Stopping Bontempelli tall order for GWS
GREATER Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron knows it will be near impossible for his AFL side to keep Marcus Bontempelli quiet for the entirety of tonight’s preliminary final.
Bontempelli, who earned All-Australian honours this year and continues to show experience beyond his years, looms as one of Western Bulldogs’ most potent threats at Spotless Stadium.
The 20-year-old tallied 32 disposals and six clearances when the two sides met in Round 9 this year.
“We’ll probably start (ruck- man) Rory Lobb on him. We’ve got to fight fire with fire in terms of height,” Cameron joked yesterday.
“He’s just so unique. He’s a 193cm inside mid, they’re very hard to stop those sort of players.
“He’s Nat Fyfe-like and we’ve seen what Fyfe has been able to do.
“I don’t think you completely stop a guy like Bontempelli, we just have to make sure we nullify him when we have to but also hurt him when we have the footy.”
Cameron indicated he was unlikely to employ a hard tag on Bontempelli.
“There’s no doubt (Ryan) Griffen, (Stephen) Coniglio and (Callan) Ward are going to try to stop him in the midfield,” he said.
“But in saying that they bat really deep. (Tom) Liberatore is at the peak of his powers.”
Cameron also heaped praise on Bulldogs Jack Macrae and Luke Dahlhaus, acknowledging the midfield showdown will be crucial in deciding which club advances to the grand final.
“They’ve got a really good midfield. We feel as though we’ve got a really good midfield as well,” he said.
“The battle will be won in the midfield.’’