Unlucky is not a word that captain Marcus Bontempelli would use to describe the Bulldogs’ 2025 season.
Speaking at the 2025 Charles Sutton Medal, the captain did not shy away from the disappointment felt by fans after another chance at finals slipped away.
Acknowledging it as a shared sentiment between the playing group, coaches and supporters, Bontempelli believes the team must look inward to take a step forward in 2026.
“I don’t think any of us sit here and feel as though we’re unlucky to have missed out,” Bontempelli told the room at Crown Palladium.
“I do feel like we all felt like our future was in our own hands and, if we had dealt with a few games a little bit better – we were close in a lot of scenarios – we might have been able to get through to some September action.
“None of us will ever know what we could have done.”
The Dogs narrowly missed out on a place in September, with a Round 24 loss to Fremantle sealing a ninth-place finish on the ladder despite winning 14 games.
On a positive note, the team demonstrated its ability to compete with the best in the league. Across the season, the Bulldogs’ largest defeat was by 22 points at the hands of Hawthorn, a side that made an impact in the finals series.
However, having the best record of a team not to make finals was scant consolation for the 29-year-old, who once again reiterated that it is up to the team to grow.
“It has to be something for us, we can’t afford to let it go to waste,” he said. “All the learnings and the growings out of the season and what we did out of this year.
“The guys that had massive growth, it’s got to be an opportunity for us to build on. That’s something that we’ve all got to look forward to doing and ultimately find the aspects of our game that we can improve.
“We’ve got to be buoyed by the opportunity in front of us. I definitely am. There are a couple of us who are ageing and getting into that twilight stage of our career.
“I’d much rather be sitting down there watching other guys win it and have us going much deeper.”
Bontempelli fell just short of what would have been a record-equalling seventh best and fairest award, an impressive achievement given his injury-forced absence for the first five games of the 2025 season.
In a year filled with milestones, Bontempelli showed why he remains one of the competition’s elite.
Averaging 27.1 disposals, 6.3 clearances and kicking 21 goals for the season, he earned another All-Australian selection in a year in which he was officially named the second Greatest Bulldog of the past 100 years behind only Mr Football, Ted Whitten.
Despite interest from rival clubs, Bontempelli’s signature on a fresh four-year deal in July ensures the beloved captain will remain in the red, white and blue with an eye to leading the next successful era in the club’s history.
“It is a true privilege to stand up here and talk as a captain of the football club,” Bontempelli said.
“I love playing for our football club, I love playing with the group that we have.
“The youth that will drive us forward. There are lots of really capable young players in our team that need to drive us forwards. I do feel like there should be a lot of hope in the room for what this group can do.
“I know that probably sounds like a message that you hear every year, but I think you can feel really confident in where this group can head.
“To all of our fans and our people. To those that turn up rain, hail or shine no matter what – we do love that support. We know what it means to play out of Footscray, and that’s because our people support us in the way that they do.
“Thank you to our fans and our people. You mean so much to us.”
