Luke Beveridge says AFL players need to be “protected” amid the league’s recent change to its holding-the-ball interpretation.
The Western Bulldogs fell disappointingly to the Brisbane Lions on Friday night at Marvel Stadium, and while Beveridge attributed the brunt of the loss to his side’s stoppage shortfall, he also jumped at the chance to voice his thoughts on the contentious rule tweak.
The Dogs haven’t been able to string more than two consecutive wins together this season and are 2-2 in their past four matches — sitting in 11th position on the ladder with the potential to be two games outside the top eight by the end of Round 13.
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Despite entering as the league’s best points-from-stoppage-differential side over the past five weeks, the Bulldogs were trounced in Friday night’s clearance battle, going down by 18 in the crucial category.
Further, they were -19 in the inside-50 tally as Brisbane’s dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale went to work; notching 38 disposals at 84 per cent efficiency, 10 clearances, 14 contested possessions and two goals.
On the other side of the ball, Marcus Bontempelli was blanketed by sticky Lions midfielder Jarrod Berry.
“It was a bit like the Fremantle game earlier in the year when we went over to Perth — we were torched at the source,” Beveridge told reporters post-game.
“Numbers-wise, territory game was too far in the opposition’s favour. It was a bit of a challenge — a huge challenge, actually — with the make-up of our brigade in there.
“We didn’t negate their influence for most of the game, unfortunately. (It’s) difficult to win with a landslide of clearance wins that they had. (We were the) victim, sometimes, of what we provide to the opposition — we sort of (took) our medicine there.
“We couldn’t get enough momentum around the whole ground. We didn’t have enough winners. They just had the weight of numbers, in the end.”
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Prior to Round 12, the AFL directed umpires to shorten the ‘reasonable time’ a player has to dispose of the ball. The sudden change of perception has since dominated discussion.
Beveridge was asked for his thoughts on the league’s changed holding-the-ball rule interpretation — taking the opportunity to thoroughly dissect the direction of the modern game.
“It’s a challenge,” Beveridge said. “In the AFL’s charter, it talks about our game being a contested game.
“And in the charter, you have to protect the player who tries to win the ball. We can’t move away from that, otherwise the game changes.
“What happened last week was a reaction to some feedback from some senior coaches, but they were talking about situations where players were standing up in tackles and the request was for the whistle to be blown a bit earlier.
“Whether they’ve had prior opportunity or not, just blow it earlier. But now that’s been taken into situations where players have been taken to ground.
“Now, what we need to absolutely uphold is the prior or no prior opportunity. So, when a player has not had prior opportunity, we’ve got to make sure that we protect the player.”
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Beveridge maintained his comments weren’t in reference to the way Friday night’s bout was officiated, but rather a general overview.
“I’m not talking about tonight, I’m just talking about the game in essence. We need to protect the guy who wins the footy. If he gets tackled straight away, we need to make sure we get back to making sure we’re in sync with, as I said, the spirit of the game, more than anything.
“You guys can assess what happened tonight, I’m not going to comment on it. But what’s happened is now that the game has evolved and changed within the space of two weeks, and it’s risky now and a concern if we’re not looking after the ball-winner.”
Beveridge said he wasn’t left puzzled by the AFL’s mid-season alteration.
“I’m not confused, because I know what should happen,” he declared, continuing.
“Again, (I’m) not talking about what happened tonight — I watched every game last week, and we’re only in the infancy of this round — but the priority should be to make sure that whoever’s winning the footy is looked after.
“I think there’s people have said ‘get rid of the prior opportunity rule’. But, if you do, it’s a very different game if you’ve got players who are hesitant to go and win it.
“We don’t want to be there. The AFL’s got a challenge on their hands. I think the umpires are trying to process and manage the situation, and where it goes is it’s a challenge for them.”
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Beveridge said the Bulldogs were “likely to lose” Alex Keath after the key defender suffered a hamstring injury on Friday evening.
However, he wouldn’t commit to bringing Buku Khamis into the side’s starting 22 after he was named the Dogs’ substitute against the Lions, with Beveridge stating the interceptor was included “for insurance”.
Meantime, Luke Cleary and Jordon Croft succumbed to concussion in the VFL.
“The attrition rate is not great at the moment,” said ‘Bevo’, concluding.
“The boys are hanging in there and I think they’re doing a mighty job with the changes in personnel.
“The boys coming in (at selection), playing roles, and, yeah, we’ll be challenged again this week in the lead-up to the Fremantle game.”