'Not easy': Luke Beveridge acknowledges uncertain future at Western Bulldogs
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Luke Beveridge has admitted that an exit from the Western Bulldogs will unlikely be on his own terms, as he prepares to battle the clock to remain at the helm.
Still the only team to not have locked in a coach beyond the 2025 season, the Dogs are weighing up Beveridge's contract, which is on the verge of expiration.
Having failed to make the grand final since falling to the Melbourne Demons in 2021, many pundits have predicted the coach's time with the team is nearing its end.
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Beveridge was at the centre of critics fire last season as he elected to starve senior players of valuable minutes in bid to regenerate the club.
Star defender Caleb Daniel was selected for just 16 matches in 2024, eight of which he was either subbed on or off for.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge. Getty
Three-time All Australia Jack Macrae started as a substitution in four of his 19 appearances for the club, while Bailey Dale was forced to the bench in round five.
Beveridge believes that despite mass criticism, the experiment proved effective.
"We went through the early parts of last year and won three out of the first eight," he told the Dyl and Friends podcast.
"To push the envelope in how we could test the competition we started to strip back on the ground of players who didn't necessarily cover it as well as others.
"We started to get a different blend and probably the athletic profile of our team."
The side went on to win 11 of their last 15 games before an elimination final meeting with Hawthorn saw their season come to an end.
But the club's heavy casualty ward combined with the loss of key stars during the trade period has cast an extra layer of doubt over the future of Beveridge.
The likes of Jason Johannisen, Cody Weightman and Marcus Bontempelli are set to be out of action for the opening rounds of the season, while the return of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan still remains unclear.
Beveridge recognised the significant changes across the club since he lead them to a premiership but was not ready to back down from the task at hand.
"It's 10 years now for me, we've only got four players left who started with me and the core staff who are still around," he said.
"Our whole coaching roster has just evolved and changed over time. All the guys who have come and gone have really contributed and influenced the club.
"And that's part of the challenge, to be a good manager and bring people together and create a really powerful harmonised environment, which I love as a challenge.
"I've still got a real passion for it, I've got energy for it, but I understand that the club needs to be strong too around senior coaches and stable, and that's not easy when you've got the media and your support base agitated at times.
"I think up until now, our club's been relatively strong and really supportive, but I live in the real world and that will run out at some point
"Stepping off without getting sacked is a rarity."
Beveridge will look to continue his bid to enter an 11th season at the helm of the club as the team prepares to face North Melbourne in round one.
The Dogs will enter that match coming off the back of an 11-point victory in the Community Series over the Hawks.
