Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is in arguably the form of his career in the last year of his contract. Photo: AFL MEDIA
The Western Bulldogs hierarchy might want to rethink their approach to handling coach Luke Beveridge’s future beyond this season.
And they may want to do so pretty quickly.
Both coach and the club have been quite public and open about being comfortable with Beveridge coaching the final year of his contract this season without the need for him to be re-signed anytime soon.
There’s no rush, it would seem.
Well, from the club’s point of view, if Beveridge continues orchestrating results such as the one he produced on the weekend against GWS, then it might want to get a move on and lock down the 2016 premiership coach as soon as possible.
So often we hear footy pundits and supporters alike bemoan instances when clubs extend their senior coach’s contract for another two or three years. Such re-signings are often met with cries of: “What’s the rush?”, and, “Who was knocking the door down to poach [insert name here]?”
However, Beveridge is the exception to the rule, which is fitting given he is a man who very much dances to the beat of his own drum in many respects.
There would be multiple clubs that would be willing to entertain the idea of extracting Beveridge out of Whitten Oval and install him as their new main man, which, by default, means the clock might have already begun ticking for the Dogs – assuming they want to extend his 11-year tenure.
Flags are hard to win and premiership coaches don’t grow on trees. In fact, there are only seven such coaches active in the AFL, of which Beveridge is one.
Just like any good out-of-contract player in his final year of his deal, the 2016 premiership coach has been in arguably career-best form to start 2025.
Battling a horrific injury crisis, which has seen key players Marcus Bontempelli (calf), Adam Treloar (calf), Cody Weightman (knee), Liam Jones (hamstring) and Jason Johannisen (hamstring) already miss sizeable chunks of the season, and more recently Sam Darcy (knee) ruled out for a lengthy period, the Bulldogs have emerged from Round 7 with a 4-3 record.
And that’s without even touching on the ongoing unavailability of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
They were severely undermanned in their gutsy wins over North Melbourne and Carlton, and absolutely obliterated St Kilda in Round 6 in Bontempelli’s return match.
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
The Dogs were far from disgraced in their losses against Collingwood, Fremantle and Brisbane too, finding themselves in positions to win each of those games at various times.
But Beveridge saved his best for this past weekend as he took his men up to enemy territory in Canberra and comprehensively defeat premiership contender GWS on a ground where it had won its previous four matches.
An out-of-the-box third quarter from the Bulldogs completely overpowered the Giants as the visitors kept GWS to a solitary behind while helping themselves to five goals.
And it was all set up in the middle of the ground as the Dogs, led by Bontempelli, Ed Richards, Joel Freijah, Matthew Kennedy, Tim English and Tom Liberatore, smashed GWS in clearances 55-33 and forward entries 60-45.
Making the performance even more impressive was Beveridge’s bold team selection on Thursday night and positional moves during the game.
Now, Beveridge has made a reputation for being daring at the selection table, so there’s no surprises in that regard, and at times he has been justifiably criticised for this by media and Bulldogs supporters alike.
But to drop their main key defender Liam Jones against a GWS forward line featuring Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan, as well as other tall threats Jake Riccardi and Aaron Cadman, is ballsy, even by Beveridge’s standards.
And the Bulldogs coach then had the audacity to play forward-cum-defender Rory Lobb back in attack during the game, leaving his backline even more exposed against the Giants’ tall timber.
But the Dogs won easily in the end by a cruisey 32-point margin, to not only stamp themselves as a finals contender again this year, but also as a team that could press for the top four, or even higher honours.
Perhaps coaching with no certainty beyond the horizon has provided Beveridge with a rare kind of freedom that coaches rarely experience, and as a result it has allowed him to kick off the new campaign with a bang.
However, it’s also true that Beveridge is not only one of the best coaches in the AFL at present, but he is also the greatest coach in the Bulldogs’ history, and those facts are undoubtedly also playing their part in the Dogs’ super start to the season.
And if the Bulldogs top brass are liking what they’re seeing, and want to see more of it beyond 2025, then securing Beveridge’s services for the foreseeable future sooner rather than later wouldn’t be the worst step to take.
