Over-rated / Under-rated #6: Luke Beveridge

[jeemak]

Instead of Uninformed your username should be OnTheFence. Choose a side mate, pin some colours to the mast!

[Grantysghost]

MJP with the curve ball, love it.

Having listened to many of Bevos speeches over the years id say as an orator he is incredibly over rated

As a coach I think properly rated. Strengths are his ability to conjure magic, bond with the players (that are virtuous), and an innovative approach to the game.

Weaknesses he can be a little too esoteric (snow button) for footballers, inability to deal with the less pious, ego when dealing with the media, and slowness to move with game trends and rule changes at times.

There's been two memorable years that I'll never forget, outside of that it's a little meh but you have to take them into account of course!

An inability to sustain a level throughout a season to make top 4, and some elimination final disasters the biggest black mark results wise.

Best coach we've had in my time, I do think he did enough last year for an extension and I'd have done it already.

[ibonttobreakfree]

I play a lot of golf and when footy comes up in conversation and you disclose that you're a doggies supporter more often than not the first question is, "what do you think of bevo?". Clearly he is a polarizing figure. I don't mind him. Clearly he had to rebuild the squad after 16. The 21 season was impressive. The inconsistency is the biggest worry but I think external factors contributed to that. Training at Skinner reserve in 2023 would have been tough. The new facilities only really finished early 24 and over that off-season they overhauled the coaching department. I do think that a couple of teams have us figured out, Hawthorn comes to mind and I get frustrated like many do that there doesn't seem to be a plan b. I have to give him credit for injecting Richards into the midfield and moving macrae on. The safe option would have been to maintain the status quo with macrae on ball and Ed off half back. Macrae nor Daniel really wanted to go but only left to extend their careers. So despite not being regularly in the afl both didn't seem to hold it against bevo which suggests he communicates well with the players. In summary I guess I'm leaning towards underrated.

[Eastdog]

I will say B.

He broke the premiership drought after so many tough long years. I will be forever grateful for that.

The best 2 seasons for me in his time would have to be 2015 and 2016.

2015 home and away season was fun in that not much expectation but was exceeded and we had some great wins that one against Sydney at the SCG.

Since then it has been frustrating except for the 2021 season with getting to another grand final.

Big credit that he has made the finals in 7 of his 10 seasons so far but has gone out week 1 on 5 out of 7 of those. Would have been great to have won in the first week last season against the Hawks in that final as our form going in was just as good as theirs so that was disappointing.

Needs a solid start to 2025 to give us the best possible chance. Would love him get us a top 4 finish but will see.

Overall Bevo would have to be one of our greatest coaches.

[BontlowSzn]

Somewhere between B and C for me.

He mentioned when he first got the role that the life span of a senior coach should be 7 or 8 years. I feel like he should've stuck to that.

I absolutely love the bloke, I love his passion and the way he cares for the players and club. I will never tire of watching him ripping into Kane, Caro, Robbo and Tom Morris on seperate occasions.

I hope more than anything he has another run in him.

[GVGjr]

Somewhere between B and C for me.

He mentioned when he first got the role that the life span of a senior coach should be 7 or 8 years. I feel like he should've stuck to that.

I absolutely love the bloke, I love his passion and the way he cares for the players and club. I will never tire of watching him ripping into Kane, Caro, Robbo and Tom Morris on seperate occasions.

I hope more than anything he has another run in him.

There is something to be said for bringing in fresh approaches every 5 years or so if you aren't winning finals.
It doesn't look like we are in a hurry to get an extension signed at the moment.

[mal68]

Forever greatful for the premiership, but he consistently underachieves with the players available.

Worse, the issues with our game, tactics, motivation etc that were evident for everyone 4+ years ago are still present today

His main strength is his motivation etc, yet we all still feel nervous going into a game against a team we should beat because we're not sure if they'll show up

So I would say A or maybe B as I think quite a few share similar views

[jeemak]

I play a lot of golf and when footy comes up in conversation and you disclose that you're a doggies supporter more often than not the first question is, "what do you think of bevo?". Clearly he is a polarizing figure. I don't mind him. Clearly he had to rebuild the squad after 16. The 21 season was impressive. The inconsistency is the biggest worry but I think external factors contributed to that. Training at Skinner reserve in 2023 would have been tough. The new facilities only really finished early 24 and over that off-season they overhauled the coaching department. I do think that a couple of teams have us figured out, Hawthorn comes to mind and I get frustrated like many do that there doesn't seem to be a plan b. I have to give him credit for injecting Richards into the midfield and moving macrae on. The safe option would have been to maintain the status quo with macrae on ball and Ed off half back. Macrae nor Daniel really wanted to go but only left to extend their careers. So despite not being regularly in the afl both didn't seem to hold it against bevo which suggests he communicates well with the players. In summary I guess I'm leaning towards underrated.

There's a funny correlation between golfers and people who don't understand or appreciate Luke Beveridge. I got the same all the time when I was playing a few times a month between 2016 and a year or two ago.

Acknowledging there was a rebuild between 2016 and 2021 is something I'm pretty passionate about. A lot of supporters still don't see why or how that had to happen let alone acknowledge that it did. Basically nobody in the footy media will admit it. Post the 2022 season I think we're in the same pattern we were post the 2017 injuries and player ill-discipline and dissatisfaction that triggered the rebuild, though this time around it seems some of the media (the SEN cabal and a few others will never admit it) and most supporters are aware of it. Probably one difference this time around is the players who have been moved on for whatever reason weren't marginalised or feel they've been marginalised in the process, which either means the players have been more mature or the club has handled the process more professionally and empathetically.

[GVGjr]

Forever greatful for the premiership, but he consistently underachieves with the players available.

Worse, the issues with our game, tactics, motivation etc that were evident for everyone 4+ years ago are still present today

His main strength is his motivation etc, yet we all still feel nervous going into a game against a team we should beat because we're not sure if they'll show up

So I would say A or maybe B as I think quite a few share similar views

It's hard to disagree that we should have done more since the flag. I'm still dirty on how we basically had a gap year in 2017.
That said, Bevo is right on notice and without the security of a contract beyond this year. He's got a talented enough list and we need him to just extract a more from them.

[LongWait]

Great thread MJP - thanks.

Excepting 2016, I would say that Luke is overrated because his significant negatives seem to cancel out his significant positives. The quality of the lists he has had has pretty much been reflected in the team's results. We should have been challenging most if not every year. So, excepting 2016, I'd say that we could have and probably should have performed better in finals and have been in a better position each finals series. We should regularly be finishing top 4 at the end of the H&A season.

2016 changes everything for me though. Luke coached us to win the flag that I thought I would never see in my lifetime. Each week I reserve the right to pick apart the team's performance and Luke's coaching...but we can never take away the monumental achievement that was the 2016 flag. So, for me, Luke is a legend and underrated because he did what, at the time, seemed impossible. He was more instrumental than anyone else in winning the flag, and he has also changed our expectations. He is now the victim of his own success.

[Go_Dogs]

I mean… it depends on whose perspective you look at it from. If it’s from Kaneo and Damo then “A”, but most here probably have him as B or C.

im going B as I think he’s going to go down as our greatest ever coach and also one who will potentially have had a few opportunities slip at crucial moments. But you’ve got to risk it for the biscuit and he certainly does that.

He gave us something many probably never thought that we’d see in our lifetime (a prelim final win) and then the ultimate success. He’ll always be loved and cherished for that. Massive test this year to turn our improved performance into a consistent winning, high performance culture

[Bulldog Joe]

I find it really difficult to assess Bevo as I believe 2016 was so fantastic, but he has also under achieved significantly since then.

Too many seasons trying to reinvent the game before finally doing something more standard to make a late run at finals.

I feel he let a golden opportunity pass us by in 2021 when he allowed the feeble efforts against Essendon and Hawthorn to cost us top 4.

In 2024 I actually thought he got on the right track but a sub par final tarnished the year.

He needs a big start in 2024 and set us up for top 4 with no late season games thrown away.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Tough one for me, to be honest with you all, 2016 has my rose coloured glass on and I forever grateful to Bevo and the players.

The consideration for me is we honestly do not know how the coach is going to an actually rate him. Only the inner Santorum will be able to provide an educated guess.

My issue is the continuous selection guessing game. I think at times he tries to be too cute and puts square pegs in round holes. We have traded out great talent and shown our cards far too early which we lose all bargaining power. Jake, Dalh, Dunkley, Hunter and Roughy come to mind. If he is a great people person why did he e loose Tom Boyd and why did his contract cause such an issue?

I think he continues to keep us all guessing but honestly needs to improve our consistency and hard edge. These are the two measures that I feel let us all down

Go Bevo 2015 please dream

[soupman]

We have traded out great talent and shown our cards far too early which we lose all bargaining power. Jake, Dalh, Dunkley, Hunter and Roughy come to mind. If he is a great people person why did he e loose Tom Boyd and why did his contract cause such an issue?

Not sure any of these are Bevo's problem though.

Stringer he handled somewhat poorly only in that he devalued him publicly when we weren't aware of the situation, and was probably complicit in not making Jake face any consequences and letting the situation deteriote to how it did. Not that any of Essendons many coaches have been able to fix him (and indeed have gotten rid of him as well). But Jakes downfall can hardly be attributed to Bevo.

Dalhaus just lost that edge, and i guess the suspicion is that he found some distractions and lost some motovation. Bevo's fault, I don't know, but it wasn't from playing him out of position or anything like that.

Dunkley was amazing the entire time with Bevo, and his issues with the club seem more to do with playing group attitudes and approaches and not being stuck behind Bont/Macrae/Libba/Treloar in the pecking order than the odd ruck contest he got sent to. Plus theres the whole needing to live near his girlfriends family thing, and a spicy hot pocket promo deal.

Hunter seems like he was always going to struggle at some point, I'm not sure what Bevo is at fault for with him even hypothetically.

Roughead Bevo failed to find a continuing role for, and moved for greener pastures. Not sure that was the wrong decision, even his time at Collingwood, while good, didn't burn us badly or anything.

Boyd especially I don't think was Bevo's fault at all (I admittedly have not read his book so maybe he mentions it there). Seems he struggled for a few reasons but not sure the coach relationship and how he was used was one.

[SonofScray]

Depending on the day, A or B.

On my B days:

Can’t deny his early success and his ability to form strong relationships across the board. He’s had a stable, supportive front office across his tenure, a solid list, a generational superstar and won a flag, with a decent shot at a 2nd. Massive peak and an underwhelming, but mostly positive plateau.

on my A days:

Disinterested, disorganised, dishevelled for a period of his tenure. Embarrassing first round exits from finals series, failure to secure a top four spot, struggled and railed against changes by the League, brief teases of perfect football followed by some truly uninspired, incohesive football. Relies too much on player’s emotional investment his relationships and I think the approach while fruitful has come with a risk of transgressing boundaries and hindering decision making. Underachieved. Has too many club people, from fans to directors exulting him above the actual mission of the club because of 2016. Far too safe in his chair as a senior coach in a results driven space,