My Bulldog-watching journey started in the late 70s, but began in earnest around 1982.
For that reason, Kelvin Templeton is not in my top 10 given I just didn't see enough of him in the flesh.
And given the amount of quality players to filter through The Kennel in the past 44 years, he is not the only Brownlow Medallist to miss out my top 10.
Adam Cooney (still underrated), Brad Hardie (a magical 1985) and the legendary Tony Liberatore are other Brownlow winners to miss out.
Hardie's impact on the club was massive in just two years. Cooney and Liberatore (very underrated for his football ability) were desperately stiff to miss out.
Other special mentions go to Brian Royal (mid and forward dynamo), Stevie Wallis (rock hard), Ryan Griffen (silk), Matty Boyd (flag warrior), Bob Murphy (pure artistry), Brian Lake (was just as good at the Dogs), Daniel Cross (running machine), Rohan Smith (heart n soul half-back surger), Luke Darcy (won an AFLPA MVP) and Liam Picken (the GF performance was the cream).
Hello to some massive favourites not in that grouping: Steve MacPherson (toughness and skill), Stevie Kretiuk (scary hard) and Steve Kolyniuk (flair ahead of his time), Terry Wallace (dual best and fairest/head over ball), Lindsay Gilbee (just about best Dogs' kick I've seen), Jack Macrae (ball-winning machine/clutch prelim goal), Daniel Giansiracusa (versatile) and Ryan Hargrave (dependable cult figure).
Defenders often don't get enough love, and two are in my top 10.
Key forwards also deserve some extra credits and feature high up.
Here we go:
1Marcus Bontempelli
It just has to be Bont. The premiership, and his criminally underrated performance in the 2016 grand final win against Sydney, tips it in his favour. And to beat The Hawk was always going to take something special.
He doesn't have a Brownlow (that may change this year), but has done everything else - six club best and fairests, three AFL Players' Leigh Matthews trophies, seven All-Australian selections and captain since 2020.
Bont will walk straight into the AFL Hall of Fame when eligible and might even get Legend status by the end of it.
