An outstanding six weeks of football from the tall Western Bulldogs midfielder has pundits and insiders salivating about the heights to which he may have risen by the time it's over – if they haven't already been scaled.

On Tuesday, for the third time since round seven, he received the maximum 10 votes from his own coach, Luke Beveridge, and an opposition coach, this time Port Adelaide's Ken Hinkley, for his leading role in last Saturday's thrilling win over the Power.

Last week, AFL Legend Leigh Matthews said Bontempelli reminded him of former Carlton star Anthony Koutoufides. "Bontempelli's got something unique about him," Matthews said on 3AW. "There's a lot of things he can do above and beyond just being a really good midfielder."

Former Hawk now teammate Matt Suckling said Bontempelli reminded him of four-time premiership player Sam Mitchell.

"When I walked in just before Christmas, I remember sitting in a meeting and he just started talking and I was like, 'who is this guy? This sounds like Sam Mitchell who has played 250 games'," Suckling told SEN.

That maturity enabled Bontempelli to step into the breach as captain recently when Easton Wood, deputising for the injured Bob Murphy, was also unavailable. It's also enabled him to cope with three seasons of having his praises sung from every direction.

So you'd think the brilliant Bulldog might also take the following comparison in his stride, too. Namely, that his career is unfolding along similar lines to another tallish midfielder who has kicked on to bigger and better things – Fremantle star and last year's Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe.

That doesn't mean Bontempelli is about to win the game's highest individual honour. Not yet, anyway, though he is equal 13th in the betting at $34.

Fyfe had turned 24, was in his sixth AFL season and had played 110 games when he became the Dockers' first Brownlow winner last September. Bontempelli is only 20, in his third year and has played just 49 games. But the comparisons between the pair are becoming more obvious.

Both fit the fashionable prototype now of tall midfielders who are good overhead, Bontempelli 192 centimetres, Fyfe 190. Both started at senior level at the age of 18, both played their first games in round five of their respective rookie seasons, the Bulldog ending up with 16 games in his first year and Fyfe 18 in 2010 – the two extra games being Fremantle's two finals.

Both Fyfe and Bontempelli spent progressively less time up forward and more in the midfield over those first 50-odd games. And their key numbers over that time are, in most cases, very similar.

Shoulder surgery caused Fyfe to miss three months of his third season in 2012, meaning his 50th game didn't arrive until the Dockers' finals campaign that year. But it was on his return in round 18, his 44th senior appearance, that his numbers and impact on the game spiked significantly.

And wouldn't you know it, Bontempelli's latest form surge also began in his 44th career game, against Adelaide in round seven.

Until then, he was yet to reach the 30-disposal mark in any game. From that evening, he's done it four times and in a fifth game collected 29.

In keeping with Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge's yearning for both personnel and positional flexibility, Bontempelli has been one of about nine players who have this season spent enough time inside 50 to be classified as a midfielder/forward.

But the low-scoring loss to top-of-the-ladder North Melbourne in round six may have been a turning point.

That evening, the Bulldogs won the clearance and contested possession count and had 10 more inside-50s, yet were held to just six goals, converting goals from their 56 forward entries at the miserable rate of 10.7 per cent.

That may well have been the trigger for Beveridge to return arguably his smartest and most creative ball-user back to his rightful place. After returning to a predominantly midfield role, Bontempelli had a goal assist in each of his team's next two games as well as kicking a couple himself.

Significantly, the Dogs' percentage of goals per inside-50 has never been less than double that lowly 10 per cent ever since, despite numbers of entries remaining about the same. And Bontempelli's numbers have shot right up.

In the first six rounds he averaged 19 disposals. In the six since then, it's been 29. He has more than doubled his rate of contested ball, from an average 7.8 to 16.3, likewise clearances, up from 2.7 to 5.8

Little wonder the superlatives keep coming, or that the affable 20-year-old, already known universally as "The Bont", is such a fan favourite.

"He's just really composed, really mature, just loves his footy and just loves the Western Bulldogs," says Suckling. The feeling is certainly mutual. And if Bontempelli continues on the path of a peer like Nat Fyfe, it's a love affair that will grow a lot stronger yet.