Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge won’t go to the AFL with concerns after post-game comments

Premiership coach Luke Beveridge has revealed why he was cryptic when asked about star forward Aaron Naughton last weekend.

Luke Beveridge says he won’t throw his players under the bus. Picture: Michael Klein

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hasn’t reached out to the AFL following cryptic post-match comments that were designed to look after star forward Aaron Naughton and not throw any players “under the bus”.

Beveridge confirmed on Wednesday that ruckman Tim English would play his first game in five weeks against struggling West Coast on Saturday night, with Cody Weightman also pushing to return despite breaking his collarbone less than three weeks ago.

But Beveridge also moved to clarify his comments after the win over Gold Coast last Sunday when he said there were “reasons why” Naughton was quiet in the second half after dominating early and he had to be “really careful” in addressing the matter.

Beveridge said he didn’t want to make any immediate comments about his concerns before having a proper look at the match, given he coached from the boundary rather than in the stands.

While that review found some incidents involving Naughton – who has received just six free kicks for holding this season – could have been adjudicated “a certain way”, Beveridge won’t be taking his concerns to the AFL.

“My thoughts on the day I didn’t really express; I think I used the word careful,” Beveridge said on Wednesday.

“I got asked a couple of questions around Aaron‘s day and how it transpired.

Aaron Naughton kicked three goals against the Gold Coast Suns. Picture: Martin Keep/Getty Images

“The last couple of weeks I’ve coached from the boundary, and whether Aaron had dropped off or was he defended in a better or different way, I wasn’t totally sure.

“I’ve got two rules in my press conference; the No.1 one rule is never throw your players under the bus, and when I say I need to be careful, I need to make sure I look after Aaron, that’s my absolute No.1 intention.

“We’ve looked at it, we’ve processed it, there might be some (decisions) in there that could be adjudicated a certain way and others that are fair play.

“A couple of senior coaches have indicated they’re going to talk to the AFL about what’s happened in their game – I’ve never done that, as far as declaring we would do that.

“We take a real minimalist approach to when we talk to the umpiring department about what’s happened in games.

“I’ll break my own information feed rule here that no we haven’t spoken to the AFL, it’s a swings and roundabouts thing here.”

Naughton has kicked 25 goals this season, including three against the Suns last weekend.

Tim English will return for the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

The return of English comes after five games on the sidelines, first with a hamstring injury and then a sever bout of the flu that has taken out numerous players at the Bulldogs.

Beveridge said there had been “good signs” from his team, winning three of the past four games, after dealing with significant illness issues and injuries made consistency at selection difficult.

“We’ve got 38 at training which is good numbers in comparison to a month ago, so that’s a good sign,” he said.

“But that’s now, hopefully we can sustain that.”