Greater Western Sydney's defenders will share the burden that is manning up on Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli on Friday night.
Bontempelli has been repeatedly thrown forward during the past month of the AFL season, often at clutch moments when Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is looking for a spark.
The midfielder, who was the Bulldogs' best and fairest during their premiership success in 2016, has generally delivered.
In last week's win over Brisbane, Bontempelli dobbed two goals in the final quarter as the Bulldogs survived a major scare.
GWS veteran Heath Shaw fully expects the 21-year-old will drift forward at some point in the crunch clash at Etihad Stadium.
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"Hopefully I don't have to put my hand up to go on him," Shaw said.
"We'll have a few guys who can roll through him. We've got a couple of mid-sized defenders and even our talls, he (Bontempelli) is pretty big.
"It's just something you have to adjust to. You have to talk with your midfielders, know when he's settling down there."
Mobile big men Adam Tomlinson and Nick Haynes loom as potential match-ups for Bontempelli, depending on what the structure of the Bulldogs' forward line is.
The Giants will start favourites but Shaw is wary of the Bulldogs, who have banked four wins on the trot after their premiership defence appeared in tatters.
"You can only go on their last couple of weeks and they look like they're back to their ferocious best," he said.
"We can only go on that sort of form. Hope they don't bring that on Friday but we know they will."
