Dogs’ decision to extend Beveridge questioned

KANE Cornes has questioned the Western Bulldogs’ decision to extend coach Luke Beveridge’s contract until the end of the 2025 season.

Beveridge already had a contract until the end of 2023 but inked a new two-year extension in December.

Following the club’s 0-2 start to the season, losing to Melbourne 115-65 in round 1 before going down 92-41 against St Kilda last weekend, Cornes said Beveridge has no excuses for poor performances as he has a quality list at his disposal.

“This will be the story of the week, Luke Beveridge and the Western Bulldogs,” Cornes told the Sunday Footy Show.

“There are no excuses with this list now, we’ve heard for a couple of years, ‘Oh, they don’t have key position defenders’.

“Well you do, because you were gifted Sam Darcy in the draft and Liam Jones comes in during the trade period. There are no excuses.

“He [Beveridge] hasn’t been able to come up with a defensive game plan that is in line with modern football and the way the best teams play.”

Looking ahead at the Bulldogs’ next month of football, Cornes said there’s a genuine chance they could go winless until round 7.

“The concern is they’ve got Brisbane, Richmond, Port in Adelaide and Fremantle in Perth,” Cornes said.

“The prospect of going 0-5 or 0-6 is real.

“They concede far too many goals in a row, in clusters in big games and their fitness has to be questioned as well.

“I guess the decision to extend Luke Beveridge in the off-season is questionable as well.

“I’m not sure, and I said it at the time what the benefit of that could have been.

“He had until the end of the year, I’m not sure why they pulled the trigger so early.”

– BY LACHLAN GELEIT/ SEN