Coach Football department changes going forward

[Charlie Bucket]

Bevo to be offered a new contract soon...

Cue the melts

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Has Beveridge been running the review himself?

I too have concerns about whether he is the right man, but if the club has indeed done a big review including interviewing players/staff/coaches etc and the outcome of all of that is a resounding, "He deserves a new contract and there are other things that need to change"... then that is surely more evidence that he's not the problem than we, as fans, have that he is?

There are so many reasons why we may have struggled last season - some confirmed, some unknown - and those inside the club are much better placed to make that decision than we are.

It's not realistic to take a "wait and see" approach in the current climate. If you were in Bev's shoes and your club told you to "wait and see" as a premiership coach, you would explore going elsewhere straight away and there would certainly be interested parties. The review was and is absolutely crucial before offering him another contract - but if there is agreement that that is the right move across the club, of course he should get one.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

Very happy to see Bevo extended. He's a proven performer, with some flaws, but it looks like the club has acknowledged that he needs more support and you'd expect some further changes out of the review that many have been calling for. Not to mention the available alternatives if he did leave at the end of next year.

I like it too. Releases some pressure not just on him but also the playing group.

He’s still in the top rung of coaches in the league, and head and shoulders above most. And if he can blow off some steam away from the industry a couple of times a year, I reckon he’ll have quiet a few years left.

 

[Freshwater]

Could be a good thing? But the club shouldn’t set him up to fail. A strong, wise footy manager is a must. Good to great assistant coaches also very important. All these need to be able to comfortably challenge him and take the load off him too.

 

[dergert]

Richmond backed in Hardwick after their big review before their flags.

 

[Angak]

I too have concerns about whether he is the right man, but if the club has indeed done a big review including interviewing players/staff/coaches etc and the outcome of all of that is a resounding, "He deserves a new contract and there are other things that need to change"... then that is surely more evidence that he's not the problem than we, as fans, have that he is?

There are so many reasons why we may have struggled last season - some confirmed, some unknown - and those inside the club are much better placed to make that decision than we are.

It's not realistic to take a "wait and see" approach in the current climate. If you were in Bev's shoes and your club told you to "wait and see" as a premiership coach, you would explore going elsewhere straight away and there would certainly be interested parties. The review was and is absolutely crucial before offering him another contract - but if there is agreement that that is the right move across the club, of course he should get one.

I think there is a loud minority of fans who think Bevo is part of problem.

He is still on of best coaches in the game. This is a good decision.

 

[doggies ftw]

I have no problem with extending Bevo should he warrant it - currently results don’t warrant an extension just yet, why jump the gun?

There’s no question he’s a good coach but does that mean he’s the best coach to take us forward? These things can be mutually exclusive - he may have run his race with this group. This year leans to that being the case - if he turns it around next year sure resign him but don’t do it now ffs, there’s no need. We NEED results first

 

[Oliver G]

As much as I think Nathan Burke would be a good fit when asked about coaching in the men's competition in the Disney+ AFLW show Fearless he said...

"Absolutely not, I have no intention at all, If you offer me a job, I’d say no."

Hopefully though we do at least ask as anyone who’s watched his pressers or from what I’ve heard from a couple of players is that he is the type of person you’d want around, especially in a development role.

 

[doggies ftw]

Can someone pls post article

 

[Martyn_30_]

I think there is a loud minority of fans who think Bevo is part of problem.

He is still on of best coaches in the game. This is a good decision.

It’s very hard to know how good he is when no one else has had a chance with the list, Bont’s had one season with another coach. If he can’t take this list to at least a prelim this year I’m not sure how you could call him a good coach. His coaching last season was awful but he’s shown in the past he can turn things back around.


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[Charlie Bucket]

Richmond backed in Hardwick after their big review before their flags.

Dimma’s first 6 years aren’t comparable to Bevo’s. Apples and Oranges.

Much easier decision for our club.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

I think there is a loud minority of fans who think Bevo is part of problem.

He is still on of best coaches in the game. This is a good decision.

I would have thought the vast majority of fans think that Bevo is part of the problem. As head coach, how can he not be?

 

[TiAn_]

Way I see it, he deserves to see what he can do for the next 2-3 years with Lobb and Jones giving him a full spine and proper backup ruck. But if over that period he remains an opaque grump that can’t get a decent list performing consistently or displaying some fortitude in finals, then he can hand back the keys after that.

 

[Maverick Dog]

If an external review proposed a contract extension I would support it. Seeing it is likely Bevo’s boys club have carried out the review I have very little confidence. The closeness of Bains, Bevo, Grant and Darcy would cloud an independent thought process.

 

[TheBont]

I hate this. Can’t they just wait until half way through the season?

Ask the members what they want ffs.

Every new season we expect him to stop making the same errors in his judgement and every new season he doesn’t.

 

[Cudi]

Can someone pls post article

Luke Beveridge and the Western Bulldogs will resume talks on a contract extension when the coach returns from leave next week.
Beveridge, 52, will be in charge in 2023 – his ninth season at the helm at the Bulldogs – but both Beveridge and the club are keen to extend the partnership beyond that.

Club insiders say talks before Beveridge went on leave were positive.

The Bulldogs believe Beveridge is a strong leader and is highly respected, and they also believe Beveridge is committed to continuing at the Dogs.

Football boss Chris Grant and chief executive Ameet Bains will make the recommendation to the board to extend the premiership coach.

A timeline is not in place, but it’s possible, because of the strong interest from both sides, that a deal could be announced over the summer break.

It’s not known if a one-year or two-year offer is in the pipeline.

What is known is the Bulldogs are finalising a three-year strategic plan, which will be announced next year, which will detail everything the club is trying to achieve, which includes both the men’s and women’s football programs

The Whitten Oval precinct is being rebuilt and is expected to be completed in early 2025.

The Beveridge signature would be a significant addition to the strategic plan.

The football program has already changed with the signing of senior assistant coach Brendon Lade, who had previously worked at Richmond, Port Adelaide and St Kilda.

The Bulldogs believe his experience will be highly valuable in the coaching program.

The Lade appointment in late September came when the club had a three-week post-season review of all football matters.

Although the Dogs made the finals, it was a disappointing season for them, and their inconsistency was on show in the elimination final when Fremantle obliterated them in the second half.

If Beveridge is not re-signed before the season starts in March, he will join Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley and Brisbane’s Chris Fagan as the coaches not contracted beyond the 2023 season.

However, the Lions have begun talks on a new deal with Fagan.

 

[Woof]

The most successful coach in our history is our current coach. He coached us in a grand final 23 games ago. There are no better alternatives now and it’s impossible to imagine there would be at any stage during 2023. He is not perfect and I hope meaningful changes are made over summer. Re-signing him is one of the all time no-brainers, just behind re-signing Bont and Naughty.

 

[gordo2016]

If an external review proposed a contract extension I would support it. Seeing it is likely Bevo’s boys club have carried out the review I have very little confidence. The closeness of Bains, Bevo, Grant and Darcy would cloud an independent thought process.

You're selling Bains, Grant and Darcy a bit short. They have got to where they are for a reason and it doesn't really make a lot of sense that leaders like them would let friendships dictate their decisions, over what they thought was best for the club.

 

[doggies ftw]

Luke Beveridge and the Western Bulldogs will resume talks on a contract extension when the coach returns from leave next week.
Beveridge, 52, will be in charge in 2023 – his ninth season at the helm at the Bulldogs – but both Beveridge and the club are keen to extend the partnership beyond that.

Club insiders say talks before Beveridge went on leave were positive.

The Bulldogs believe Beveridge is a strong leader and is highly respected, and they also believe Beveridge is committed to continuing at the Dogs.

Football boss Chris Grant and chief executive Ameet Bains will make the recommendation to the board to extend the premiership coach.

A timeline is not in place, but it’s possible, because of the strong interest from both sides, that a deal could be announced over the summer break.

It’s not known if a one-year or two-year offer is in the pipeline.

What is known is the Bulldogs are finalising a three-year strategic plan, which will be announced next year, which will detail everything the club is trying to achieve, which includes both the men’s and women’s football programs

The Whitten Oval precinct is being rebuilt and is expected to be completed in early 2025.

The Beveridge signature would be a significant addition to the strategic plan.

The football program has already changed with the signing of senior assistant coach Brendon Lade, who had previously worked at Richmond, Port Adelaide and St Kilda.

The Bulldogs believe his experience will be highly valuable in the coaching program.

The Lade appointment in late September came when the club had a three-week post-season review of all football matters.

Although the Dogs made the finals, it was a disappointing season for them, and their inconsistency was on show in the elimination final when Fremantle obliterated them in the second half.

If Beveridge is not re-signed before the season starts in March, he will join Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley and Brisbane’s Chris Fagan as the coaches not contracted beyond the 2023 season.

However, the Lions have begun talks on a new deal with Fagan.

Thanks mate - concerning that it’s Grant & Bains pushing it when it’s Grants administration of the football department that should also be under question.

Agree with the above sentiment that an external review calling for it would have a lot more merit than the boys looking after the boys, I mean if Grant was to call for the opposite that would really be proclaiming a failure of his own doing…

We’ll never know but if as multiple posters have alluded too if we’re really being turned down by multiple people we’ve headhunted then questions need to be asked of the people running the football department. Coaches should be falling over themselves to be apart of this list - and if rumours are to be believed that no one wants to work here then why is that? We don’t pay enough due to focusing on other areas of the support staff? Bevos hard to work with? I mean we have one disgruntled ex-employee whose pretty much claimed that publicly so it’s not that far fetched tbh and it doesn’t matter how brilliant Bevo can be if he’s difficult to work with he’s failing at his job.

I’d be okay with a 1 year deal but that seems unlikely. Especially considering we’re supposedly unveiling a 3 year plan… why don’t we unveil said plan and then see if we make strides to execute it and if not move on? Extending Bevo on a multi year contract now just enforces the fact that he has too much power and control considering our performances his position shouldn’t be unquestionable.

I agree with the sentiment that it’ll be good to see how he goes with a proper spine (although we could have had that previously but he’s refused to select a team that way at times) but at the same time we don’t have 3 years to waste when half that spine will be gone and a lot of our best players will be coming to the end

Anyway seems like there’s no doubts about which way this goes so I guess all we can do is back us in and hope for the best

 

[The Inbetweener]

Heard another disappointing story regarding Grant recently. A few from the footy dept who had offers elsewhere tried contacting him to talk it through and see what opportunities there was to stay… he wouldn’t even return their calls.

We really need an experienced head of footy. Would he have gotten this gig if it was at any other club other than the one he played for?

 

[Unorth]

I think there's always been a consensus, or at least close to it, that the best outcome would be to fix everything around Bev and take back some of the power we gave him that in hindsight we shouldn't have.

We thought Lade was the start of getting to that point but it's stagnated.

I'm not surprised the decision is being made now though, if we tell him that we want to see how the season plays out, he just takes an offer from a number of clubs that would give him immediate long term security.

I guess if it's a 2 year deal, if things go south, which I think is a real possibility (especially with some of the info provided here lately about our state of affairs) we just bite the bullet and pay him out. Pessimistic, but 2022 was just that bad in so many ways, and we just lost a number of long-time Bulldogs, with a couple of glaring holes remaining. Lobb and Jones are win now moves, see what Bev can do next year, but if we don't go top 4 + prelim appearance then surely that has to be the end of the road. I don't mind signing him up for the security, I really just question if Grant has the ability to pull the pin if we remain a debacle next year though.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

I don’t know why there’s such reluctance to put contract talks on hold. Bevo is underachieving since working a miracle in 2016. We have given him more than the benefit of the doubt since then and he has largely failed to deliver. If we are in the top 4 or thereabouts after 8 games then we can offer the contract. If not then we hold off. He’d be mad to leave for anything other than a head coaching position. Who else is going to offer him that after 8 games? If someone does then fine. We can’t say we haven’t backed Bevo and given him a fair crack.

My biggest worry lately is not the glaring issues with the tactics but with the man himself. He is such a prickly weirdo these days it’s hard to get a look at his true self. I don’t know if the players see it. The times he’s filmed addressing the them it’s nothing but anecdotes derailed by dead ended tangents. He really scares me. I think he’s lost the plot.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Burke was coaxed back into the AFL system because of the AFLW isn't a year-round full-time, and that his daughter is a current Saints player and he wants to contribute to the system.

Plus, it's a little bit demeaning to suggest that it's an upgrade to be a men's development coach or whatever.

 

[dogwatch]

The most successful coach in our history is our current coach. He coached us in a grand final 23 games ago. There are no better alternatives now and it’s impossible to imagine there would be at any stage during 2023. He is not perfect and I hope meaningful changes are made over summer. Re-signing him is one of the all time no-brainers, just behind re-signing Bont and Naughty.

Not having a go at you Woof but I think we need to dispense with the line that he is "the most successful coach in our history". While there's a decent case to be made (but could certainly be debated due to the list quality available to each coach) it makes it sound like he is better than anybody we've had going back 140 years and that he's untouchable. It's getting in the way of objective and constructive discussions about his current merits and shortcomings.

Apart from the fact that most arguments ignore our 9 flags in 27 years in the VFA (then a strong competition) there can simply be NO comparison between Footscray/WB after Fightback and whatever existed before.

The reasons are fairly obvious so I won't go into them in detail but they include the fact that we were run by a bunch of well-meaning amateurs for many decades (but who nevertheless managed to bankrupt the club of funds and footballing talent) and the fact that most of the current equalisation measures came into effect in the late 80s and early 90s, in particular the salary cap and the draft giving smaller clubs opportunities to succeed that they never had before. Also prior to 1972 finals was only played by the top 4. From 1972 to 1990 it was a top 5 and since 1994 it has been a top 8 so the proportion of teams making the finals and getting the double chance has increased significantly, even with the expanded competition. Combine that with the almost guaranteed promise of survival through AFL distribution of broadcast revenues and it rapidly becomes obvious that any club or coaching performance comparisons going back beyond 1990 are pretty meaningless.

So out of Wheeler, Joyce, Wallace, Rohde, Eade, McCartney and Beveridge I would probably put Beveridge just in front but he's not the messiah. Winning us a flag made him a legend but six seasons have passed since then and we have won finals in only one of those subsequent seasons.

FWIW, here's a table of coaches and their success rates since 1990. Of those I'd say Beveridge has had the best list consistently available to him, just ahead of Wallace and then Eade. (Wheeler deserves more credit than he has ever received IMO but that's a separate discussion.)


Another observation is that Beveridge ranks ninth of current AFL coaches (minimum one season) in terms of overall winning percentage. Those ahead of him are (in order) C.Scott, McRae, Longmire, Clarkson, Hinkley, Goodwin, Simpson, Hardwick. He's definitely up there close to the better ones but overall is ranked about middle of the current pack.

So we're better off having the coach/assistant coach discussions in terms of what's been going right and wrong for the last 2 seasons (especially 2022), not the last 8.

I'm OK with re-signing him if there's been a proper and objective review that recommends it but it mustn't be unconditional. As you say, some changes need to be made.

We need to be ruthlessly focussed on a top four finish. What happened in 2016 is now in the annals of past glories. The satisfaction of it mustn't cloud our decisions about what's best for us in 2023 and beyond. Right now my biggest concern is our inability to sustain a solid competitive effort for four quarters in big matches. Not once or twice but many times since we ran out for the 2021 GF.

 

[dogwatch]

Burke was coaxed back into the AFL system because of the AFLW isn't a year-round full-time, and that his daughter is a current Saints player and he wants to contribute to the system.

Plus, it's a little bit demeaning to suggest that it's an upgrade to be a men's development coach or whatever.

No I think it's a fair call. My guess is the development coach at just about any AFL (M) club would be on a much bigger salary than Burke's. (Happy to be corrected if anyone can produce numbers to the contrary).
Money talks. If that's where the money goes that's where the upgrade is.

I'm all for growing AFLW but in terms of revenues/salaries/commensurate coaching skills etc it's like comparing Woolworths with the corner store at the moment.