Link



Beveridge reached the milestone when the Dogs dished out a 42-point hammering to Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium.

One of just two premiership coaches in Western Bulldogs history, Luke Beveridge has now become the first person to lead the AFL club to 100 wins.

Beveridge reached the milestone when the Dogs dished out a 42-point hammering to Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

The 51-year-old was unaware he was about to achieve the feat until catching a brief mention of it before the game.

“I’ve loved the journey so far,” Beveridge said post-match.

“I’m into my eighth year (as coach) and we’ve had our ups and downs and challenges.

“We’ve re-established ourselves at different times and we feel like we can still come at the back end of this season.

“So I didn’t know about (the milestone). It probably doesn’t mean a hell of a lot, but hopefully I’m around for a fair bit longer.”

The Bulldogs joined the then-VFL in 1925 as one of three new inclusions along with Hawthorn and North Melbourne.

The had only won one premiership, under Charlie Sutton in 1954, until Beveridge famously engineered a rise from seventh to the flag in 2016.

Beveridge passed Ted Whitten’s previous record (91) for most wins as Bulldogs coach in the preliminary final triumph over Port Adelaide last year.

But after 174 games at the helm, the Dogs’ 34th senior coach is still short of Whitten’s record of 228 games in charge.

Rodney Eade, who led the Bulldogs to three straight preliminary finals from 2008-2010, sits third on the list for both wins (88) and games in charge (162) - the latter mark tied with Sutton.

The success Beveridge is chasing this year hinges on a tough run of fixtures, with the Bulldogs (8-6) now facing six straight games against teams in the top half of the ladder.

It begins with a trip to take on Brisbane at the Gabba on Thursday night.

“We’re really only looking at that next one up but they’ll all be significantly challenging,” Beveridge said.

Tim English (concussion) is unlikely to return against Brisbane, with the Bulldogs to take a conservative approach to his recovery period.

Ed Richards will miss after entering concussion following a head knock in the win over Hawthorn.