Fremantle’s planning towards Marcus Bontempelli has been slammed after the Western Bulldogs superstar produced another masterclass against the Dockers on the weekend.
Bontempelli continued his dominant form against Justin Longmuir’s side, racking up 30 disposals, 15 score involvements and three goals including a Goal of the Year contender in a best-on-ground performance in the Dogs’ 67-point win.
And dual premiership Kangaroo David King had questioned whether the Dockers cost themselves with their planning by not putting more attention into the superstar midfielder.
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Hayden Young appeared to follow Bontempelli at times, but the Dockers opted not to deploy a traditional tag — a tactic very much back in vogue in 2024 — in a move King believes backfired badly.
“What was your plan? ‘Don’t get beaten by what you know’ is the old coaching mantra,” King said on Fox Footy’s The First Crack.
“I question if this game was lost on Wednesday at match committee. You can’t be losing games not coming in with a plan against Marcus Bontempelli.
“I’m looking saying: ‘Who’s going to tag him? Who’s going to stand next to ‘Bont’?’ ‘Bont’ would be thinking: ‘How good is this? I’ve got no one coming to me at stoppage’.
“And you wonder why he has 30 disposals, 15 score involvements, seven clearances and kicks three goals and destroys you for the fifth time in seven matches.
“This is another three voter — he has three Brownlow votes in five of the last seven matches. That is just ridiculous. What’s your planning? Is it to negate Bontempelli’s influence?”
King showed vision where no Dockers were manning Bontempelli at a stoppage and another clip where he was afforded sufficient space in open play by direct opponent Nathan Fyfe.
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“Look at this, just jog thorough the middle of the ground if you like. There’s his opponent, Nathan Fyfe, (there’s) a conversation to be had there: ‘If you can’t do it, we need to find someone who can’,” King said.
“This guy is a top-liner in our competition and was allowed to play at full tilt for 120 minutes. That’s unacceptable.”
The Kangaroos great thinks it’s ultimately a loss that could hurt the Dockers in their bid to play finals, falling to eighth on the ladder and just half a game ahead of several clubs — including the Bulldogs — looking to climb into the eight.
“If I’m the Fremantle senior management, I’m saying: ‘What’s going on here? This is a must-win game for us. We’re just gong to have the same finish to the season as the last couple of years?’,” King added.
“This guy (Bontempelli) is a freak player — have a plan, have something ready to fall back on.
“I understand you want to trust your players to win the game for you … taggers are the new black in the game and I just thought Fremantle really did themselves a disservice with their planning.
“I know it’s an unpopular thing to say, but you can’t be losing games on Wednesday. You just can’t.”