Doing a Terry Wallace? Jon Ralph goes behind Luke Beveridge’s media blitz
Rather than beg for a new contract, Luke Beveridge is taking it up to the Bulldogs hierarchy with an unprecedented media tour. Jon Ralph unpacks Bevo’s power play.
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Terry Wallace called Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon late in the 2002 season and requested a meeting at his South Melbourne office.
Smorgon asked his dual preliminary final coach what the topic would be and Wallace replied: “You will find out when I see you”.
As Smorgon recalled on Thursday: “Apart from being very sun-tanned, Terry looked almost white. He was very sheepish and then he broke the news to me”.
Wallace’s seven-year coaching tenure was over as he left the last year of his Dogs contract on the table for a mega-deal at Sydney.
“He felt he had genuinely run his race at the Dogs, which was tempered by the fact he had a huge offer at Sydney, which was denied until recently.”
Smorgon famously told Wallace he would not get a farewell game before people power saw Sydney assistant Paul Roos win the Sydney role promised by the Swans to Wallace.
Wallace was paid by Sydney anyway and won his five-year deal at Richmond in 2005, with Smorgon and Wallace having long since repaired what is again a strong relationship.
Two decades on it is the Western Bulldogs who have all the power as they ponder whether their uncontracted premiership coach is the man to lead them into the new era.
And yet as Beveridge goes on an unprecedented promotional tour the question remains over whether he might do a Terry Wallace by year’s end.
What happens if the Dogs equivocate then offer him a two-year deal and a rival like Fremantle, Carlton or Melbourne offer him a mega-deal over four or five years to secure his financial future?
Would he be prepared to give up coaching Sam Darcy and Marcus Bontempelli to move to a club where he feels more appreciated after seven finals appearances, a flag and a Grand Final in 10 completed seasons?
Because rather than beg for a new contract, Beveridge is taking it up to the Bulldogs hierarchy.
He is making clear to them he will most certainly be coaching somewhere next year.
It’s not quite ‘sack me or back me’, but he is using all the leverage he has got to make clear to the Dogs that he is not washed up, tarnished or vaguely ready to let his coaching career end with a whimper.
On Tuesday he was prepared to sit next to Nine’s Tom Morris – a journalist he has still not forgiven – in a Footy Classified appearance worth $5000 or more to again make clear he holds plenty of power over his future.
Asked in an ideal world if he was coaching the Dogs in 2026, he replied: “Possibly”.
He admitted a coach could wear out their “welcome” but spoke of a “real energy and optimism” at Whitten Oval.
In an earlier interview with Dyl and Friends – one multiple of podcasts he will sit for this season – he was fascinating as he pondered whether his hierarchy would stick fat or decide his time was up.
“I’ve still got a real passion for it, I’ve got energy for it, but I understand that the club needs to be strong too around senior coaches and stable, and that’s not easy when you’ve got the media and your supporter base agitated at times,” he said.
“I think up until now, our club’s been relatively strong and really supportive, but I live in the real world, and that will run out at some point. Or it may not. Stepping off without getting sacked is a rarity.”
He told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 ten days ago: “I’ll sit down with the club and we’ll work out if 2026 is part of the plan for me.”
And in an interview with Nine newspapers he admitted neither he or the club were “banging down” each other’s doors in the bid for a new deal.
Chief executive Bains backed Beveridge on Friday and didn’t rule out a mid-year extension, saying: “Our hope is that he remains our coach beyond 2025”.
Bains said when the club got to January without a new deal they switched to a focus on the team’s performance, almost as if locking away their premiership coach had been an afterthought that has slipped their mind.
The decision not to extend him has been absolutely strategic, and it is has also been correct.
It has put a focus on the Dogs starting the season well for a team that under Beveridge has never finished the home-and-away season in the top four (even if his defence is that they finished there twice after finals).
And he has responded despite a horrific injury toll _ sharp in his media appearances, tactically astute (Joel Freijah to the midfield, Sam Davidson to the wing, Matt Kennedy making an early impact).
He has had footy’s hardest challenge in navigating Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s issues.
But if privately the club’s frustration with their star continues to bubble away he has perfectly balanced public empathy with reinforcing Ugle-Hagan’s need to earn trust amid selection integrity at the club.
Would he relish the challenge of coaching a club like Fremantle, with its hugely talented list and unique coaching arrangement which allows them to ditch ‘employee’ Justin Longmuir’s deal more easily?
As Bains admitted on ABC Radio, the club will have to risk rivals offering Beveridge deals to poach their premiership coach.
“I think that’s a possibility but the fact we are talking very regularly means there are no information gaps. So that might be a possibility down the track but I am sure we would be
having a conversation about it,” he said.
Bains and football director Luke Darcy have backed Beveridge at every turn in recent years, with Darcy saying in 2023 that criticism of him bordered on disrespectful given he had delivered the best era of success in club history.
President Kylie Watson-Wheeler wasn’t available for interview at a recent club announcement but said in 2023 of the club’s Peter Jackson review that Beveridge was not the focus.
Watson-Wheeler has made clear she too would like Beveridge to stay on despite the lack of a contract for 2026.
She told members in a season-eve missive: “Luke enters the season with our full support and with the hope he will continue his tenure as our longest serving AFL coach beyond 2025.
“While his contract – which runs until 31 October – will not be extended before the season starts discussions are open and ongoing between the club and Luke and we are meeting regularly:”
Bains, Watson-Wheeler and Darcy will catch up with Beveridge late next week after a scheduled board meeting to discuss the first week of the year but any real contract talks remain well off.
For his part, Smorgon looks at Beveridge’s impact on the playing group.
“I am an outsider now but I still care about the club. The way I look at it from what we have seen through the summer program is that the players are playing for the coach,” he said.
“You can’t fault their endeavour, they were unlucky to lose to the Pies. From what I see and from what I hear on the grapevine, the club and Bevo are comfortable (about his contract) and talking about it openly so let them do it in due course.
“To me he has got the energy and he shows no signs of being tired. His performance on the show (Footy Classified) the other night was good in a very unusual spot. He was wearing a suit to begin with, with a nice pocket square. His team has been cruelled by injuries and it’s why this Friday’s game is so important.
“If they can get back to 2-1 and hopefully get back the Bont in a week or two they are in contention.”
Ken Hinkley re-signed in August 2023 but 18 months later was announcing a succession plan.
John Longmire signed a new two-year deal in March 2023 but was gone citing burnout 18 months later.
In a vocation where one bad season for veteran coaches can put them back on the hot seat Beveridge’s next move is just as intriguing as the club’s own position on his extending his role.
Originally published as Doing a Terry Wallace? Jon Ralph goes behind Luke Beveridge’s media blitz
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