Beveridge finds new tricks to preserve old Dog
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hopes enacting his Plan C for Tom Liberatore will play a role in extending the club great's AFL career beyond this season.
Liberatore, 33, made his name as a hard-as-nails midfielder and has spent stints across half-forward as the Bulldogs' engine room evolves.
A third role is also in play for Liberatore - a 2016 premiership on-baller - who featured in defence during the Dogs' last-start defeat to Hawthorn.
Ahead of a clash with St Kilda on Thursday night, Beveridge indicated he will consider deploying Liberatore in the back half more often in a bid to preserve the 246-game stalwart.
"You've all collectively, like us, garnered a huge amount of respect for Tom with his tenacity and the way he plays the game," Beveridge said.
"When you think of the coalface and how hard it is - sometimes I refer to it as 'the octagon' - you can't expect a player like Tom, who plays the way he does, to do it for as long as he does all the time.
"So we're looking to lighten his load a little bit and looking for another layer for Tom.
"We're hoping that his (playing) future goes beyond this year."
Beveridge said Liberatore was receptive to the idea of playing in defence, and the coach felt it would add flexibility to the Bulldogs' line-up.
It comes with former defender Ed Richards, recruit Matt Kennedy and emerging star Joel Freijah reshaping the midfield unit under the guidance of Liberatore and skipper Marcus Bontempelli.
"You know there's going to be integrity in Tom's defensive game and it all sort of makes sense without diminishing his importance as an inside mid," Beveridge said.
"His priority one is still as a contest and stoppage player, but we might explore that more here and there.
"My reassurance to him was that it's just a layer and maybe a Plan C - because the Plan B' is really for him to play a little bit of forward time as well."
The Bulldogs (6-6) will start warm favourites against St Kilda (5-7), despite Ross Lyon's side enjoying a surprise last-start victory over Melbourne before their mid-season bye.
Key forward Sam Darcy has been cleared to return from a knee injury to add further firepower to the Dogs' attack.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hopes enacting his Plan C for Tom Liberatore will play a role in extending the club great's AFL career beyond this season.
Liberatore, 33, made his name as a hard-as-nails midfielder and has spent stints across half-forward as the Bulldogs' engine room evolves.
A third role is also in play for Liberatore - a 2016 premiership on-baller - who featured in defence during the Dogs' last-start defeat to Hawthorn.
Ahead of a clash with St Kilda on Thursday night, Beveridge indicated he will consider deploying Liberatore in the back half more often in a bid to preserve the 246-game stalwart.
"You've all collectively, like us, garnered a huge amount of respect for Tom with his tenacity and the way he plays the game," Beveridge said.
"When you think of the coalface and how hard it is - sometimes I refer to it as 'the octagon' - you can't expect a player like Tom, who plays the way he does, to do it for as long as he does all the time.
"So we're looking to lighten his load a little bit and looking for another layer for Tom.
"We're hoping that his (playing) future goes beyond this year."
Beveridge said Liberatore was receptive to the idea of playing in defence, and the coach felt it would add flexibility to the Bulldogs' line-up.
It comes with former defender Ed Richards, recruit Matt Kennedy and emerging star Joel Freijah reshaping the midfield unit under the guidance of Liberatore and skipper Marcus Bontempelli.
"You know there's going to be integrity in Tom's defensive game and it all sort of makes sense without diminishing his importance as an inside mid," Beveridge said.
"His priority one is still as a contest and stoppage player, but we might explore that more here and there.
"My reassurance to him was that it's just a layer and maybe a Plan C - because the Plan B' is really for him to play a little bit of forward time as well."
The Bulldogs (6-6) will start warm favourites against St Kilda (5-7), despite Ross Lyon's side enjoying a surprise last-start victory over Melbourne before their mid-season bye.
Key forward Sam Darcy has been cleared to return from a knee injury to add further firepower to the Dogs' attack.
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hopes enacting his Plan C for Tom Liberatore will play a role in extending the club great's AFL career beyond this season.
Liberatore, 33, made his name as a hard-as-nails midfielder and has spent stints across half-forward as the Bulldogs' engine room evolves.
A third role is also in play for Liberatore - a 2016 premiership on-baller - who featured in defence during the Dogs' last-start defeat to Hawthorn.
Ahead of a clash with St Kilda on Thursday night, Beveridge indicated he will consider deploying Liberatore in the back half more often in a bid to preserve the 246-game stalwart.
"You've all collectively, like us, garnered a huge amount of respect for Tom with his tenacity and the way he plays the game," Beveridge said.
"When you think of the coalface and how hard it is - sometimes I refer to it as 'the octagon' - you can't expect a player like Tom, who plays the way he does, to do it for as long as he does all the time.
"So we're looking to lighten his load a little bit and looking for another layer for Tom.
"We're hoping that his (playing) future goes beyond this year."
Beveridge said Liberatore was receptive to the idea of playing in defence, and the coach felt it would add flexibility to the Bulldogs' line-up.
It comes with former defender Ed Richards, recruit Matt Kennedy and emerging star Joel Freijah reshaping the midfield unit under the guidance of Liberatore and skipper Marcus Bontempelli.
"You know there's going to be integrity in Tom's defensive game and it all sort of makes sense without diminishing his importance as an inside mid," Beveridge said.
"His priority one is still as a contest and stoppage player, but we might explore that more here and there.
"My reassurance to him was that it's just a layer and maybe a Plan C - because the Plan B' is really for him to play a little bit of forward time as well."
The Bulldogs (6-6) will start warm favourites against St Kilda (5-7), despite Ross Lyon's side enjoying a surprise last-start victory over Melbourne before their mid-season bye.
Key forward Sam Darcy has been cleared to return from a knee injury to add further firepower to the Dogs' attack.
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If they can get the game on their terms, nearly impossible to stop." Third-placed Adelaide (9-4) will be looking to extend their winning streak to four matches against sixth-placed Hawthorn (8-5). Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has lamented an "unfair" report suggesting Taylor Walker's racism incident in 2021 could affect the AFL club's pursuit of St Kilda star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. The third-placed Crows are due to travel to Launceston for a blockbuster clash with sixth-placed Hawthorn on Friday night. But the game has been overshadowed by a report on the Nine Network on Monday, which said Indigenous young gun Wanganeen-Milera had indicated he would not join Adelaide due to Walker's racist comment in 2021. Classy half-back Wanganeen-Milera, 22, is out of contract at season's end and both the Crows and Port Adelaide are attempting to lure him home to South Australia. Walker, 35, received a six-game ban and $20,000 fine from the AFL in 2021 after he was overheard making a racist comment about North Adelaide's Indigenous player Robbie Young at an Adelaide SANFL match. Wanganeen-Milera's management immediately denied the report while the St Kilda star reportedly called Walker to say the incident was not a factor in his decision regarding where he will play next year. When asked if he had gotten involved after the story emerged, Nicks said: "No, other than putting support around the people I felt needed support. "I didn't like the way it played out at all. I think it was unfair to a lot of people. "But no, I didn't get any more involved than checking in with Taylor, for example, just to make sure that he knows that I'm proud of what he's done since what was an unacceptable moment four years ago. "He's done a lot of work on educating himself and he's actually probably done more than anyone at the footy club, but our whole footy club's improved off the back of that. "Other than that, no, not involved." Nicks conceded in-season speculation around players' futures was part of the modern environment. "It's part of the deal: pressure to perform on field, but there's also pressures that come off field," he said. "As I mentioned before, some of it I'm not a fan of, the way it plays out. "There's a little bit of a lack of accountability there, but I think our players deal with it really well." Nicks refused to comment on whether he believed Adelaide were still in the mix to secure Wanganeen-Milera. "We don't talk about players from other footy clubs," he said. Nicks instead wanted to focus on a huge clash with Hawthorn, who have lost James Worpel (corked quad) and dropped Finn Maginness. 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But the game has been overshadowed by a report on the Nine Network on Monday, which said Indigenous young gun Wanganeen-Milera had indicated he would not join Adelaide due to Walker's racist comment in 2021. Classy half-back Wanganeen-Milera, 22, is out of contract at season's end and both the Crows and Port Adelaide are attempting to lure him home to South Australia. Walker, 35, received a six-game ban and $20,000 fine from the AFL in 2021 after he was overheard making a racist comment about North Adelaide's Indigenous player Robbie Young at an Adelaide SANFL match. Wanganeen-Milera's management immediately denied the report while the St Kilda star reportedly called Walker to say the incident was not a factor in his decision regarding where he will play next year. When asked if he had gotten involved after the story emerged, Nicks said: "No, other than putting support around the people I felt needed support. "I didn't like the way it played out at all. I think it was unfair to a lot of people. "But no, I didn't get any more involved than checking in with Taylor, for example, just to make sure that he knows that I'm proud of what he's done since what was an unacceptable moment four years ago. "He's done a lot of work on educating himself and he's actually probably done more than anyone at the footy club, but our whole footy club's improved off the back of that. "Other than that, no, not involved." Nicks conceded in-season speculation around players' futures was part of the modern environment. "It's part of the deal: pressure to perform on field, but there's also pressures that come off field," he said. "As I mentioned before, some of it I'm not a fan of, the way it plays out. "There's a little bit of a lack of accountability there, but I think our players deal with it really well." Nicks refused to comment on whether he believed Adelaide were still in the mix to secure Wanganeen-Milera. 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Sydney Morning Herald
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The Age
13 hours ago
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Trbojevic knocked back NSW 18th man job to play for Manly. He shouldn't have to choose
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