Tensions in the Western Bulldogs football department were real and had to be dealt with but have also abated since last year according to club boss Ameet Bains.
After an emotional and “delicate” restructure at the Bulldogs, the chief executive backed coach Luke Beveridge to lead the club back into finals with what he said would be better support around the premiership mentor after a disappointing finish to 2023.
Bains said the appointment of former Geelong defender Matt Egan as general manager of football operations following the club’s review would help Beveridge as a “buffer” within the football department, but strongly denied it was done to create distance between the coach and longtime director of football Chris Grant.
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“I don’t think (Egan’s appointment) is a buffer in terms of what’s required between the pair, it’s certainly a buffer in terms of what the program needs, and that’s to have another senior leader within the football program,” Bains told SEN’s Whately program on Tuesday.
“There has been (tension) in many quarters I think just generally within the department, going back to the previous question about that uncertainty.
“But I was on record a couple of weeks ago dismissing some of the suggestions about there being a blow-up (between Beveridge and Grant) and an unworkable breakdown and things like that, I think that’s grossly exaggerated.”
Bains said the personnel overhaul and restructure over the off-season, which included the departure of Beveridge’s close friend and Bulldogs great Rohan Smith after 12 years as an assistant coach, had been a “delicate” issue but he was confident the coach would enter the new season better supported by the new-look team under him.
“I think it’s been delicate with everyone, particularly in that phase last year where there was a lot of change and uncertainty, it’s human nature I think to be really anxious about what’s coming next,” Bains said.
“It’s fair to say that was last year, and coming back into the new year and we’ll talk about the season to come, it’s been incredibly positive.
“I think the process we’ve gone through has actually allowed for a lot of the people who have been at our club to almost have a cathartic experience I think, talking about it and getting things off their chest.”
The Bulldogs, who want to reach 60,000 members for the first time in 2024, will play both their unofficial and official pre-season games against Hawthorn this month in a situation Bains explained as the “last two left at the dance” due to other teams’ more complex travel requirements ahead of Opening Round.
Bains said there were “conversations in train” about re-signing injured midfielder Bailey Smith early in the season as he recovers from his ACL tear, while he was not concerned about losing one of out-of-contract duo Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Tim English despite the significant cap space taken up by Aaron Naughton’s eight-year deal.
“I don’t think (the Naughton contract) impedes our ability to contract either of those players in the manner that we want to or feel is appropriate,” Bains said.
“Both have indicated that they want to stay, so that’s the starting point and we just need to get contracts done now.
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