38 disposals (16 contested)
2 goals
9 tackles
10 clearances
8 score involvements
31 pressure acts

Not to mention the specifics of his last quarter where he did not come off the ground, nullifying Naicos influence, and putting the team on his back in a super important game with no Ed or Libba to help in the middle.

He is an outrageous player. Long may he reign.

[azabob]

WHY BONTEMPELLI STANDS ABOVE CRIPPS AND MERRETT AS THE OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR ALL-AUSTRALIAN CAPTAIN
BY GERARD HEALY

https://open.spotify.com/episode/47cD6DRahevEUHG8I0UuSV

The lobbying has begun for the All-Australian positions and as always 30 into 22 simply doesn't go.

As an aside, given it's so difficult why the AFL commission hasn't changed the qualifications or the executive to make it 23 players is baffling - given one of the guidelines is to have a team reflective as if ready to play.

It was suggested to them two years ago, it's been knocked back. There would be no need to name a sub, just play five on the bench?

That said the lobbying for the captain is on in earnest with Patrick Cripps and Zach Merrett the two being pushed the most.

Merrett has had a great season and has lifted his game to a new level this year. He is being pushed along significantly by many a journo, but it's not a most improved award.

It's interesting that neither Harris Andrews nor Lachie Neale ? co-captains of the Lions - get a mention as skipper even though both have had season after season at the top of their form.

But ultimately, it would be a surprise if the selectors don't settle on the obvious choice.

He's a bloke who's had a sustained period at the top of the competition, who's been All-Australian on five occasions already and been vice-captain in two of them ? but never captain, the ultimate honour on the night.

He's been in the 'best player in the game' conversation year after year. Such a consistent gun being regularly close to the Brownlow.

It's time that the selectors made it official. The ?Bont? is the game's best player, and the ?Bont? should be without question, the All-Australian captain in 2024.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/07/...us-choice-for/