Luke Beveridge speaks to media after undergoing surgery for whiteboard punch broken hand

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has addressed the media for the first time after undergoing surgery for a broken hand. And he says the punch was just an unlucky angle.

MELBOURNE - July 7 : AFL. Luke Beveridge , Senior Coach of the Bulldogs at 3\\4 time during the round 17 AFL match between Western Bulldogs and Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on July 7, 2023. Photo by Michael Klein.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has opened up on the whiteboard punch that landed him in surgery, declaring it was “definitely not” an act of aggression.

Beveridge struck a whiteboard at half-time of his team’s loss to Sydney last Thursday night and said he was “a bit unlucky with the angle” of the punch to affirm a point, breaking his left hand which swelled up throughout the remainder of the game.

He had surgery earlier this week and maintained he is “totally in control” of his emotions.

“I love and care for our group so much that the emotion around the motivation … we all need to be self-starters, but sometimes you need the coach to be a little bit animated,” he said.

“It was just purely an accident, more than anything. If you’re worried about me emotionally, no need. I’m totally in control.

Luke Beveridge speaks with reporters after surgery to repair his broken hand

Luke Beveridge pre-broken hand. Photo by Michael Klein.

“As much as we’ve got our challenges at this point in time, I’m enjoying the fact that there’s a strong belief and resolve and really looking forward to the challenge of Essendon this week.”

Beveridge - who wore hand warmers and kept his hands in his pockets throughout his weekly press conference - said the action, while “unusual”, was “clumsy”.

“I injured my hand at half-time in part of the messaging … we came in at half-time with some uncertainty around how many boys were going to be available in that second half,” he explained.

“We just needed to raise the energy a little bit and it was quite innocuous and a little bit clumsy, but injured it and carried on. It didn’t affect me. It’s all fixed and business as usual.

“It’s a bit trivial, in the end, but one day it might be a couple of paragraphs in a chapter of a book.”

Star Dog Bailey Smith is set to return having missed last week’s loss due to illness, with Beveridge revealing the ballwinner had personally thanked him this morning for his public support over the last week.

The coach was hesitant to reveal further team changes until Thursday night’s official announcement, saying a decision on whether top recruit Rory Lobb would come back into the team ahead of forward Buku Khamis was being considered.

Bevo under knife after whiteboard punch goes wrong

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has undergone surgery on a broken hand that was injured by punching a whiteboard.

Beveridge suffered the injury during halftime of last Thursday night’s loss to Sydney at the SCG and has gone under the knife in recent days.

The premiership coach is understood to have been emphasising a point to his players at the time and struck the board during his address to players at the main break.

Luke Beveridge has broken his hand. Picture: Getty Images

The Dogs — who had used boxing as a theme for the week in the lead-up to the match – had trailed by just three points at half time and lost the game by two points.

He coached out the game with vision that has emerged indicating swelling in his left hand that progressed as the game went on.

Beveridge had surgery at a Melbourne hospital earlier this week and has not missed a day at the club in the lead-up to the Dogs’ huge clash with Essendon on Friday night.

The coach is set to speak in his weekly media conference at the club on Thursday where it is expected he will address the injury.

Originally published as Luke Beveridge speaks to media after undergoing surgery for whiteboard punch broken hand