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FIFA World Cup 2026 posterChampion Data: Dogs superstar becomes the first ever 'Diamond Club' member
Jaiden Sciberras • June 3rd, 2026 6:11 pm
Champion Data has officially anointed its first ever ‘Diamond Club’ player, recognising a one-of-a-kind statistical feat achieved over the course of one’s career.
The ‘Diamond Club’ accounts for five different categories, within which a player must stand out across their AFL journey.
Made up of carat, cut, colour, clarity and certification, one superstar Bulldog has now officially ticked off every necessary category to qualify for the club, becoming the first player in the history of the dataset to reach the lofty benchmark.
“I want to welcome in the first Champion Data Diamond player into the history of the organisation,” Champion Data's Daniel Hoyne told SEN Sportsday.
“The first Champion Data Diamond player is Marcus Bontempelli. The first player into this club.
“We always refer to the five Cs when it comes to the diamond. Carat, cut, colour, clarity and certification. The five Cs. So, let’s work our way through.
“This guy is a generational player, period. End of story.”
See the statistical categories below:
Carat
“The ‘carat’, or the weight – he has only played in two grand finals.
“His grand final in 2016 is the most underrated grand final in the history of Champion Data. Fifth best grand final we’ve got on record.
“His grand final in 2021 was phenomenal as well. He was the reason they were three goals in front halfway through the third quarter until Melbourne went crazy over the last 45 minutes.”
Cut
“He is cut from a different cloth, this guy.
“He has been in the system for 13 seasons. He has been a top 10 player in the comp in 11 of 13 seasons.
“He didn’t take time to get going into this comp. In year two, he was the third best player in the game, and the ratings copped it all those years ago! Copped it! ‘What a joke this rating system is!’.
“Ratings are a cheat sheet to what is to come. 11 of 13 – we will never see a player in the history of the game do that in their first 13 seasons. Never. Take it to the bank.”
Colour
“There are gold, silver and bronze. Gold player – if you are the number one player in the comp. Not top 10 – number one.
“Gary Ablett jnr was the number one rated player in the comp for five years. Bont has done in three years. Nat Fyfe has done it twice, and seven other players have done it one other time.”
Clarity
“He thinks ahead of time.
“You know those little taps, those little knock-ons? Everyone goes, ‘you don’t get a stat for that, it doesn’t go on the stat sheet’.
“My God it goes on the stat sheet! It’s called a contested knock on. The little taps. You’ve got to be pretty cluey about that.
“Bont has done the contested knock-on 245 times. The next most of any player in the comp in the history of the game is 140. Clarity – he is miles clear.”
Certification
“I’m going to be the one that’s going to certify him into the Champion Data Diamond Club.
“Watching that guy on the weekend… Think about the ratings. 20+ rating point is an out of the box game.
“He had 22 disposals on the weekend, and he had almost 27 rating points because the impact that this guy does is now getting appreciated.
“You don’t look at the stat sheet and just go to 30 disposals for Bont. His grand final in 2016, 22 disposals, rated exactly the same.
“I just wanted to appreciate and recognise what we are seeing, because so often I feel like you have to wait for a 200-game milestone, a 300-game milestone, a retirement to then get the recognition.
“To witness this in real time for hopefully the next four, five, six years, however long he’s got… it’s pretty special to watch and pretty special to appreciate the best player the game has seen since the Champion Data Diamond Club was established.”
