Western Bulldogs facing almost impossible decision over Luke Beveridge’s contract; Jack Macrae, Caleb Daniel update
A fringe Western Bulldogs midfielder could follow Bailey Smith out of Whitten Oval, with rival clubs circling after his monstrous VFL campaign. Plus, will Luke Beveridge re-sign over summer?
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The Western Bulldogs are adamant contracted pair Jack Macrae and Caleb Daniel will be at the club next year as its hierarchy faces an almost impossible decision over recontracting coach Luke Beveridge over the summer.
The Dogs squandered a fantastic chance to cash in on their elite list but were instead smashed by Hawthorn in Friday night’s elimination final.
Beveridge is contracted for 2025 and while the Dogs have made finals in seven of 10 seasons under his watch they have lost five elimination finals across that period.
The two seasons in which they have won finals they have progressed through to a Grand Final and won the 2016 premiership, with Beveridge also boasting 11 and 12-win seasons across that time that fell short of September.
But the Dogs have never finished top four across his career at the Dogs.
Beveridge strongly denied the club had not maximised captain Marcus Bontempelli’s impact as he struggled in the second and third quarters.
Champion Data stats show he played 100 per cent midfield in the second quarter (with six centre bounce attendances) then in the third quarter played forward for 55 per cent of game time with only three centre bounce attendances.
Midfielder Bailey Smith is expected to move to Geelong, although the Cats preliminary finals charge means their first-round pick will now be no worse than 15 and drift back to nearer 20 after father son and NGA bids.
Macrae is contracted to 2027, had a delayed start to the year after hamstring issues and while he ended up playing 19 games he was the starting sub against Hawthorn.
Contracted to 2026, Daniel played 16 games but also eight VFL games but had his best month of the season in his customary role at half back in the final four games.
Dogs football boss Matt Egan told Fox Footy as part of the Friday telecast there was no reason the pair would be elsewhere next year.
After a score review, Marcus Bontempelli gets his first for the evening!@cryptocom | #AFLDogsDeespic.twitter.com/vRRFi7D3wN
— AFL (@AFL) August 2, 2024
“They both ended up playing a fair chunk of the season and contributed a lot. Jack is one of our great leaders and he’s a star. Caleb’s last few weeks have been outstanding. He had to work through the challenges of being the sub and going back to the VFL and getting tagged. No one has remained more positive with their contributions. They are loved by Bevo and they have had hard conversations this year but they are both playing right at the pointy end of the season.”
Bulldogs midfielder Riley Garcia fell out of favour and will have trade interest elsewhere after playing 10 VFL games, but Rory Lobb is expected to remain after finding his position as a key back.
Adam Treloar is keen to sign a new deal past 2025 while Marcus Bontempelli, Ed Richards and Sam Darcy are all contracted until the end of next year.
Riley Garcia had 33 disposals, 17 TACKLES, 10 clearances and 2 goals in the VFL on Sunday 😮â€ðŸ’¨ pic.twitter.com/gt9EFTLT6v
— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs) July 16, 2024
Richards is keen to sign a new deal over summer, but the club will have to assess whether Beveridge gets an early extension.
The club’s December 2022 contract extension for Beveridge meant when the club hit turbulent waters early this year it was able to sail through them given their backing for Beveridge.
But the Dogs having been beaten in their only two elimination finals since the 2021 Grand Final run fans might consider it hasty to extend him again after this year’s finals defeat.
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