Tom Liberatore is often described as the heart and soul of the Western Bulldogs. 

Throughout 2020, it was again easy to see why.

The 28-year-old was acknowledged for his impact throughout 2020 on multiple fronts, as the Western Bulldogs wrapped up their campaign on the Gold Coast with the Charles Sutton Medal awards night.

Liberatore’s sensational on-field resurgence – after missing the first two weeks of the season – saw him storm home to finish third in the best and fairest, winning the Gary Dempsey Award.

His teammates voted him in as the John Van Groningen Domestique Award winner – for the player who puts team above all else on the field. The coaches recognised his impact with the Brad Johnson Best Team Player award.

“It’s humbling to be recognised for that behaviour,” Liberatore said of the acknowledgement from his peers and coaches.

“It’s something I pride myself on, it’s part of my game that I think is valuable.

“I’m grateful to be playing consistent footy and proud to have put a good year of footy together. I’d say this was one of my more positive years.”

“This year did suit me in the end.

“There were tough periods with shorter breaks here and there and trying to back up on harder surfaces in warmer climates, but on the flipside with being constantly in the hub, there was a lot of attention to detail with recovery and maximising my output by maintaining training loads.”

The ultimate team man that he is, Liberatore was more eager to praise his fellow award winners than talk about himself.

He was rapt for first-time Charles Sutton Medallist, Caleb Daniel.

“To see Caleb recognised is awesome,” Liberatore said.

“He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with. He’s extremely diligent, he’s professional, he’s selfless. He works hard up and back – every action he makes on the field is for the team and you can see that. His ball use is incredible.

“It’s great to see him earn the rewards and be acknowledged internally. You can see collectively how much people love that, he’s extremely adored and his influence on the club has gone to another level.”

Liberatore said Marcus Bontempelli had made a huge impact, as a first-year skipper and on-field to win the Doug Hawkins Medal.

“His output on the field is unbelievable. His ability to break games open, to be able to change things on the run, to be able to see gaps and take them or structurally alter things as a leader is incredible,” Liberatore said.

“We shouldn’t downplay the fact he’s a three-time All Australian in his seventh year. There’s no shying away from the fact he’s an out-and-out Hall of Famer in the future, but the thing he added this year was his leadership as captain.

“He’s not even 25 yet and his first year as captain was in these circumstances. His patience, his ability to deal with situations on and off the field and his care for his teammates has been astonishing. He’s added that strength to him as a player and as a leader – it was already there, but he’s gone up another level again.”