Wikipedia

Luke Beveridge

Luke Beveridge (born 23 August 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who played for Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He is senior coach of the Western Bulldogs.[1]

Luke Beveridge
Beveridge in August 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s) The DogFather, Bevo
Date of birth (1970-08-23) 23 August 1970 (age 54)
Original team(s) St Peters
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 81 kg (179 lb)
Position(s) Rover, forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1989–1992 Melbourne 042 0(41)
1993–1995 Footscray 031 0(29)
1996–1999 St Kilda 045 0(37)
Total 118 (107)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2015– Western Bulldogs 229 (129–100–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1999.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of Round 23, 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

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Small in stature, he mainly played as a rover and a forward. He is the grandson of Collingwood premiership player Jack Beveridge.

Melbourne

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Beveridge played for Melbourne Football Club from 1989 until 1992, playing a total of 42 games and kicked a total of 41 goals.[2] Beveridge won the Melbourne first year player award in 1989 and played his most games with the club in 1991.

Footscray

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He was traded to Footscray for pick 122 in the 1992 AFL Draft. He was seen as a depth player for the club's playing list. He managed 31 games in three seasons from 1993 until 1995 for Footscray Football Club.[2]

St Kilda

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At the end of 1995, Beveridge was traded to St Kilda for pick 52 in the 1995 AFL Draft. His father was a recruitment officer for the club. Beveridge played 45 games for the Saints in four seasons from 1996 until 1999.[2] Beveridge played in St Kilda's 1996 pre-season cup winning side. He played in 7 of 22 matches in the 1997 home and away rounds. St Kilda qualified in first position for the 1997 finals series.[3] He retired at the end of the 1999 season.[2]

AFL Greek Team of the Century

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In 2002, Beveridge was elected in the AFL Greek Team of the Century[4] for players having full or partial Greek heritage.[5] His maternal grandfather originates from the island of Samos.[6]

Coaching career

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He began his coaching career in the Victorian Amateur Football Association competition where he coached St Bedes/Mentone Tigers to the C, B and A Grade premierships in consecutive seasons. 2008 marks the club’s last premiership. [2]

The C Grade premiership team of 2006 contained both of the Western Bulldogs’ only two living premiership coaches: Beveridge (2016 AFL premiership coach) in his final VAFA game as playing coach and Paul Groves (2018 AFLW premiership coach). Other notable members of the successful group include young firebrand Tim McColl, a future captain of industry at The Co. Accountants and Business Advisors, and Tim Lamb, a former battling local player who found his niche as Assistant Coach during this period. Lamb's undeniable eye for talent led him to eventually land the role of Melbourne Football Club List Manager, where he masterminded the build of the Demons’ premiership-winning team of 2021. These and many others attribute their success in part to the guiding hand of Beveridge.

Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2009–2010)

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Beveridge had two years in an assistant coaching position as head of player development manager under senior coach Mick Malthouse at Collingwood from 2009 to 2010, where he had an input to the club's 2010 premiership.[7][8]

Hawthorn Football Club assistant coach (2012–2014)

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After having a year off, Beveridge joined Hawthorn in 2012 as an assistant coach under senior coach Alastair Clarkson specialising in working with the club's defence.[8]

Western Bulldogs senior coach (2015–present)

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Beveridge left Hawthorn after the 2014 season and was originally going to become director of coaching at St Kilda.[9] On 14 November 2014, however, it was instead announced that he would become the senior coach of the Western Bulldogs, succeeding Brendan McCartney.[10][1][11][12]

Despite being tipped by many for the wooden spoon following the loss of several key decision makers including previous coach Brendan McCartney, captain Ryan Griffen, CEO Simon Garlick, former Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney and over 700 games of experience at the end of 2014, as well as losing reigning best and fairest Tom Liberatore to a knee injury during the pre-season that would ultimately sideline him for the entire 2015 season, Beveridge led an impressive resurgence by the Western Bulldogs, which finished in sixth place on the ladder at the end of the 2015 season, and hence qualified for their first finals series since 2010, before losing to the Adelaide Crows in an elimination final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For his efforts, Beveridge was named the AFL Coaches Association coach of the year.[13]

In the 2016 season, Beveridge coached the Western Bulldogs to a premiership in the 2016 AFL Grand Final, when Western Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Swans by a score of 13.11 (89) to 10.7 (67), by margin of 22 points.[14] This was the club's second premiership since 1954 despite them suffering long-term injuries throughout the season, notably captain Robert Murphy. The Bulldogs had finished 7th in the minor premiership. They played in three consecutive elimination finals, two of them interstate. On the path to the grand final, they beat the West Coast Eagles at Domain Stadium, Hawthorn at the MCG and Greater Western Sydney in a memorable preliminary final at Spotless Stadium. In an emotional display which, according to The Age, "will undoubtedly go down as one of the great moments in Australian sporting history",[15] Beveridge handed his coach's premiership medal to Murphy, saying, "This is yours, mate. You deserve it more than anyone." Murphy, though thankful, returned the medal the following day. It has since been placed in the Western Bulldogs museum. Later that month, Beveridge won the Spirit of Sport award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Awards for his gesture to Murphy.[15] He was also named the AFL Coaches Association coach of the year for the second year running.[16]

In the 2017 season, Western Bulldogs under Beveridge slipped out of the eighth to finish tenth on the ladder and did not make the finals.[17] In the 2018 season, The club under Beveridge missed out on the finals again, when they finished thirteenth on the ladder.[18] In the 2019 season, the club under Beveridge returned to the finals after they finished seventh on the ladder, but were eliminated in the elimination final to Greater Western Sydney Giants.[19] In the 2020 season, the club under Beveridge returned to the finals again after they finished seventh for the second consecutive year in a row, but were eliminated by St Kilda in the elimination final.[20]

In the 2021 season, Beveridge coached the Western Bulldogs to the 2021 AFL Grand Final, but fell short and lost to Melbourne by a margin of 74 points with the final score Melbourne 21.14 (140) to Western Bulldogs 10.6 (66).[21][22]

In the 2022 season, the club under Beveridge returned to the finals again after they finished eighth, but were eliminated by Fremantle in the elimination final.[23] In the 2023 season, the club under Beveridge just missed out of the finals, when they finished ninth.[24] In Round 23 of the 2024 season Luke Beveridge Coached his 228th game as head coach of the Western Bulldogs equaling Bulldogs legend Ted Whitten as most games coached for the Bulldogs.

Statistics

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Playing statistics

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[25]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1989 Melbourne 48 12 7 4 77 47 124 16 9 0.6 0.3 6.4 3.9 10.3 1.3 0.8
1990 Melbourne 24 3 1 0 14 4 18 4 1 0.3 0.0 4.7 1.3 6.0 1.3 0.3
1991 Melbourne 24 21 27 8 250 90 340 40 23 1.3 0.4 11.9 4.3 16.2 1.9 1.1
1992 Melbourne 24 6 6 2 73 33 106 18 7 1.0 0.3 12.2 5.5 17.7 3.0 1.2
1993 Footscray 19 8 8 5 95 40 135 18 19 1.0 0.6 11.9 5.0 16.9 2.3 2.4
1994 Footscray 19 12 14 13 117 34 151 29 23 1.2 1.1 9.8 2.8 12.6 2.4 1.9
1995 Footscray 19 11 7 7 69 33 102 16 13 0.6 0.6 6.3 3.0 9.3 1.5 1.2
1996 St Kilda 27 16 16 9 153 78 231 46 31 1.0 0.6 9.6 4.9 14.4 2.9 1.9
1997 St Kilda 27 7 4 3 25 9 34 7 5 0.6 0.4 3.6 1.3 4.9 1.0 0.7
1998 St Kilda 27 18 13 5 111 62 173 42 23 0.7 0.3 6.2 3.4 9.6 2.3 1.3
1999 St Kilda 27 4 4 0 41 35 76 16 4 1.0 0.0 10.3 8.8 19.0 4.0 1.0
Career 118 107 56 1025 465 1490 252 158 0.9 0.5 8.7 3.9 12.6 2.1 1.3

Coaching statistics

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Statistics are correct to end of 2023 Season[26]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
2015 Western Bulldogs 23 14 9 0 60.9% 6 (Elimination Final) 18
2016 Western Bulldogs 26 19 7 0 73.1% 7 (Premiers) 18
2017 Western Bulldogs 22 11 11 0 50% 10 18
2018 Western Bulldogs 22 8 14 0 36.4% 13 18
2019 Western Bulldogs 23 12 11 0 52.2% 7 (Elimination Final) 18
2020[a] Western Bulldogs 18 9 9 0 55.6% 7 (Elimination Final) 18
2021 Western Bulldogs 26 18 8 0 69.6% 5 (Runners Up) 18
2022 Western Bulldogs 23 12 11 0 52.1% 8 (Elimination Final) 18
2023 Western Bulldogs 23 12 11 0 52.2% 9 18
2024 Western Bulldogs 23 14 9 0 60.8% 6 (Elimination Final) 18
Career totals 229 129 100 0 56.33%

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

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Playing honours

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Coaching honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b Dogs set to announce new coach, AFL.com.au official website, 14 November 2014
  2. ^ a b c d e "LUKE BEVERIDGE". Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  3. ^ "1997 Season Scores and Results – Ladder". AFL Tables. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  4. ^ Tamis Anastasios: "The Greeks in Australia", page 104, La Trobe University, Victoria, 2005
  5. ^ "Greek Team of the Century – Aussie Rules International – Promoting Australian Football Around the World". Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  6. ^ "The Greek Australian Rules Team of the Century". 30 October 2004.
  7. ^ "Coaches – hawthornfc.com.au". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Luke Beveridge took time out of his coaching career to chase criminals". 4 September 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Luke Beveridge to leave Hawthorn assistant coaching role to become St Kilda director of coaching". Herald Sun. Australian Associated Press. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Western Bulldogs unveil Luke Beveridge as AFL coach replacing Brendan McCartney". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Luke Beveridge the new Western Bulldogs coach". 14 November 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Luke Beveridge named Western Bulldogs senior coach after lengthy search". 14 November 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  13. ^ Schmook, Nathan (29 September 2015). "Coaches pick Luke Beveridge as 2015's best". BigPond. Australian Football League. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Western Bulldogs defeat Sydney Swans in 2016 AFL grand final". 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b Lerner, Ronny (4 October 2016). "Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge to receive 'Spirit of Sport' award"", The Age. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  16. ^ Schmook, Nathan (27 September 2016). "Beveridge named top Dog for second straight year". BigPond. Australian Football League. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  17. ^ "2017 season review: Western Bulldogs". 4 September 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Season review: Western Bulldogs". 3 September 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  19. ^ "ELIMINATION FINAL REPORT: Giants end Bulldogs' season". 7 September 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Bulldogs' season comes to an end". 3 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  21. ^ "'I'm not too sure': Bevo's blunt admission after Dogs' flag hopes vanished in 'blink of an eye'". 26 September 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Where Melbourne Demons won the 2021 AFL Grand final over Western Bulldogs". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  23. ^ "AFL 2022 Season Review: Western Bulldogs". 19 October 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Western Bulldogs 2023 season review: Midfield dominance without results". 30 August 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  25. ^ Luke Beveridge's player profile at AFL Tables
  26. ^ "Luke Beveridge's coaching profile". AFL Tables.
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