What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 2

[Hard Ball Get]

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Crameri also reflected on January 12, 2016 — the day he found out he’d been found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for committing an anti-doping rule violation.

He said he was in “disbelief” after his manager Paul Connors broke the news to him, but added that the meeting he then had with Dogs coach Luke Beveridge, president Peter Gordon and fellow banned Bomber Brent Prismall, who had also moved to the Dogs, was heartbreaking.

“I looked at Beveridge and I said: ‘Is this all real? Is this the case? And he said ‘yeah unfortunately it is’,” Crameri said.

“The look on their face was just a terrible thing I see. I didn’t know what to say.



Am I reading to much into but it seems to be that he is no fan of Luke. If he was I believe he would have referred to him as Luke not Beveridge. Probably because he sees Luke as getting rid of him and he came to the dogs because of his relationship with Brendan McCartney.

That's an awfully long bow to draw.

 

[Dog 36]

Jon ralph article in HS about Bev and Dalrymple and how the pick of Gowers in rookie draft saw Dal leave for swans

 

[Cadillac]

Jon ralph article in HS about Bev and Dalrymple and how the pick of Gowers in rookie draft saw Dal leave for swans

I read that. So strange that he would leave over something so trivial as Bevo wanting him as a rookie pick. Bevo has been vindicated so far.

 

[TempletonTheRat]

Jon ralph article in HS about Bev and Dalrymple and how the pick of Gowers in rookie draft saw Dal leave for swans

interested to hear Pannalstaroz thoughts on this. I though he mentioned that it was about not getting the role Power is now in.

 

[Pugz89]

interested to hear Pannalstaroz thoughts on this. I though he mentioned that it was about not getting the role Power is now in.

There were a few things all adding up that contributed to Dal moving on.

 

[bresker]

Bloke on the Footy Show tonight has been a Dogs member for EIGHTY FOUR years!

Poor bastard.

 

[100action]

Jon ralph article in HS about Bev and Dalrymple and how the pick of Gowers in rookie draft saw Dal leave for swans

can u post article?

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Article on Suckling's 150th.

MATT Suckling will play his 150th game on Friday night when the Western Bulldogs take on Adelaide, and the veteran admits it's been a "rollercoaster" ride to get there.

Suckling waited for two years on Hawthorn's rookie list to make his debut back 2009, played in a losing grand final and then missed selection in two other season deciders due to injury (2013 and 2016), but on the flipside he has played in two flags with the Hawks, experienced 14 finals and represented Australia in International Rules.

Now in the twilight of his mixed-bag career, Suckling looks back fondly on what he's achieved at the Hawks and Bulldogs.

"I probably haven’t reflected on (the milestone) too much yet, but it’s probably something I didn’t think I’d get once I started my career," Suckling told AFL.com.au.

"I got delisted (at Hawthorn) in my first couple of years and then had some success.

"I did my ACL (in 2013) and had to miss the whole year, watch the boys play in a grand final and then change clubs, which was hard also.

"Having an Achilles injury and watching the (Bulldogs) play in the 2016 Grand Final as well was also hard, but it does build some resilience as you get older.

"150 games is a special achievement and probably once I’m done, I’ll be able to reflect and be pretty proud of what I’ve achieved so far."

Suckling credits great mentors in helping get him where he is today, with several senior coaches around the AFL having influence on the player and person he's become.

Luke Beveridge was pivotal in luring the left footer to the Dogs as a free agent at the end of 2015 after the two built a strong rapport in their time together at Waverley Park.

"I spent three years with 'Bevo' as my backline coach (at Hawthorn), and he was one of the main reasons to come across to the Dogs, because we have such a great relationship," Suckling said.

"I’ve been really fortunate in my career, as Alistair Clarkson was a great coach, I had Chris Fagan and Brendan Bolton (as assistant coaches), and Andrew Russell, the fitness coach (at Hawthorn).

"I sat next to Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell for eight years, so it’s hard to put a foot wrong sitting between those two. They’ve taught me a lot as well."

Being guided by those influential figures has Suckling well equipped to be a leader in his own right, and he's needed to, as he's been the oldest player for the Dogs in every game this season with stalwarts Dale Morris and Liam Picken sidelined through injury.

"It’s been really refreshing to be one of the oldest. It’s probably weird to say that, but I’ve really enjoyed the responsibility," Suckling said.

"In my first few years at Hawthorn I had so many great leaders to teach me, and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to be one of the oldest now and hopefully there’s a few more years left and I can continue to grow in that area."

 

[Thewlis Dish]

I read that. So strange that he would leave over something so trivial as Bevo wanting him as a rookie pick. Bevo has been vindicated so far.

I think it more comes down to other parties encroaching on his authority?

I know the decision to recruit Jed Anderson was a major reason in Bryce Lewis leaving North, as he didn't rate Jed and was overruled by coach and list manager.

 

[X_box_X]

LUKE Beveridge sent a text to Billy Gowers a week before last November’s rookie draft, inviting him to dinner.

On the menu — Dana Beveridge’s slow-cooked lamb and sweet potatoes, plus Gowers’ football future.

Gowers, 21, had spent two turbulent years under three senior coaches as a Carlton rookie and was the final player cut in late 2016.

TEAM NEWS: WHO MADE THE CUT IN ROUND 9?

FINALS FIGHT: WHY FOOTY HAS NEVER BEEN MORE EVEN

TOUGH WATCH: CREMERI REVEALS TOLL OF BOMBERS SAGA

Then, as he worked full-time in real estate, the strong-bodied Xavier College product blossomed under Beveridge’s nose in the Footscray VFL side.

Beveridge, now a premiership coach at the Western Bulldogs, had kept an eye on Gowers but wanted to know what made him tick.

“It was the week before the rookie draft and I had only just got to work and he messaged me saying, ‘I would love to catch up for dinner and have a chat’,” Gowers recalled this week.

“I went around to his place and his wife Dana cooked up a nice meal and we had a one-on-one chat about what had been going on for the 10-12 months since I had been delisted by Carlton. He was generally interested in me and what I had been doing and what I was thinking.

“I had spoken to my manager and I thought it was a bit of a job interview, so I went in quite prepared and left thinking, ‘That was completely different to what I was expecting’.

“He wanted to know if I had enjoyed my footy at Footscray, about my work life. Some people forget that some blokes don’t want to play AFL again after they have experienced it already.

“I was expecting hard-hitting questions, but he is just so caring and knowledgeable about a lot of things — obviously footy, but the other side of things with day-to-day life.

M1030504_Perfect 9_Kerstin Thuresson_APR18 V3 650 x 90 px EMAIL.jpg

“So I think that night was to make sure I was fully on board and whether I really wanted to prove myself as a footballer and person again.”

Eight rounds into this season, you can take it as read that Billy Gowers MkII is fully on board.

Not only has he kicked a goal in every game (two in each of his past four) he leads the Dogs’ goal tally with 12.

Last weekend against Brisbane, the son of former Hawk and Lion Andrew Gowers looked the most assured and dynamic forward on the ground.

Effectively, he is playing Jake Stringer’s former role at perhaps a quarter of his salary and with demonstrably less histrionics.

To be frank, his recruitment was the subject of a significant power struggle between Beveridge and recruiter Simon Dalrymple, but more of that later.

So back to that dinner at the Beveridge house and whether it contained any hidden traps.

“It was beautiful, slow cooked lamb and sweet potatoes and a nice salad,” Gowers said. “She even offered me some chocolate Lindt balls, but I didn’t take them. I thought, ‘That might have been a little test, so I thought I won’t do that’.”

A frothy or a cheeky glass or shiraz?

“Yeah, he offered me a stubby, but I was driving so that was my excuse,” Gowers replied.

If he looks a Stringer clone, it is no coincidence. As the Dogs were going through their list management battles late in the season, they knew Stringer was probably on the outer.

Beveridge kept coming back to this kid from the VFL and what he could do for the Dogs’ forward line. He wanted Gowers as the club’s first and only rookie pick.

Dalrymple had been scouting another young player all year and strongly felt he deserved the right to select the player his recruiting team had at the top of their list.


An insider laughed as he described the “robust discussions” that took place as coach and recruiter considered who they would take.

They effectively resulted in Dalrymple being overruled and Gowers taken over the other young player, who remains undrafted but likely to emerge on a club list this November.

Dalrymple was contracted for 2018 but left for Sydney, believing Beveridge had broken his own rule about “letting the bakers bake”.

He believed he had built up enough credits through rookie picks Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus to be handed the power to select the Dogs’ only rookie pick last year.

It was the final straw, and Sam Power now is at the top of a list management structure as the “single point of responsibility for decisions”, as Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains described it.

They are the kind of internal power struggles that must be so commonplace in football, but rarely emerge publicly.

What is beyond question is that right now Gowers looks a player.


Billy Gowers in action for the Northern Blues in the VFL. Picture: Mark Wilson
As Kevin Sheedy has often said, the recruiter could pick someone, but Sheedy as senior coach had to want to play him.

Alastair Clarkson overruled list manager Chris Pelchen to recruit Stuart Dew, and it won Hawthorn the 2008 premiership.

For his part, Gowers is just happy Beveridge wanted him.

“I really don’t know about that, to be honest,’’ he said of the power struggle.

“Maybe it might give you a bit more confidence, but once you are at the club you still have to earn the respect of all the coaches and players.”

M1030504_Perfect 9_Kerstin Thuresson_APR18 V3 650 x 90 px EMAIL.jpg

Gowers credits the Dogs’ VFL affiliate with reigniting his love for the game, a year spent working with real estate firm Vic Prop selling and leasing properties giving him a taste of the real world.

“It feels like I was a lifetime ago I was at Carlton,” he said. “It was only a year and a half ago and I am still finding my feet with adapting to full-time footy again but, in saying that, I am loving it.


Luke Beveridge wanted Billy Gowers at his club. Picture: AAP Images
“I have been asked the question of what went wrong at Carlton, but I think it was a bit of a maturity thing.

“There were heaps of changes in a short amount of time, three senior coaches in two years, a heap of different development coaches, senior assistants. Only 13 or 14 blokes are still there from when I was there, which is an amazing stat.

“Ultimately I wasn’t playing well enough to keep my spot and yet technically I was the last bloke not to get picked. It was out of me and Andrew Gallucci and he took that rookie spot.”

This time around Gowers doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.

“Last year was about enjoying my footy and this year I want to be a regular player in the team and give value for effort and be of value to the club.”

 

[ossie_21]

LUKE Beveridge sent a text to Billy Gowers a week before last November’s rookie draft, inviting him to dinner.

On the menu — Dana Beveridge’s slow-cooked lamb and sweet potatoes, plus Gowers’ football future.

Gowers, 21, had spent two turbulent years under three senior coaches as a Carlton rookie and was the final player cut in late 2016.

TEAM NEWS: WHO MADE THE CUT IN ROUND 9?

FINALS FIGHT: WHY FOOTY HAS NEVER BEEN MORE EVEN

TOUGH WATCH: CREMERI REVEALS TOLL OF BOMBERS SAGA

Then, as he worked full-time in real estate, the strong-bodied Xavier College product blossomed under Beveridge’s nose in the Footscray VFL side.

Beveridge, now a premiership coach at the Western Bulldogs, had kept an eye on Gowers but wanted to know what made him tick.

“It was the week before the rookie draft and I had only just got to work and he messaged me saying, ‘I would love to catch up for dinner and have a chat’,” Gowers recalled this week.

“I went around to his place and his wife Dana cooked up a nice meal and we had a one-on-one chat about what had been going on for the 10-12 months since I had been delisted by Carlton. He was generally interested in me and what I had been doing and what I was thinking.

“I had spoken to my manager and I thought it was a bit of a job interview, so I went in quite prepared and left thinking, ‘That was completely different to what I was expecting’.

“He wanted to know if I had enjoyed my footy at Footscray, about my work life. Some people forget that some blokes don’t want to play AFL again after they have experienced it already.

“I was expecting hard-hitting questions, but he is just so caring and knowledgeable about a lot of things — obviously footy, but the other side of things with day-to-day life.

M1030504_Perfect 9_Kerstin Thuresson_APR18 V3 650 x 90 px EMAIL.jpg

“So I think that night was to make sure I was fully on board and whether I really wanted to prove myself as a footballer and person again.”

Eight rounds into this season, you can take it as read that Billy Gowers MkII is fully on board.

Not only has he kicked a goal in every game (two in each of his past four) he leads the Dogs’ goal tally with 12.

Last weekend against Brisbane, the son of former Hawk and Lion Andrew Gowers looked the most assured and dynamic forward on the ground.

Effectively, he is playing Jake Stringer’s former role at perhaps a quarter of his salary and with demonstrably less histrionics.

To be frank, his recruitment was the subject of a significant power struggle between Beveridge and recruiter Simon Dalrymple, but more of that later.

So back to that dinner at the Beveridge house and whether it contained any hidden traps.

“It was beautiful, slow cooked lamb and sweet potatoes and a nice salad,” Gowers said. “She even offered me some chocolate Lindt balls, but I didn’t take them. I thought, ‘That might have been a little test, so I thought I won’t do that’.”

A frothy or a cheeky glass or shiraz?

“Yeah, he offered me a stubby, but I was driving so that was my excuse,” Gowers replied.

If he looks a Stringer clone, it is no coincidence. As the Dogs were going through their list management battles late in the season, they knew Stringer was probably on the outer.

Beveridge kept coming back to this kid from the VFL and what he could do for the Dogs’ forward line. He wanted Gowers as the club’s first and only rookie pick.

Dalrymple had been scouting another young player all year and strongly felt he deserved the right to select the player his recruiting team had at the top of their list.


An insider laughed as he described the “robust discussions” that took place as coach and recruiter considered who they would take.

They effectively resulted in Dalrymple being overruled and Gowers taken over the other young player, who remains undrafted but likely to emerge on a club list this November.

Dalrymple was contracted for 2018 but left for Sydney, believing Beveridge had broken his own rule about “letting the bakers bake”.

He believed he had built up enough credits through rookie picks Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus to be handed the power to select the Dogs’ only rookie pick last year.

It was the final straw, and Sam Power now is at the top of a list management structure as the “single point of responsibility for decisions”, as Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains described it.

They are the kind of internal power struggles that must be so commonplace in football, but rarely emerge publicly.

What is beyond question is that right now Gowers looks a player.


Billy Gowers in action for the Northern Blues in the VFL. Picture: Mark Wilson
As Kevin Sheedy has often said, the recruiter could pick someone, but Sheedy as senior coach had to want to play him.

Alastair Clarkson overruled list manager Chris Pelchen to recruit Stuart Dew, and it won Hawthorn the 2008 premiership.

For his part, Gowers is just happy Beveridge wanted him.

“I really don’t know about that, to be honest,’’ he said of the power struggle.

“Maybe it might give you a bit more confidence, but once you are at the club you still have to earn the respect of all the coaches and players.”

M1030504_Perfect 9_Kerstin Thuresson_APR18 V3 650 x 90 px EMAIL.jpg

Gowers credits the Dogs’ VFL affiliate with reigniting his love for the game, a year spent working with real estate firm Vic Prop selling and leasing properties giving him a taste of the real world.

“It feels like I was a lifetime ago I was at Carlton,” he said. “It was only a year and a half ago and I am still finding my feet with adapting to full-time footy again but, in saying that, I am loving it.


Luke Beveridge wanted Billy Gowers at his club. Picture: AAP Images
“I have been asked the question of what went wrong at Carlton, but I think it was a bit of a maturity thing.

“There were heaps of changes in a short amount of time, three senior coaches in two years, a heap of different development coaches, senior assistants. Only 13 or 14 blokes are still there from when I was there, which is an amazing stat.

“Ultimately I wasn’t playing well enough to keep my spot and yet technically I was the last bloke not to get picked. It was out of me and Andrew Gallucci and he took that rookie spot.”

This time around Gowers doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.

“Last year was about enjoying my footy and this year I want to be a regular player in the team and give value for effort and be of value to the club.”

Cool story & all, but can only be decided on any end result if we know who the other player was. Must be a bottom ager if he wasn’t taken in the last draft

 

[Sentinel]

Not that we'll ever find out, but I'd love to know who Dalrymple wanted instead given its mentioned they'll likely be picked up this year.

 

[bresker]

I wonder what Dalrymple thought of the Stringer trade ?

Wouldn’t mind taking the other player Dal was keen on this November!

 

[Golden_6]

There were a few things all adding up that contributed to Dal moving on.

First hand source, heard there was a bit of a divide in keeping Tweedie on the list. Dalrymple wanted to give him another year and Bevo wanted him gone. Another little thing.

 

[The Inbetweener]

Funny one. Bev seems right to overall in this instance as Gowers has shown plenty but cost us Dalrymple in the long term (he may have wanted to leave anyway due to Power’s role)

 

[The Inbetweener]

I wonder what Dalrymple thought of the Stringer trade ?

Wouldn’t mind taking the other player Dal was keen on this November!

I know he was against the Schache trade which isn’t ideal

 

[X_box_X]

Cool story & all, but can only be decided on any end result if we know who the other player was. Must be a bottom ager if he wasn’t taken in the last draft

The result has already been determined. Fact is, Bevo overruled a recruiting officer's decision, which should never happen. The reward of any immediate on field success will always be outweighed by the long term consequences.

Having heard about this, I am pretty disappointed in Bevo and the club. The club should not have allowed Bevo to have the final say. It no doubt led to disharmony and tension and long term it looks like we will pay the consequences with Dalrymple heading to the Harbour.

I don't mind a coach providing a recruiting officer with an opinion, only if that opinion is asked for.

 

[Pugz89]

First hand source, heard there was a bit of a divide in keeping Tweedie on the list. Dalrymple wanted to give him another year and Bevo wanted him gone. Another little thing.

Fair enough, I guess in that instance Bevo probably has the final say. Would have seen Tweedie around the club, even if he was injured etc and seems like the type of guy that is pretty clear with what he wants. The job of recruiting is to identify talent, get them to the club and give them a chance. From there, it is coaching and development staff that take over.

 

[bresker]

One wonders if Sam power is really in charge of recruiting or is it Luke Beveridge?

 

[Golden_6]

Fair enough, I guess in that instance Bevo probably has the final say. Would have seen Tweedie around the club, even if he was injured etc and seems like the type of guy that is pretty clear with what he wants. The job of recruiting is to identify talent, get them to the club and give them a chance. From there, it is coaching and development staff that take over.

In saying that, it should also be list management team deciding on the makeup of the list, and the coach developing and coaching based on the list he’s given. I might add that McCartney was on Dalrymples side on the one but I’d imagine coaches get a pretty big say in this kind of stuff across all clubs.

 

[100action]

Wonder who Dal wanted to pick with the last pick.

 

[Pugz89]

Cool story & all, but can only be decided on any end result if we know who the other player was. Must be a bottom ager if he wasn’t taken in the last draft

Might have been a state league player or mature ager, given the history of Dal's rookie picks.

 

[maddog37]

The result has already been determined. Fact is, Bevo overruled a recruiting officer's decision, which should never happen. The reward of any immediate on field success will always be outweighed by the long term consequences.

Having heard about this, I am pretty disappointed in Bevo and the club. The club should not have allowed Bevo to have the final say. It no doubt led to disharmony and tension and long term it looks like we will pay the consequences with Dalrymple heading to the Harbour.

I don't mind a coach providing a recruiting officer with an opinion, only if that opinion is asked for.

More power to Bevo I say. He is the gaffer.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

I'm all for the coach having final say. recruiter does his job and 90% will be ticked off, if a coach wants or doesn't want a particular player, he should make that call.

 

[Wizard17]

Reckon it might have been Mitch Podhajski