By Jake Niall
The Western Bulldogs hierarchy overruled senior coach Luke Beveridge in their decision to part with long-time assistant and popular former player Rohan Smith.
According to two well-placed club sources familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because of its sensitivity, Beveridge had wanted Smith to be retained in the coaching panel, but the club’s football boss Chris Grant, with the backing of chief executive Ameet Bains, ruled that change was needed in the coaching panel for 2024 after a disappointing season.
Beveridge, however, has accepted that Smith, a 300-game star of the 1990s and 2000s, would not be offered a contract for next year, one club source explained. Smith had been the club’s back-line coach for several years, a role he also filled during the Bulldogs’ extraordinary 2016 premiership.
Luke Beveridge after the Bulldogs’ loss to West Coast last weekend.Credit: Getty Images
Beveridge’s resistance to the Smith call is viewed as consistent with his fierce loyalty to those he works with.
The Bulldogs coach was emotional as he lauded Smith’s contributions to the club two weeks ago.
“He’s been a great confidant of mine, and he’s had so many powerful partnerships with individuals and players,” Beveridge said.
“Rohan and I’ve been together from the start. We love him to death.”
That Beveridge was forced to accept the hierarchy’s wishes for change in his coaching panel is a measure of how the senior coach’s control of football decisions has been reduced to an extent during what the Bulldogs acknowledge has been a disappointing season to date.
As the club’s only premiership coach since 1954 and only coach to reach a grand final since 1961 (he’s reached two), Beveridge has wielded significant power within the football department, but the Bulldogs believe change around him is necessary for the club’s sake.
Close ties: Luke Beveridge and Rohan Smith in 2020.Credit: AAP
The Bulldogs have chosen to address their failings by making changes in the football department, including to the coaching panel, to better support Beveridge, who has lost the experienced assistant coaches Ash Hansen (Carlton), Steven King (Gold Coast), Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon), Joel Corey (Fremantle), Jordan Russell and Dale Morris since 2020. Hansen, King and Giansiracusa all departed to advance their careers, leaving the Dogs light on for experience and arguably increased the reliance and strain on Beveridge in a less-resourced football operation.
Corey, Russell and Morris were casualties of the COVID cutbacks to football budgets.
The Bulldogs have publicly backed Beveridge to remain senior coach for next year, as put on the record by Grant on Monday on SEN radio.
Beveridge is contracted to coach the Bulldogs for another two years, but, as with most other clubs, there is protection for the club if there’s an earlier parting. He signed a two-year contract extension in December, having coached the club since 2015.
Beveridge retains significant support from the board, especially from football director and former star and media commentator Luke Darcy, who was on the panel that recommended Beveridge as senior coach.
The Bulldogs view is that the team has under-performed, relative to its talent, and that some players have not played at their usual stellar levels, including gun midfielder Jack Macrae, rebounding playmaker Caleb Daniel and, to a degree, hard-running midfielder Bailey Smith.
Star Bulldog Bailey Smith.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images
While Smith is under contract for next year, there remains doubt about whether he wants to remain at the Bulldogs, with rival clubs monitoring his situation. Smith likes to play midfield, but has sometimes been deployed on the wing and had fewer centre bounce appearances this year when used as a high half-forward.
The Bulldogs, while disappointed with the win-loss tally and especially with the losses to Hawthorn and West Coast over the past fortnight, believe they have been close to much better results, having been within eight points of their opposition in the final quarter of every game since round two, barring the Collingwood game of round 17.
Bains recently put on record that the Bulldogs believed they had a top-four-capable playing list. Internally, however, there is recognition that their depth is not at the level of some teams, that their midfield – while highly credentialed and boasting a generational player in Marcus Bontempelli – has little leg speed and that they don’t have the same level of star quality in defence as some top teams. They were hurt by the absence of full-back Liam Jones for several weeks.
Elite talents Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Sam Darcy, the son of Luke, are only in the infancy of their careers.
The Bulldogs, criticised for recruiting Rory Lobb from Fremantle to fill a forward/ruck hole, contend that Lobb’s presence has been beneficial to Tim English in the ruck and to Ugle-Hagan’s development.
Making change while retaining the coach is a template that was followed by Collingwood in 2017, before their rise to a grand final, and Richmond in 2016, before the 2017 flag, when Nathan Buckley and Damien Hardwick were forced to accept changes in the football department and in their methods. A key difference is that Beveridge’s position is not under threat and that he already has a premiership.
Beveridge, who did a media conference on Friday and was busy preparing for Saturday’s crucial game against the Cats – which can put the Dogs back inside the eight before Greater Western Sydney play Carlton on Sunday – did not want to comment on the Rohan Smith situation on Friday when contacted via the club. Smith was unavailable for comment.
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