Luke Beveridge piles on pressure with coaching future still up in the air

Luke Beveridge’s future remains up in the air, and the premiership coach has dialled up the pressure on the bosses at the club as the Bulldogs continue to fly on the field.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has heaped more pressure on club leaders to extend his contract by suggesting if his contract impasse drags on too long it will be a sign his tenure is over.

And Beveridge has made clear he is open to the prospect of salary cap relief after the Dogs had the AFL take over the management of No. 1 overall pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Beveridge is in career-best coaching form as youngsters Ryley Sanders, Joel Freijah and Sam Davidson combine with recent recruits James Harmes and Matt Kennedy who are adding toughness around the ball.

The Dogs annihilated Port Adelaide in Ballarat, with Collingwood premiership captain Tony Shaw urging the club to re-sign him now.

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Beveridge has the Dogs riding high. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It would take a significant departure for the club to act quickly given they are happy to wait until the back third of the season to consider a deal despite monthly meetings with Beveridge on his progress.

But Beveridge told ABC Radio a protracted delay would suggest his time was up.

“Yes I do (want to coach on) but I said a couple of weeks ago if you feel like you are outstaying your welcome you absolutely don’t want to stay in that place. So if the uncertainty prevails for long enough that will probably mean the club and I would have probably come to terms with what will happen beyond this year but I have enormous passion for it still,” he said.

“I enjoy it, I love the people, but if there is any uncertainty there are other things I can do.

And I probably have become that passionate about the Bulldogs and the club and the people in it that if ultimately either of us think that it’s time, then I just think I won’t in the immediate term be equipped to coach anywhere else.

“Who is to say in a year or two if we do part ways I don’t go and coach somewhere else but immediately I will definitely not be if I am not with the Dogs. That is my thought process.”

Ugle-Hagan has taken indefinite leave from the Dogs, with president Kyle Watson-Wheeler saying on Saturday if he did return to football she hopes it is eventually at Whitten Oval.

Asked about the prospect of salary cap relief, given the league had taken the decision out of their hands, Beveridge made clear it wasn’t the first time it had been raised.

Ugle-Hagan’s situation is unprecedented given players battling mental health or behavioural issues are often still playing but Ugle-Hagan barely trained with the club from as far back at last November’s pre-season start date.

Beveridge laughed and paused before choosing a more diplomatic answer than he might have given Ugle Hagan is on around $850,000 this season.

“Look, there are two schools of thought on all of that and it’s probably best I don’t go there because what I would say about that is even against the common train of thought,” he said.

“You can come at it from two angles. It’s either buyer beware or that you are stiff because it is what has happened but I will stay out of that one.”

Originally published as Luke Beveridge piles on pressure with coaching future still up in the air