Premiership coach Luke Beveridge snubbed rival offer last season to re-sign with Western Bulldogs

Luke Beveridge and Peter Gordon met during last year’s bye period and agreed to postpone contract talks until the end of the season. Then, an approach from a rival club changed everything, reports Mark Robinson.

Luke Beveridge urges his players on during the 2019 AFL season.

Luke Beveridge rejected overtures from a rival club before committing to coaching the Bulldogs until the end of the 2023 season.

Beveridge has revealed he was approached after the bye break last year when, he said, he was feeling vulnerable about his future at the Dogs.

He refused to name the club.

“Within our own club, I felt vulnerable,’’ the premiership coach said.

“I felt vulnerable as far as job security goes.

“And I knew the competition had changed and I knew there was a little bit of demand for coaches at other clubs.

“But I only wanted to coach the Bulldogs.

St Kilda, Fremantle, Carlton, North Melbourne and Adelaide changed coaches during last season and Essendon changed its coaching structure.

Of those clubs, Beveridge had the strongest links to the Saints, who appointed Brett Ratten as their senior coach.

The Bulldogs were quick to re-sign Luke Beveridge when a rival tried to swoop on the premiership coach.

There were calls for St Kilda to chase Luke Beveridge after it sacked Alan Richardson. The Herald Sun is not suggesting the Saints made an offer.

Beveridge played 45 games at the Saints, his father, John, was the long-time recruiting boss and he had accepted a role at the Saints as head of football before his shock appointment at the Bulldogs for the 2015 season.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting the approach was from the Saints.

“I don’t want to talk about who it was from,’’ Beveridge told the Herald Sun.

“It didn’t shock me and I don’t want that to sound egotistical at all, but based on what the market was — and to seek out your interest and maybe even give you a guarantee that if you’re willing to come over, there’s every chance there is a role there — what it did was allow the Bulldogs and I to sit down and talk more seriously about my future and the future direction of the club.’’

At the bye, Beveridge and Bulldogs president Peter Gordon met in Noosa, where it was agreed to postpone contract talks until the end of the season.

But the approach by the unnamed club prompted Gordon and Beveridge to do the deal within four weeks.

At that stage, it was a possibility the Bulldogs could miss the finals for a third successive season after the 2016 premiership.

They would finish the season with an 8-3 win-loss record in the final 11 games and then lose to GWS in the first final.

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Luke Beveridge urges his players on during the 2019 AFL season.

The disappointing finish undermined a stunning second half of the season.

At the break, however, Beveridge believed his future was up in the air.

“Peter was terrific, he said there shouldn’t be any doubt about your future and I said to him it doesn’t seem like the right time to nail anything down,’’ the coach said.

“We were 4-7 and I wasn’t comfortable in doing anything and he felt the same way.

“But with what was happening with the coaching ranks, it brought it to a head a bit earlier.’’

Beveridge called the unnamed club and said thanks, but no thanks.

“I was really grateful Peter and the club saw fit to sign me up for a longer term when we hadn’t won eight of the last 11 yet,” Beveridge said.

He told Gordon of the rival’s approach.

He also said he understood if the club wanted to move him on despite being contracted until the end of 2020.

“I told him I didn’t want to coach anywhere else, but I don’t want to have to deal with the running conversations and uncertainty,’’ he said.

“I did say to him it’s the club’s opportunity, if you’re thinking differently, to get out if you want to.

“It’s a two-way street and that wasn’t in their thinking, so we signed it pretty quickly.’’

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