Toast Luke Beveridge (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Drink)

We have gone from an absolute basket case to a big finals threat and a potential flag chance in the space of about 9 months. And a big part of that is due to one man.

What he has managed to achieve, with one of the youngest lists in the competition no less, is absolutely staggering. And we need a thread to pay homage to him.

Come in here, grab a glass and praise the great man.
 
Love him, he has the sharpest footy brain, is a great strategist with a strong dose of innovation. He seems to have struck the right balance between an approachable humourous personality who the players like and respect. The players are playing for him.
 

VogonProsthetnic

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No rubbish or pretence, just says what he thinks. Poor old Brendan Bolton, heard his pressed after getting the Carlton gig and was so nervous he just rolled off the usual list of cliches and prepared lines. Then you hear Bev -not as polished but comes across as more genuine, seems genuinely more interested in the players, the club the game and it's welfare. Also love he gives everyone a go, even to his own detriment, no wonder they players love playing for him.
 

DexterTan

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No rubbish or pretence, just says what he thinks. Poor old Brendan Bolton, heard his pressed after getting the Carlton gig and was so nervous he just rolled off the usual list of cliches and prepared lines. Then you hear Bev -not as polished but comes across as more genuine, seems genuinely more interested in the players, the club the game and it's welfare. Also love he gives everyone a go, even to his own detriment, no wonder they players love playing for him.

When The Drink had his press conference introduction, many doggies supporters weren't impressed with how he spoke!
 

bullish23

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Despite our relative success so far he is still playing the long game, giving opportunities to everyone (40 players now used in 2015). This is the most remarkable thing.

The defensive system he has implemented in such a tight time frame is also quite an achievement.

We have a coach of the highest quality.
 
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Yep he's a marvel. Man management he's almost at genius level. Giving everyone a go to create self belief in individuals and competition across the list, not tagging or selecting teams based on the opposition strengths, giving blokes confidence by playing them to their strengths, and letting them feed off this to improve their weaknesses. A lot of coaches pay lip service to this stuff, but nobody actually follows through to the extent Bev has.

Tactically his complete turn-around of our backline is mind-boggling. He's got more balls than any other coach, amazing for a rookie.

I reckon Bev thinks we're a sneaky chance at the flag this year. And based on what he's done so far, who'd bet against him.
 

VogonProsthetnic

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Lol at the dickhead on the north board that said we have no structure. Bevs a genius and u wish he was yours.


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Actually he might be right there, but I see it as an advantage. Notice how rarely anybody has the same opponent for more than two or three contests and how we continually are getting mismatches on our forward line. I'm sure the players have an idea of our structure, but it seems that the opposition often doesn't.
 

JTCWBFC

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Actually he might be right there, but I see it as an advantage. Notice how rarely anybody has the same opponent for more than two or three contests and how we continually are getting mismatches on our forward line. I'm sure the players have an idea of our structure, but it seems that the opposition often doesn't.

That's one part of our overall structure but look how quickly we zone up when we don't have the ball


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At the start of this season I thought I was about half way through the Book of Football. Now I realise I've just finished the Preface.

Thanks Bev.
 

SonOfScray

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I'd be interested to know what Geelong's strategy was in the game at KP where we lost unexpectedly. C Scott was asked on 360 and he said "I'm not telling".
Bev in the presser was asked abut how we got Biggs into the game, he said "oh, you'll have to watch the video." Ha ha.
 
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We've had mostly ups (and only a few downs) this year.

But Bevo has managed to make gameday, game quarter and game moment decisions to influence the game.

I've said this in another thread but i will also say it here. My #1 absolute #1 pre-requisite for a Bulldogs coach is gameday tactics. Let the coaches and the rest of the staff handle the rest of the stuff. But dear god know your stuff and know what needs to happen in the moment.

We've gone behind in a lot of games this year. But we manage to arrest momentum and bring it back in our favour most of the time. He's still learning his craft as well and is willing to throw players around at the selection table and on the field. We made 6 changes to face North and I wonder if he is choosing a horses for courses style of approach when it comes to ins and outs.
 
We've had mostly ups (and only a few downs) this year.

But Bevo has managed to make gameday, game quarter and game moment decisions to influence the game.

I've said this in another thread but i will also say it here. My #1 absolute #1 pre-requisite for a Bulldogs coach is gameday tactics. Let the coaches and the rest of the staff handle the rest of the stuff. But dear god know your stuff and know what needs to happen in the moment.

We've gone behind in a lot of games this year. But we manage to arrest momentum and bring it back in our favour most of the time. He's still learning his craft as well and is willing to throw players around at the selection table and on the field. We made 6 changes to face North and I wonder if he is choosing a horses for courses style of approach when it comes to ins and outs.
I'm positive he is.
 

ThirdLegUp

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I'd be interested to know what Geelong's strategy was in the game at KP where we lost unexpectedly. C Scott was asked on 360 and he said "I'm not telling".
Same method they use to shut Hawthorn down at Kardinia, only we are not Hawthorn and thus it worked. Kardinia is the most narrow ground in the league i believe, much easier to shut down the corridor.

Kardinia is 110m or 115m wide while Mcg is 145m or so by comparison.
 

ExRoyboy

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Heard him being interviewed the other day and he was asked about the rumour of us being interested in getting Matty Kruezer which he replied that it had never even been discussed. He then went onto say that he believed in his own list and the development of his players, no room to bring anyone else in because he thinks he has what he needs and doesn't want to lose any of them. In fact, he said the mandatory 3 delistings was going to be very difficult as he wants to keep every one of his men.

Now if you were a bulldog player and you heard your coach talk like this about you and your mates, wouldn't you love him and just want to play your absolute best to make him proud of you. That's what he has done with this team. They love him, they believe in him, they would walk over hot coals for him. He is a brilliant man manager, and a brilliant tactician to boot, and we are absolutely blessed to have him as our coach.

His press conferences are pure magic compared to other coaches. He even has the media eating out of his hand. The structures that he has brought to our defence and then the way they move the ball now are chalk and cheese compared to 12 months ago. To do that with such a young list and to get the whole list to buy into and understand it, so that literally he can bring fresh soldiers in almost every week and not miss a beat, is what is so amazing.

As we have been saying on here all year when we see the selections "in Bev we trust", and he has hardly ever let us down. Long may he continue. I hope he ends up having a Clarko like tenure.
 

ExRoyboy

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I wasn't and still am not. Most awkward media performer in the AFL. But **** having a salesman we've got a coach.
I actually like his press conferences because I think he comes across as genuine and doesn't bullshit around. That stuff about mathematical certainties was probably a bit much but he knew what the media were trying to goad him into and he didn't want to increase the mental pressure on his young list, so I thought it was actually quite smart to put the focus on himself in a way rather than the players. Just let them play and the results will take care of themselves.
 
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From the Hun today:

Beveridge confirmed he had summoned his players together in an emotional call-to-arms involving the premiership cup in Perth last weekend.

“It wasn’t that inspirational, it was just a moment when we were in the Virgin lounge and they have got this year’s premiership cup on the front counter,’’ he said.

“So I saw it as an opportunity to bring everyone together and take an angle there.

“I didn’t want to miss the moment. One day we might look back at that and it might be a significant moment in our history.”
 
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