AFL TV shows recap: Luke Beveridge linked to struggling Melbourne

A shock coach defection has been floated, while West Coast copped it from all angles. Ed Bourke watched Monday night’s footy TV shows so you didn’t have to – here’s what you missed.

Ross Lyon sensationally defected from St Kilda to Fremantle and Damien Hardwick left Richmond for Gold Coast, but would Luke Beveridge really entertain a switch from Western Bulldogs to Melbourne next season?

Veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson believes the out-of-contract Bulldogs premiership coach is on the Demons’ radar, in one of the most explosive revelations from Monday night’s football current affairs shows.

Feeling bombarded by the unprecedented number of footy shows? Here are the talking points, the news and the moments you missed from a big night on the box.

They’re a bunch of mopers at the moment

AFL 360

Co-hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon kicked off the week of 360 with hard-won praise for Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley after the Power’s first-half demolition of Hawthorn on Sunday.

“(Hinkley) cops it in the neck when they lose, so you’ve got to give it all to him when they win,” Lyon said as the pair agreed the win would “push aside” talk of accelerating Port’s coaching succession plan.

Lyon tried to untangle the mess at his beloved Melbourne after its 0-5 start, which has included four games where the Demons topped the inside 50 count but still failed to manufacture a winning score.

“They are fifth for moving the footy from defensive 50 to forward 50 … the general attitude that this whole thing is hopeless is fair enough until you dig in,” he said.

‘Bunch of mopers’: Winless West Coast copped it from all four football shows that went to air on Monday night. Picture: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images

The other winless side, West Coast, was next in the gun, and Whateley’s assessment of the Eagles was withering.

“They’re a bunch of mopers at the moment. They mope on the field; they mope off the field. For the club that they are supposed to be, and the club that they have been, it’s an indictment on them,” he said.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson and Brisbane counterpart Chris Fagan were the two coaches’ night guests, and the under-pressure Roos mentor offered his view of their 1-4 start to the season.

“Are you coaching well?” Lyon asked Clarkson as his 7-34 win-loss record at North Melbourne flashed up on screen.

Whateley took the next ball: “Are you still cutting-edge in the modern game, do you think?”

“Gee, who can ever answer that question, are you cutting-edge in what you do?” Clarkson shot back.

Willie Rioli’s deleted social media post about his “hatred” of Hawthorn was briefly mentioned earlier in the show, but Clarkson and Fagan – who worked together at the Hawks – were not asked to discuss it.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has strong interest from Melbourne, according to veteran journalist Caroline Wilson. Picture: Daniel Carson / Getty Images

Bevo to the Dees?

The Agenda Setters

Over on Channel 7, Melbourne was immediately under the microscope, and it came with a surprise report from acclaimed journalist Caroline Wilson.

Wilson was adamant the stricken Demons have taken a strong interest in Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge, whose future remains up in the air beyond this season.

“I have no doubt that Luke Beveridge is very much on Melbourne’s radar,” Wilson said.

“It is too early to be calling Simon Goodwin finished at the Melbourne Football Club … but he’s clearly fighting for his job, and I think the view is from many people at Melbourne … the time has come.”

Fellow panellist Nick Riewoldt questioned whether the publicity was a ploy by Beveridge’s management to spur the Dogs into action, but Wilson said Beveridge still felt a connection with the Demons after playing his first 42 games there between 1989 and 1992, and was sought after because of the “transformational effect” he had when he arrived at the Bulldogs.

As Melbourne’s malaise was discussed, the panel referred to a dramatic dip in average attendance for the Demons between 2024 and 2025.

But their comparison did not acknowledge that the Demons’ only two home game opponents so far have been GWS and Gold Coast – and they met the former on the day of the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix.

Hawthorn backmen James Sicily (right) and Josh Weddle were under fire on The Agenda Setters on Monday night. Picture: Steve Bell / Getty Images

Riewoldt and Kane Cornes had Hawthorn defenders Josh Weddle and James Sicily firmly in their sights as they unpacked the vision from the Sunday night grudge match between the Hawks and Power.

And the panel discussed whether the AFL should lock in a long-term extension with the South Australian government for Gather Round – all agreed it would be good business, but Craig Hutchison was keen for Tasmania to be given its own year to host with the proposed new stadium in a “six-year plus agreement”.

West Coast copped a clip from Cornes off the back of a Jack Graham radio interview, which suggested the Eagles were regularly training one less session per week than Richmond due to their travel commitments.

Are the Dees fully invested?

On The Couch

Leigh Matthews was again missing from the Couch, but host Jack Riewoldt and his fellow experts promised throughout the show that the football great would make his return on Easter Monday to unpack the action from the Geelong-Hawthorn clash.

Melbourne was again the first discussion topic, as Nathan Buckley pondered whether there was a way for the Demons to bring their game style up to speed in a less painful manner.

Former Demon Jordan Lewis said he wasn’t being “flippant” when he said the halftime Auskick game had been more exciting than the Demons in the first half against Essendon.

“I think that’s why Simon Goodwin holds optimism, because you do, on paper, see the calibre of players that are out there,” Lewis said.

The commitment of Melbourne’s leaders was questioned by the On The Couch panellists. Picture: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images

“His job is to get them playing to their capabilities”.

Jonathan Brown said he was concerned over whether the Demons’ senior players were “fully invested” in the club’s transition.

A five-minute segment was devoted to West Coast’s woes, with co-captain Liam Duggan’s defensive work rate put under the microscope.

Host Jack Riewoldt ran the rule over Adelaide’s defensive flaws, after the Crows – who have no shortage of offensive firepower – coughed up another 100-plus score in the loss to Geelong on Thursday night.

Mitchell weighs in on Rioli’s ‘hatred’ post

Footy Classified

Fresh off a humbling defeat to Port Adelaide, Sam Mitchell was the star guest on an entertaining episode of Nine’s Footy Classified.

The Hawthorn coach was welcomed onto the show by a montage of the Power’s extraordinary first half, and smiled as he said “thanks for the intro”.

Host Sam McClure crossed to Nine journalist Tom Morris for an update on the fallout from Willie Rioli’s deleted Instagram story, before Mitchell was asked to weigh in on Rioli’s relationship with Hawthorn.

Mitchell told Nine’s Footy Classified he was chanted at by a bay of Port Adelaide fans on Sunday, who were bizarrely calling him a ‘dibber dobber’ after a Power fan had earlier been ejected for hurling abuse at him. Picture: Michael Klein

Mitchell was an assistant at West Coast when Rioli won a flag with the Eagles in 2018.

“I’ve read the Port Adelaide statement. I’ve had a relationship with Willie for a long period of time. We’ve been in regular contact since then, and I hope we can have a conversation about this at a more appropriate period of time,” Mitchell said.

“To me, if I was to get in contact with him … that would not be a public forum, that would be something I do privately.”

Mitchell was called up to the interactive screen with Jimmy Bartel to talk through how the Hawks were dismantled by the Power, as he expressed hope the 30-point defeat had just been “a bump in the road”.

An unbelievable insight as Sam Mitchell takes us through where the Hawks went wrong against the Power 🔎#9FootyClassified | Watch on Nine & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/3MtgYxpusx

— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) April 14, 2025

He said he had no concerns for out-of-sorts forward Jack Ginnivan, who he believed would soon be back to his best.

Asked about his heavily publicised meeting with Eagles co-captain Oscar Allen, Mitchell said he supported Chris Scott and captain James Sicily’s view that players had the right to “get as much information as they can” from other clubs when considering their future.

He conceded that he regretted Allen’s exposure in the wake of their meeting, as he said the trip to Perth had been for “plenty of other reasons” as well as a recruitment mission.

“Absolutely – I certainly regret the public nature and the public narrative of it,” he said.