WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has signed a new two-year contract extension to remain at Mission Whitten Oval until the end of 2027.
The 2016 premiership coach met with Western Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler, CEO Ameet Bains and football director Luke Darcy during the bye to finalise the club's decision.
After completing the contract in recent days, the Bulldogs players, staff and members were told on Tuesday afternoon.
The 54-year-old joined the Bulldogs in November 2014 amid a period of unrest at the kennel and has coached the club more times than anyone else (241 games), overtaking Footscray legend Ted Whitten at the end of last season.
His new deal should see him pass the 300-game barrier in 2027.
After starting the season without a deal beyond October, Beveridge has led the club around plenty of on-field obstacles with injuries to key players – Sam Darcy, Marcus Bontempelli, Cody Weightman, Adam Treloar and Liam Jones – to start the season, plus the absence of former No.1 pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan due to personal issues.
The Bulldogs are 6-6 and currently one game outside the eight in ninth spot, but are well placed to rise up the ladder with Darcy set to return this Thursday night against St Kilda and a month of games against sides in the bottom six.
Beveridge has been asked about his future on a weekly basis for the past six months and ruled out coaching another club in 2026 in April when he was linked in the media to Melbourne.
Without a manager representing him, Beveridge has met with Watson-Wheeler, Bains and Darcy on a monthly basis this year and always maintained his desire to remain at the club if they thought he was the right person for the job.
Former Essendon and Melbourne CEO Peter Jackson conducted an external review of the club's football department ahead of last season, with many of those changes having a significant impact on the coach and the program.
Halfway through his 11th season at the kennel, Beveridge has led the Dogs to September seven times, starting in his first season in 2015 and most recently last year.
Beveridge is the only living Bulldogs premiership coach – the late great Charlie Sutton led them to victory in 1954 – and the only man to lead them to two Grand Finals, although they haven't won a final since 2021, the year they lost to Melbourne in the Grand Final at Optus Stadium.
After re-signing Darcy at the start of the year and free agent Ed Richards last month, before the coach during the bye, the club will now narrow its focus on re-signing skipper Marcus Bontempelli in the coming weeks.
The six-time All-Australian and six-time Sutton Medal winner is out of contract in October, but expected to extend his decorated career at the Whitten Oval in the coming weeks.
