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“That this has got to be a safe place somewhere that they can come and feel like they belong and, and work together. And that that’s really evident, you know, the players are really close.”
On Tuesday, the club met at the St Kilda Sea Baths, rather than holding a traditional match review at Whitten Oval, which Beveridge said was to get way from familiar surroundings and do their recovery.
Ahead of the season, the Bulldogs had an off-season review of their football department after finishing ninth last season, and an elimination finals loss in 2022.
Beveridge, who has coached the Bulldogs since 2015, said he had had conversations with the club’s key stakeholders, including president Kylie Watson-Wheeler, CEO Ameet Bains, new football manager Matthew Egan and the players. He revealed that forward Cody Weightman, who is recovering from surgery following a dislocated elbow, checked on him during the week as someone familiar with external scrutiny from when he was in the headlines for head-high tackles.
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“So, there’s been a lot of that,” said Beveridge. “I love the fact that people want to do that, but I don’t necessarily need it. I say to my closest friends, don’t text me, don’t call me. I’m OK – but they’re always concerned.
“But ultimately, I’m in a really good place. And I’m really looking forward to this next challenge.”
On Wednesday, Egan said he was “blown away” by some of the personal scrutiny of Beveridge.
“I have been blown away with how aggressive some of the comments have been in the media about a guy who has been coaching 10 years at the footy club, with a grand final win and obviously being in the grand final only three years ago,” Egan told SEN.
“It feels like it has been a little bit aggressive and personal against Bevo [Beveridge].”
Beveridge maintained the Bulldogs remained in a decent position to revive their season and push for September, with 15 rounds remaining.
“We’re in a good place. There’s a lot of the season to go and believe it or not, we’re 15 games left before anyone is playing finals,” he said.
He said the Bulldogs would be “extremely wary” of the Tigers on Saturday night at the MCG.
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“They’ve still got a number of really influential players who are very experienced [and] who can it can put you on edge and sometimes put you to the sword, so we’ll be extremely wary,” said Beveridge.
One of the Bulldogs’ most pivotal players, veteran Tom Liberatore, has been sidelined indefinitely with concussion. Beveridge said he would leave the situation to the medical professionals.
“He will do his best to convince everyone that he’s going to be OK. But ultimately, there’s more play there,” said Beveridge.
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