Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has backed his side to bounce back strongly in 2026, despite the frustration of missing finals this year.
The Dogs finished ninth with 14 wins and the third-best percentage in the competition, but slipped out of the eight after falling to Fremantle in a virtual elimination clash on the final day of the home-and-away season.
For Bontempelli, the narrow miss was proof the group is close rather than miles away. “It’s easy to let the weight and the enormity of not playing finals have you feel like a lot of things need to be fixed and changed, and I just don’t believe that,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“I believe in this group and I think it’s a young and talented group … I just think there’s a couple of small but key aspects that if we can improve, that makes us a much more dangerous and consistent team.”
Defensive tweaks and injury luck the key
The Bulldogs were hurt by inconsistency in defence and injuries to stars Adam Treloar and Cody Weightman, while off-field struggles saw Jamarra Ugle-Hagan miss the entire season. Bontempelli admitted the Dogs needed to tighten up their defensive discipline and manage opposition momentum swings better, but stressed that one player alone wouldn’t solve the issue.
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“I don’t necessarily think one player is going to come in and plug a hole … it’s got to be between personnel and systematic,” he said. “And I reckon a bit of it is on-field leadership.”
While Treloar will attempt to prove his fitness in the VFL finals as he pushes for a new contract, Bontempelli’s focus is on setting the tone for another tilt at September.
“We want to consistently be one of those teams winning 15 games and locking yourself in for September action,” he said. “My confidence is that between our coaches and list management, they’ll put in a lot of time and effort in improving that from one year to the next.”