AFL superstar Marcus Bontempelli's medial ligament injury is under serious scrutiny, and there are growing fears he could be ordered to sit out the remainder of the season. Although the 30-year-old has continued to play through the injury - and at times has been absolutely brilliant - if the club's fortunes do not improve, he might quickly be wrapped in cotton wool.
Bontempelli's Injury History
The Bulldogs skipper hyper-extended his knee in Round 6 against the Cats, an injury that initially appeared very nasty. However, the inspirational midfielder has pushed through and starred the following week against the Swans, despite the team losing by 11 goals.
Bulldogs' Season in Free-Fall
Meanwhile, the Dogs are in free-fall after a flying start to the season where they were considered genuine flag contenders. Now engulfed by an injury crisis, they have fallen to 10th on the ladder, and last week lost to a struggling Carlton team.
Caroline Wilson reported on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters: "Let's take you back to the Cattery about four or five weeks ago when Marcus Bontempelli hyperextended his knee. It looked awful, didn't it? So the talk is that this medial ligament is a real problem for the Bont and he's played and he's played and he's been absolutely brilliant (but) at times he's looked a bit banged up. The Dogs are saying to me there's been an eight-day break leading into another eight-day break now and he's been a lot better in the last week. But I maintain, if these injuries continue to hurt the Bulldogs that by the bye, or by the end of June, I think they should make a big call on Marcus Bontempelli for the rest of the year. It doesn't look good."
Impact on Brownlow Medal
If the Bulldogs decide to take action on Bontempelli, it will definitely shake up the Brownlow Medal market. Bontempelli is currently the favourite to win the AFL's best-and-fairest medal with most bookmakers, an award many believe he thoroughly deserves. He was runner-up in 2021 (33 votes, behind Ollie Wines) and again in 2023 (behind Lachie Neale).
Bulldogs' Injury Woes
The Bulldogs have already lost superstar big man Sam Darcy for the season after he ruptured his ACL, and important tall Tim English is in concussion protocols with no timeframe on his return. There is also no timeframe on warrior midfielder Tom Liberatore's return - who has concussion concerns as well as a knee issue - and Bailey Williams has just been ruled out with a hamstring injury for 5-7 weeks. Riley Garcia is also sidelined with a recurrent issue related to the area of hamstring tendon involved in his previous knee ACL reconstruction.
The situation remains under close watch as the Bulldogs weigh up their captain's health against their finals aspirations. AFL expert Kane Cornes said: "This is big. A close watch on a star, the biggest star."
