New details emerge in Western Bulldogs great Chris Grant's bitter fallout with Luke Beveridge

7NEWS

6 days ago

More detail has emerged on the horribly damaged relationship between Western Bulldogs legend Chris Grant and the club he represented with such passion.
Grant did not attend the Western Bulldogs' centenary gala on Monday night where the club named its top five greatest players of the past 100 years (whittled down from a list of 25).
It has been revealed that Grant was seriously urged to go to the event, where he was named in the top three of the club's all-time greats, behind only EJ 'Ted' Whitten (the spiritual father) and modern-day great Marcus Bontempelli.
Expert Seven commentator Kane Cornes called it a 'sad and bitter fallout' that was 'really visible' at the Dogs' special night for their greatest of all time.
Veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson said it all stemmed from Grant's time at the club when he was football director, and a frosty relationship that developed with coach Luke Beveridge after an internal review.
'It's been widely reported that Chris Grant, who was ultimately named one of the top five Western Bulldogs players ever, and who joined the club in 1990 and has pretty much spent most of his life there ever since, wasn't at the function,' Wilson said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters.
'And it had been described as 'acrimonious' the fallout he had with the coach, Luke Beveridge and the CEO of Ameet Bains ...'
Wilson said club legends such Gary Dempsey (fourth best) and Doug Hawkins (fifth) were 'all very close to Chris Grant'.
'They spoke to him. An executive at the club in recent days felt compelled to let Chris Grant know that he would be playing a major part in the proceedings (on Monday night) as the Bulldogs went from their 25 best to five best (of all time).
'But this story is, I know it's been reported there was an acrimonious fallout, but what is staggering to me is how the club actually functioned as well as it did, and actually made one final in 2024 given the fact that Luke Beveridge, the coach, had basically declared at the end of 2023 'it's him or me. It's him or me,'.
'I think Chris Grant looked at leaving (then). I think Luke Darcy and the (president) Kylie Watson-Wheeler, implored him to stay as he bedded in the new footy program.'
Asked what was the reason behind Beveridge's attitude, Wilson said it was in response to an 'internal review' commissioned by Grant.
She said there were some recommendations from the review that Beveridge simply 'didn't like'.
'He recommended that the coach stay, but he said the coach had to change,' Wilson said.
'There was communication issues, there were consistency issues, there were game-plan issues, specifically with team defence. And obviously, we know that there was a recommendation that at least one coach, Rohan Smith, had to leave, and we know that Luke Beveridge didn't like that.
'There were some very, very robust and angry meetings involving Ameet Bains and involving Luke Darcy and involving several others at the club.'
Bains later said in early 2024 that there was no issue and suggestions that there was a breakdown was incorrect.
'But what we know now is that the two men did not speak for the entirety of 2024,' Wilson said.
'People at the club tell me that Chris Grant would walk down a corridor and Luke Beveridge would say, 'Hello' (to others) and just not speak (to Grant).
'Meetings were (apparently) held (and) that Chris grant would make a comment and the coach would just push on.'
AFL great Luke Hodge said he was shocked that at some point the CEO didn't step in and say, 'You're both mature adults, you're both professionals, get along until the end of the season ...'.
'In all the football clubs that I've been in, that's probably been one of the tightest relationships (the footy director and the coach),' Hodge said.
Wilson said there was obviously two sides to every story but according to Grant supporters Bains — who attempted to play peacemaker — should have stood up and taken a position.
'And it didn't work,' Wilson said.
'There was text messaging in recent weeks and months as Ameet Bains tried to convince Chris to attend on Monday night.
'The fact that Chris Grant didn't attend the centenary celebrations earlier in the year either (shows that he) feels this strongly about those relationships
Dale Thomas was shocked that the issue couldn't be parked for a special club event.
But Wilson said: 'I think the devastation was so deep.'
'It's not so far gone that he isn't going to watch his daughter Isabella play in AFLW this year,' Wilson said.
Isabella made history by becoming the Bulldogs' first father-daughter selection in the AFLW, and Wilson said the Grant family would put 'their issues aside' for her career.
'They're obviously very proud of her ... but there is a deep disappointment with Ameet Bains, (and) obviously real disappointment in the way Luke Beveridge responded to some honest feedback,' Wilson said.
'It was one or the other and Luke Beveridge won.'