Ahead of a season that will define the team, Luke Beveridge, the coach of the Western Bulldogs, is said to have a “frayed” relationship with Chris Grant, the executive director of football.
Although Beveridge’s contract expires at the end of 2025, going into the 2024 season, he is expected to spearhead the team’s comeback after missing the playoffs.
Due to the Dogs’ 2023 struggles, the football department underwent a review, which led to some role changes intended to maximize cohesion and performance in 2024.
Braden Ingram of Nine News reported on Thursday that Beveridge and Grant’s relationship had suffered as a result of a challenging year that included the decision to fire longtime employee Rohan Smith against Beveridge’s wishes.
“I can confirm that there has been tension in the relationship between Luke Beveridge and Chris Grant, the head of football,” Ingram stated.
As is well known, Beveridge was upset with Grant and CEO Ameet Bains because they disagreed with Beveridge’s desire to retain outgoing assistant Rohan Smith, which led to strained relations.
“Following an investigation into the football department, the Dogs promoted Matthew Egan, who had been hired from Geelong as coaching performance manager, to general manager of footy ops, meaning that Beveridge now reports to Egan rather than Grant directly.”
With the exception of St. Kilda, where Ross Lyon reports to club president Andrew Bassat, Ingram observed that the arrangement was viewed as “extremely unusual” by a number of other clubs.
“It’s reasonable to say the relationship between the two men is no longer the strongest, but the Dogs say the change was made to ease Grant’s workload,” Ingram stated.
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