‘His ball drop was horrendous’: Marcus Bontempelli’s journey from edgy Eltham junior to Bulldogs great

A succinct “10 tackles” flashed on the screen.

Hunt’s nephew, Marcus Bontempelli, had just destroyed Fremantle the night before on the other side of the country. He won the ball in the middle, kickstarted offensive chains in defence and then drifted forward, taking marks in the goalsquare with the grace of Royce Hart.

But the morning after, ‘The Bont’ was more interested in reminding his junior footy coach that the words of wisdom drilled into him as a kid at Eltham Football Club were still ringing in his head.

“I’d always say to him, I’m not interested in your pretty possessions, I want tackles,” Hunt says, laughing as he shows off the text message. “What a smart arse!”

For all the rave reviews, Bontempelli is still grounded with the hard work instilled from the first time he laced up his boots.

“He coached me for most of my juniors and he thought my football was a bit clean, so I tend to let him know whenever I have more than four or five tackles,” he smiles.

“He used to think I never tackled!”

*****

On the eve of his 200th game, Marcus Bontempelli is once again in wondrous form.

His size, athleticism, grace and skill make him perhaps the proptype player of the modern era, both practically and aesthetically.

He can make the game look easy.

But that wasn’t the case when Bontempelli first ventured onto a footy field as a 10-year-old.

Bontempelli’s father Carlo hadn’t played the game, so it was Hunt – his mother Geraldine’s brother – who lured young Marcus into footy.

“I’ve got him to thank really,” Bontempelli says.

Hunt’s son Liam started at the Eltham Under 9s and two years later, they recruited cousin Marcus; with no great fanfare, other than that he was another relative of their Bendigo cousin and budding St Kilda star Nick Dal Santo.

“I didn‘t know what he was like,” Hunt recalls.

“All I knew was that he was a left-footer and I thought, ‘That‘s going to help because nobody can tackle left-footers in juniors’.”

Hunt’s main message to his team was about keeping their feet. They’d always finish training with a 10-minute practice match where they could only use their opposite foot.

Years on, Bulldogs fans can thank him for those attributes in Bontempelli, yet there were many tweaks to be made for what was, at best, a raw talent.

“He was a good player but his ball drop was horrendous. It was up here near his head,” Hunt says. “He’d always slice it.”

Uncle Jim was a hard taskmaster.

“I wanted the group to realise, ‘Shit, he’s even telling off the good players’,” he says, so Liam and Marcus often bore the brunt of any discipline the team needed.

“He really pumped up the other boys,” Bontempelli agrees.

“Liam and I had to play extra special to get any accolades from Jim. It trained an extra level of excellence.”

Lessons were heeded among that group. They won the Under 11s flag that first year, the start of five straight premierships for the Panthers.

But by no means was it the Bont show at that early age.

“He only won the one club best and fairest, he didn’t win any comp awards,” Hunt recalls.

“He was an OK runner but not a great runner. He just wanted to be part of the team and improve.”

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After winning that fifth flag, in the Under 15s, Hunt believed it was time to put the two cousins to the test by leapfrogging their 16s year and going straight into the 17s.

“I said, ‘If you want to get fair dinkum and give the Northern Knights (Under 18s) a go, let‘s do it now against stronger and bigger kids’.”

The club was against the move, thinking it a bad precedent to have younger players playing out of their age group. Weeks of meetings and arguments ensued before eventually permission was given.

They lost the grand final in Under 17s but the cousins excelled. Bontempelli was second in the best and fairest.

“I think it worked, that‘s when we knew he was up to it,” Hunt says.

But for others, the notion of Bontempelli becoming what he is today seemed unlikely.

“His first bottom-age year at the Knights in the Under 18s, he broke his collarbone and battled along,” Hunt says.

“Early in his final year, nobody would have been talking about him.”

But in the middle of his second Under 18s year, the noise started. A late growth spurt coincided with some confidence-boosting form.

“In 12 months, he went from 5’11 to 6’2, his body changed. Then he kicked five goals in Ballarat (in the Under 18s) and things really moved,” Hunt says.

“The awareness, the peripheral vision … he rarely got tackled. He knew what to do, where to go, and he got stronger. It just clicked.”

So much so that Bontempelli became the bolter in the 2013 AFL draft at pick four, part of a staggeringly talented era at Eltham.

AFL players David Zaharakis, Josh Caddy, Nick Vlastuin, Patrick Lipinski and Nick Coffield were all drafted out of the junior club within a decade.

*****

For Bontempelli, the rest is history.

Drought-breaking premiership player, AFL Players’ Association MVP, coaches’ player of the year, four-time All-Australian and three-time Bulldogs best and fairest winner.

That trophy cabinet looks likely to grow again in 2023 but Bontempelli is focused on team success for the remainder of his career.

“I was fortunate enough to win one early, but off the back of a (grand final) loss a few years ago, and when you consider the club’s history, it would be amazing to add another cup to the trophy cabinet,” he says.

“I know at game 200 this week, there’s less to go. You’re really trying to make the most of every game and take it in as much as you can.

Uncle Jim will be at Marvel Stadium on Saturday with Bontempelli’s parents doing just that, like they were every week at Central Park in Eltham in those early days.

The friendly competitiveness between the two is still there, too. A few months ago, it was lawn bowls at Bontempelli’s sister’s engagement party.

“If you see him at his press conference, he owes me five dollars,” Hunt quips of his win over Bont on the green.

He’ll pay up, too, because he has never forgotten his past. Bontempelli still drops footy boots off to Eltham Football Club for players to use.

“I reflect on my days back at Eltham fondly,” Bontempelli says.

“Everyone’s got a local junior footy club that supported them from day dot, they play an incredible role in getting players drafted. They’re special places.”

And will his old coach have any more advice after his 200th?

“I’ll probably say well done, but not enough tackles,” Hunt laughs.

The text messages will continue for many years yet.