To celebrate our Retro Round on Saturday 6 August, we asked fans to select the best Bulldogs team of the last 25 years. Over the next week, we’ll reveal the fan-voted team line-by-line.
Scott West
Scott West was a tough midfielder who played 324 games in the red, white and blue. Renowned for his physicality, work-rate and courage, West made his debut in the opening round of the 1993 season, and over the next 16 years would establish himself as one of the Dogs’ greatest ever players. He won a Club-record seven Charles Sutton Medals, earned five All Australian blazers in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and finished runner-up in the 2000 and 2006 Brownlow Medal counts. Five years after retiring, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2013. Son Rhylee is currently on the Bulldogs’ list.
Marcus Bontempelli
Current captain Marcus Bontempelli needs no introduction. A four-time All Australian and four-time Charles Sutton Medallist, the 26-year-old continues to establish himself as one of the competition’s premier midfielders. Taken with pick number four in the 2013 National Draft, Bontempelli made his AFL debut in Round 5, 2014. The former Northern Knight is proficient around the contest, has a damaging left foot and possesses the ability to hit the scoreboard. He was also a key member of the Club’s 2016 drought-breaking premiership. Bontempelli enjoyed a career-best year last season, claiming the AFLPA MVP Trophy and Best Captain award, being named vice-captain of the All Australian side and finishing runner-up in the Brownlow Medal count. This season, he is averaging 23 disposals, five marks and five clearances.
Jack Macrae
A prolific and ultra-consistent ball-winner, Jack Macrae is firmly entrenched as one of the Bulldogs’ midfield prime movers. Arriving at the Club as a creative outside-midfielder via pick number six in the 2012 National Draft, Macrae has since honed his craft as a contested ball-winner. The 2016 premiership player nabbed his third-straight All Australian blazer in 2021, and claimed the Gary Ayres Medal as the best player during the finals series. He also enjoyed the second-longest 30-disposals or more streak (15 games). The sublime midfielder was elevated to vice-captain for the 2022 season, and is currently averaging 31 touches, four marks, and seven clearances.
Western Bulldogs Retro Round Dream Team
FB: Lindsay Gilbee, Brian Lake, Easton Wood
HB: Bob Murphy, Dale Morris, Rohan Smith
C: Scott West, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae
HF: To be revealed
FF: To be revealed
Foll: To be revealed
Int: To be revealed
Captain: To be revealed
Vice-captain: To be revealed
