Part 1 of Glenn McFarlane exclusive chat with Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge

After a season when the Bulldogs missed the finals, and with a footy review in the works, Luke Beveridge got away. For the first time, he opens up on what they really means off the field.

Luke Beveridge wasn’t trying to escape; he was living … and learning.

In the weeks after closing out one of his most challenging seasons, the Western Bulldogs coach and his wife, Dana, embarked on a four-wheel-drive expedition up the pristine coastline of New South Wales and Queensland.

After a season in which the Bulldogs missed the finals, and with a review into the club’s football operations on the horizon – in part because of tensions between him and executive director football Chris Grant – Beveridge hit the road … or more’s the point, the beach.

He and Dana were not off-the-grid, but they were far enough away from the madding crowds – and the footy bubble – to finally get some peace last October.

Luke Beveridge and wife Dana – pictured here in 2019 – spent almost a month 4-wheel driving the beaches of southern Queensland at the conclusion of th 2023 season. Picture: AAP Image/Scott Barbour

BEVO BREAKS SILENCE ON BULLDOGS TENSION

“Part of that, to me, was exposing myself to the elements and to adventure, because I am always talking about stepping outside of your comfort zone,” Beveridge said this week.

“The extreme of the three-and-a-half week journey for Dana and I up the east coast of Australia was to drive 25km on the peninsula up to Double Island Point … up past Noosa. You drive along the sand – it’s like a freeway, then you are crossing on to soft sand.

“It’s about 11km from Rainbow Beach, where you can also drive along the sand, and often 4WDs are taken out by the rising tide because they don’t calculate it right.

“I am not a 4WD expert. I did get myself bogged up there.

“We had a fair bit of isolation. We were on remote beaches. It was just something very different where we got away from all the creature comforts (that we can take for granted).”

As idyllic as the location was, he was still connected to the club … by mobile phone.

And there was plenty happening.

“During that time we were appointing four new coaches (Matt Egan, Daniel Pratt, Jarryn Geary and Alex Johnson) and I was trying to talk acquisition types like Lachie Bramble, Nick Coffield and James Harmes into coming (to the club),” he said.

“I made sure I was somewhere (with reception) where I needed to be.

“We just hopped the NSW and Queensland coastline for three and a half weeks. We just exposed ourselves to the elements. We swagged it … I wouldn’t say we were roughing it, we were always close enough to civilisation.

“But it was great, there was a lot of reading and there was a lot of self reflection.

“It was good for (Dana) to be able to enjoy some freedom with me away from it (the pressure of football), without jumping on a plane and flying overseas.”

2023 was a season of challenges and pressures for the Bulldogs and coach Luke Beveridge. Picture: Michael Klein

Beveridge’s rare glimpse into his private time is in part to explain his desire to get better in all aspects of his life.

No matter what the results or ramifications are in any given season, as part of his own self-assessment, he has pledged to work on improving his skill set in the off-season.

Last year’s four-wheel-drive expedition was an extension of that.

As he prepares to enter his 10th season as Bulldogs coach, he says he doesn’t believe in reinvention as a leader or mentor.

He prefers evolution as a more authentic pathway. “Your evolution as a mentor or as a coach happens weekly, but definitely year on year,” he said.

“I am on this constant drive to improve my intellect and broaden my wisdom through what I read … and it has really helped me over the journey because it allows you to evolve and be original on any new odyssey.”

And after the challenges and pressures of 2023, he is confident he and the Bulldogs are about to embark on their own exciting new odyssey.

WHAT WENT WRONG LAST YEAR

A slower than expected start to last season, and five losses by two goals or less in the final eight weeks seemed too bad to be true for the Bulldogs.

“We will never make excuses,” Beveridge said.

“We just couldn’t cover certain injuries during games and that was more to do with our team profile, so I feel like we are better prepared this year.”

The Dogs loss to bottom side West Coast in round 23 was a low point in the 2023 season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The loss to lowly West Coast in round 23 – amid rumblings of tension within the club – increased the pressure on Beveridge.

Asked if 2023 had been his toughest season, he said: “The hardest years were what happened after our early success (a drought-breaking first club flag in 62 years in his second season as coach in 2016).”

“We had more turmoil than just losing games. We just had issues where internally our group hadn’t dealt well with success, so it took a while to come out of that.

“That’s what I am pretty proud of … each time we have been able to re-emerge – and yes, we didn’t make the finals last year and we bowed out too quickly the year before (2022) – but we are still in the mix. I believe we are about to re-emerge.”

GRANT TENSIONS

It’s been the talk of the footy world for months, how the relationship between Beveridge and Grant “frayed” late last year, in chief executive Ameet Bains’ own words.

Beveridge doesn’t back away from the fallout, but stressed it wasn’t the reason behind the chasm between the team’s best and worst. And he stressed the changes made as part of the review had the desired effect in easing the tension.

The frayed relationship between Luke Beveridge and Bulldogs’ football director Chris Grant has been the talk of the footy world. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge

It came to a head when Grant moved on Beveridge’s long-time assistant coach – and close friend – Rohan Smith to bring new faces into the club.

Some saw it as a challenge to Beveridge’s leadership.

“It was challenging … Rohan and I are great friends,” Beveridge said.

“Believe it or not, it is the 30-year anniversary of the VFL 1994 reserves premiership that Rohan and I played in.

“Rohan was a backline coach and defensive phase co-ordinator, he was a significant one who contributed enormously … it was a shock to us.

“Getting past that was a process, but we have moved on.

“Rohan is doing well away from the club, and (new defensive coach) Daniel Pratt has come in and taken that function now and is doing a good job.”

As much as the Bulldogs have had significant change to the program in recent years, Beveridge still wants those who have departed to be applauded for their efforts.

“Some of (the changes) were natural attrition and as you know Rohan’s was probably different to that, but ultimately the people who have worked at our club need to be respected because they have made a significant contribution,” he said.

Luke Beveridge and former Bulldogs assistant Rohan Smith are close friends which made Smith’s removal in 2023 more challenging for the Dogs’ senior coach. Picture: AAP Image/Michael Dodge

THE REVIEW

Contrary to what many thought, Beveridge supported the decision for a review into the club’s football operations undertaken by Peter Jackson over the summer.

“It is not foreign to any workplace for everything to not be absolutely the ‘Garden of Eden’,” Beveridge said.

“It doesn’t matter what space you are in … you need maintenance in your program.

“I like having a default position so that when a question is asked, the default position is, ‘Yeah, we might be able to do that’. But I think over time our default position became, ‘We can’t do that’. Different things have impacted on that, whether it was the pandemic or budget cuts, or sometimes personnel changes.

“Over time, because of my desire to make sure we have got a thriving workplace, I am always trying to make sure things are flowing … but what has come out of the review is that there were recommendations in certain areas where we absolutely had to improve.”

He added: “I have heard the word cathartic used (to describe the review) … ultimately Peter Jackson formed a pivotal role in being able to listen to people about areas they felt could be improved.

“So when I sat down with Peter numerous times throughout the journey, he was reasonably open. There were some things in the confidential aspects of it, (but) he was very open with any feedback around me … most of it was really, really positive, but some of the feedback was that, ‘Hey, people feel like you get bogged down with the things you feel are important, that you need some help with’. I’ve taken that on board.”

Former Melbourne CEO Peter Jackson led the review into the Bulldogs in 2023. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Jackson’s decision to change the roles and responsibilities connected to Beveridge have changed the dynamic. The coach now reports to Egan, not Grant.

Beveridge is quick to point out that Egan’s football operations manager role is not a new one. It’s just that role got swallowed up in the Covid years.

“Historically, that central management operational figure … is about making sure nothing gets held up in a queue and the value proposition around your personnel and how they feel about working at the footy club and how we are helping them with rewards and recognition.

“That is the role that Matty is performing now.”

It means that while Beveridge sees Grant on a daily basis at the Whitten Oval, their interaction is minimal, which has eased the tension.

“We see each other every day but as far as the planning, the strategic aspect of what we do and the core footy elements and the day-to-day coaching and performance focus, that is something that Chris has moved away from into more strategic things, so the interaction isn’t like it was,” he said.

CONNECTIONS

Beveridge always felt as if he was heavily invested in his relationship with his players, but he concedes the review tweaks have freed him up in some areas.

“There are a lot of things happening in the hierarchy of a football club that the coach is exposed to, so now Matt (Egan) provides a little bit of a buffer for me,” Beveridge said.

“It frees yourself up for the personalised aspect of the role, and having (more) conversations not just about performance but also about life.

“I don’t think I have not taken up the responsibility (in the past) … but it is nice not having to worry about some of the minutiae, that others can maybe take care of a bit more.”

He takes umbrage at any suggestion that his connection to the group has not been strong in recent years.

“You can’t please everyone … (but I) have never had an issue where I felt like I (have) lost the players,” he said. “(If it happened), I would just finish up.”

Former Geelong player and coach Matthew Egan is the newly appointed football operations manager at the Bulldogs and provides a buffer between Beveridge and Chris Grant. Picture: David Smith

PERCEPTIONS

Beveridge doesn’t care about the external perceptions about himself, but knows some of them are inaccurate.

Is he too loyal to those close to him? No, but he says loyalty is one of his attributes.

Is he too stubborn? “That is a fallacy. The people I have worked with will tell you that I oversee a really democratic environment,” he said.

Does he pick too many fights with the media?

“I’m comfortable (with the media),” he said. “There are not many in the media who are vindictive and nasty. There are a couple, but ultimately I totally respect the media’s role and influence in the game.”

At times, he has found the media saturation of the game challenging.

“I feel like I am more of an introvert than an extrovert,” he said. “One of the things I have had to come to grips with is the public nature of my life.”

He dismissed the assertion from Kane Cornes that he had gone “missing” in terms of his media presence across the summer months.

“It doesn’t worry me,” he said. “In season, I do two pressers a week, I am serving our corporate partners, our coteries and our internal messaging.

“I must say that it is nice to have context to talk about (here) because I find it difficult just to talk about us without relating it back to the competition. Now that we are playing against (opposition) teams, you have got something to relate it to and that gives you perspective.”

Asked how he will handle the scrutiny that will come on him and the club this season, he says: “I am not apathetic towards it, but I have got my own way of focusing on the things that require my attention.”

Luke Beveridge says he’s ‘comfortable with the media’ despite perceived tensions. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“That’s my priority, I think a lot of that stuff affects the people around you more than anyone else … at times friends and family and the people you are in the tent with at the club and all those inquisitive as to how you manage your way through it.

“But I am fit and healthy and strong.

“We have had a really good three months … an authentic period where we have been able to do some things on our own terms, (with) new experiences and new things together, so we will go into the season starting a new storyline.”

“We’re all feeling good about that.”

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Originally published as Part 1 of Glenn McFarlane exclusive chat with Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge