Bulldogs great Doug Hawkins says making Marcus Bontempelli captain will take his game to new level

BULLDOGS great Doug Hawkins has urged the club to be bold in appointing its next captain, and had his say on whether a couple of premiership stars should be traded.

Marcus Bontempelli kicks at goal. Pic: Michael Klein

BULLDOGS great Doug Hawkins has urged the club to be bold and aggressive in appointing Marcus Bontempelli as the long-term captaincy successor to Bob Murphy.

Bontempelli, who turns 22 in November, and 2016 premiership skipper Easton Wood are the two main contenders for the position, but Hawkins said the Bulldogs had the chance to lock in their skipper for the long haul.

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Marcus Bontempelli is in the running to lead the Bulldogs. Picture: Getty Images

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Hawkins disagreed with Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney’s suggestion it would be beneficial for Bontempelli to wait two or three seasons before assuming the mantle, saying he would be up for the challenge.

“I’m not saying he is Wayne Carey (who captained North Melbourne at 21), but he (Bontempelli) could definitely handle it,” Hawkins said.

“Easton Wood would do fine, we’ve seen that already. But it would be a patch-up job for 12 months or two years, and then ‘Bont’ would take over, so why not just do it now.”

Hawkins, who played 329 games with the club as well as captaining the Bulldogs for four seasons, said the star midfielder had dealt with every challenge thrown at him so far.

“I would give it to him 100 per cent,” he said. “He could do it for years.”

“I think the kid can handle the extra responsibility without a problem. He has handled tags and had blokes into him, so the captaincy wouldn’t worry him.

“I think it would take his game to another level.”

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Hawkins said Tom Liberatore and Jake Stringer, who had poor seasons, should be excluded from any trade discussions, saying if both can have big pre-seasons they can quickly get back to their best.

“I wouldn’t get rid of either of them,” he said. “Libba looked like he lost the hunger and seemed to be going up and down on the one spot, but he can turn that around,” Hawkins said.

“What young Libba and Stringer need is to come back and have the best pre-season they’ve ever had. They need, and the club needs them.”