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Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his public role in Jake Stringer saga didn’t hurt star’s trade value
JON RALPH, Herald Sun

LUKE Beveridge says he has no regrets about his public role in the trading of Jake Stringer, adamant it did not weaken the club’s bargaining position.
But the Dogs premiership coach concedes a string of subsequent negative headlines about Stringer’s behaviour might have

The Dogs play their second JLT Community Series game on Saturday, with Beveridge saying key talls Tom Boyd and Josh Schache are still not locks for Round 1.
Boyd is fit but has not played either JLT game, the high-priced 22-year-old likely to have to win his spot back from the VFL.

Beveridge could not be more optimistic about the club’s chances this year, saying the Dogs are ready to hit back after a disappointing premiership defence.
But he admits some Bulldogs fans wondering exactly why the club traded Stringer will never get detailed answers from their senior coach.
The Dogs eventually accepted picks 25 and 30 for Stringer but made up for receiving “unders” by securing Josh Schache for selections 25 and 40.
“The details in regards to Jake won’t be overstated from my court,’’ Beveridge told the Herald Sun.
“I think Bulldogs fans understand that we’ve expressed that we just felt it was the best alternative for both parties.
“I don’t think I was strong on him publicly. I just stated it was time for both parties to move on and that’s all I said.
“Ultimately, it was up to other clubs whether or not Jake appealed to them and Essendon were very keen which is fantastic for Jake.”

Premiership hero Boyd is one of the highest-paid players in the AFL this year but clearly has a challenge to reclaim his spot.
“Tom seems to be coping and managing extremely well,” Beveridge said in an interview that will also be shown on Fox Footy today.
“He hasn’t missed a session since we started and his work on the track is extremely encouraging. It’s a bit like (Josh Schache), time will tell whether or not he’s in our starting 22 at the start of the year.
“There’s a lot of positions up for grabs when you think about the uncertainty at the end of 2017. Tom’s gearing to try to grab one of them.”

Beveridge said it was impossible to know how the premiership had affected players like Tom Liberatore, who battled through an inconsistent 2017.
But in his most optimistic comments about Liberatore, he said the free agent was speaking positively about his future at the club.
“It’s difficult to quantify the effect that the previous year had on many of them. What affect did it have on Tom and some of his teammates?
“He’s had a strong pre-season, he’s talking in encouraging mode about his future. Obviously he’s up for contract at the end of this year.
“And we’d love Tom to be a part of our future beyond 2018, so it’s all up to us to work with him and get the absolute most out of him and his football ability and help him influence the team.”

LUKE BEVERIDGE ON ...
HOW THE LESSONS OF 2017 WILL HELP HIS TEAM THIS YEAR:
“Ultimately it didn’t work out like we would have hoped but we go into this year no with relationships compromised, absolutely we have learnt a few things.
“We’re a galvanised, healthy team, list and club and that’s all that matters going into a new season.”

DID PLAYERS CELEBRATE TOO MUCH AT TIMES LAST YEAR?
“It’s hard to say. It’s really important to celebrate your victories and recognise those important stamps in time.
“I felt like our players by and large carried themselves the right way. We’ve got to remember we won five out of the first seven, albeit not convincingly.
“It all fell apart a little bit in the middle stages of the season, for various reasons, but it wasn’t like our players didn’t come back well prepared for the battle.”

WHY THE DOGS BLED SO MANY GOALS TO STAR FORWARDS LAST YEAR:
“A lot of those leaks were related to our ball use. We feel like we can plug some holes there and actually improve in that area pretty quickly.
“We drafted Aaron Naughton, who is a very promising key defender. Lewis Young’s a developing key defender.
“We really rate Zaine Cordy highly as a progressive key defender, it was understated how he hung in there and played some pretty good footy for us.”

THE HOLDING-THE-BALL RULE AND RIVALS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE DOGS 2016 TACTICS:
“I think it’s been blown out of proportion. I sat in a room at the end of 2016 and listened to a room full of coaches lose their heads over free kicks that should have been paid the previous year.
“Then we went too far the other way, started to pay all those free kicks in 2017 and realised we had gone too far and now we are back where we should be.
“If it’s a good tackle, someone’s had enough time, pay the free kick. I they get dispossessed and they’ve only just got the ball, pay play-on.
“I don’t like the ones where the players are pinned on the ground, and can’t move it. Just ball it up. We’ve got to look after the player that’s actually grabbed the ball.”

CAN THE DOGS HOLD UP THE CUP AGAIN THIS YEAR?
“I’m optimistic, we’re extremely optimistic about how far we can go quickly. It’s a new year and it’s a new opportunity.
“But we know we’ve made a pretty significant progression really, really quickly in the past and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.
“We go into the year feeling like we can be as good as anyone.”