AFL News: 'It's time' - Cornes urges Dogs to part ways with 'stubborn' Bevo, Eagles' fallen star to sub

Former great Kane Cornes has urged the Western Bulldogs to have ‘serious conversations’ about moving on from senior coach Luke Beveridge at season’s end.

The Bulldogs currently sit seventh, but are a chance to fall out of the eight by the end of the round after their two-point loss on Thursday night to Sydney, with a tough run home jeopardising their chances of a fifth consecutive finals series.

A polarising figure among both Bulldogs fans and in the wider AFL community, Beveridge coached the Bulldogs to just their second ever premiership in 2016, and another grand final in 2021.

But speaking on SEN Breakfast, Cornes argued he is not making the most of one of the league’s most talented lists, saying the Dogs should be better than an ‘average football team’ and that ‘it’s time’ to make a change.

“He has been there too long, and once again – the coach’s job is to maximise what you’ve got. He doesn‘t do that and hasn’t been able to do that for seven years,” Cornes said.

“This group has been wasted, and it would be a real shame that they are an average football team with the list that they’ve got.

“At the end of the year – not now, clearly – I would be having serious conversations about moving on from Luke Beveridge as coach.

“Look at what Ross Lyon has done [at St Kilda] with an average list, and look at what Brad Scott has done at the Bombers.

“What Matty Nicks has at Adelaide is nothing compared to the weapons the Western Bulldogs have.

“Time and time again, my belief is that in recent years he has not maximised the extraordinary talent that he’s got on the list.

“If I’m going to make a statement this morning: he’s lost me a bit, Luke Beveridge, and it’s been building to this point for a while.

“Everyone would kill for the list that they’ve got. There’s selection issues he makes, there’s tactical issues,he can’t stop momentum, and he’s not maximising the assets that he’s got.”

Cornes also slammed the Bulldogs for extending Beveridge’s contract at the end of last season through to the end of 2025, saying the more prudent call would be to follow Port Adelaide’s example and wait to see what unfolded during the season.

The Power are yet to lock in coach Ken Hinkley beyond the end of 2023, despite a 13-game winning streak that has rocketed the team to second on the ladder.

“The Western Bulldogs decided to extend their coach’s contract before a game was played this year,” Cornes said.

“There was no need, or reason, or logic to do it other than to alleviate some of the pressure… it would have been much wiser, as I said at the time, to wait until the halfway point of the year.”

Luke Beveridge is hoping to steer the Dogs to another flag. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Eagles demote fallen star to sub role

West Coast coach Adam Simpson hopes his decision to relegate Andrew Gaff to the sub role for Sunday’s clash with Richmond will help the out-of-form wingman regain his mojo.

There were huge calls for Gaff to be dropped to the WAFL this week after the two-time All-Australian tallied just six disposals in last Saturday’s 81-point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba.

It continued a remarkable fall from grace for Gaff, who is still one of West Coast’s highest-paid players but has been a shadow of himself this year. 

Instead of dropping Gaff to the WAFL, Simpson is giving the 31-year-old another chance at AFL level – albeit as the sub.

When asked whether Gaff could return to the player he once was, Simpson replied: “Absolutely, yeah. 

“He’s working so hard on all that so. We’ve still got a lot of faith. 

“Gaffy will be the sub this week. We’ll pull that lever to try and help him get back into a bit of form.

“You guys are going to treat this like the biggest thing in the world.

“It’s just part of what players go through in their careers, and it happens across the competition.” 

In his past four matches Gaff has posted possession tallies of 16, 13, 21 and six.

It’s a far cry from his career average of 26 possessions per game.

Gaff’s penchant to kick sideways or backwards this year has also been a big talking point.

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Simpson believes the side’s poor form has played a huge role in Gaff’s reduced output.

“The way we’re playing if you’re an outside player it’s going to be pretty difficult to contribute,” Simpson said. 

“He’s done everything he can to get the best out of himself throughout his whole career.

“Even in the off-season he came back super fit, fully committed. And he’s desperate to play well, so he’s doing everything he can. 

“It’s just not coming together on game day. And I suspect part of it’s the way we’re playing. But there’s also some confidence that we’re trying to rebuild.”

West Coast will welcome back captain Luke Shuey and defender Shannon Hurn against the Tigers in a massive boost to their hopes of ending a club-record 14-match losing streak.

(AAP)

Giants lose gun for crunch Crows clash

GWS have suffered a huge blow ahead of their vital eight-point clash with Adelaide on Saturday night, set to play without young gun Tom Green.

In a ninth-versus-10th cracker, the winner of the Adelaide Oval battle could finish the round inside the top eight and will give their AFL finals hopes a massive boost, particularly after the seventh-ranked Western Bulldogs lost to Sydney on Thursday night.

But the Giants will have to do it without influential inside midfielder Green, who coach Adam Kingsley said did a “slight hamstring” at training on Thursday.

There’s no word on how long Green will be sidelined, or who will replace him in the side to face the Crows.

“It happened (on Thursday), he was just still a little bit uncomfortable with it, we decided to get a scan and it came back no good,” he said.

“So it’s unfortunate for us but another guy comes in and he’ll get his opportunity through the midfield whoever that is when we decide, and we’ll go from there.”

Tom Green. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The absence of Green, who ranks fourth in the league for disposals, will heap more pressure on the other Giants gun midfielders, including Josh Kelly who copped a hard tag against Hawthorn last time out and was held to just six touches.

It was just the second time in Kelly’s last 162 games he’s had single-digit disposals.

“Josh and I sat down about it and spoke about the options that he does have if and when he gets tagged next, whether that’s this week or beyond,” Kingsley said.

“So he’s armed with a few more tools now that will be able to hopefully help his influence on the game be a little greater than what it was against Hawthorn.

“They did a wonderful job on him, and we probably as a team didn’t help Josh enough, that’s something we’ll take out of that game.”

The clash will also bring two important milestones, Adelaide’s Rory Sloane celebrating his 250th match while GWS’ Lachie Whitfield will be playing his 200th.