Dermott Brereton has revealed he holds concerns about the football decisions that could be made at the Western Bulldogs in the coming months.
Hawthorn great Brereton says he isn't convinced by Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler’s “football nous” following her comments earlier this week.
The Bulldogs have spent the week in the headlines after losing to Hawthorn in Round 8, with Luke Beveridge’s side now holding a 3-5 record.
In a semi-regular spot on ABC Radio, Watson-Wheeler – among other comments backing her coach and insisting the club won’t make rash decisions – admitted the Hawks clash was one the men from Whitten Oval expected to win.
“Certainly it was a game we all definitely expected to win so we are all disappointed and frustrated within the club, all levels of the club,” she said
It’s this comment that Brereton has taken umbrage with. The five-time premiership Hawk says he has vast respect for Watson-Wheeler’s intelligence, but believes that “expected to win” line is one that “did not get the football industry”.
“Kylie Watson-Wheeler, whose intelligence is equal to yours and mine put together and can play us all on a break… what is lost in the wash is when she came out on the Monday hoping to show solidarity and said, ‘oh yeah, we expected to beat Hawthorn, we expected to win this one’…” Brereton began on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“I don’t know of too many presidents who would come out and backhandedly besmirch their opposition, given that Hawthorn had only won one game but they are the only team outside of last year’s top eight that beat both Grand Finalists (in 2023).
“So they are more than capable, on their day, of beating absolutely anyone of the other 17 teams in the competition.
“I just thought that for such an intelligent woman, who as I said, she’s smarter than all of us put together, to me, it showed and it displayed a lack of football nous.”
The Hawks had only won one game before Sunday's clash and their last two losses had come by a combined 129 points.
Brereton went on to caution the Dogs against listening to outside noise on Beveridge.
The 2016 premiership coach is under plenty of pressure early in 2024, despite having a contract until the end of next season. He’s never led the Dogs to a top-four finish despite being the fifth longest-tenured coach in the league and has had multiple selection calls questioned in recent weeks.
But Brereton is resolute Beveridge should have the club’s faith.
“I’ve been in board rooms with captains of industry who just don’t get the football industry, and that was a quote that I thought did not get the football industry,” he continued on Watson-Wheeler's comments.
“Therefore, for the first time, I’d be a little worried about some of the decisions that could be made. Because if you don’t totally get the football world, you can react to noise.
“The hardest thing I found at board level over many, many years, was to tell people who were more important than me, don’t react to the noise from the media and social media.
“Run your own race as you feel, not that of the noise outside.
“A comment like that suggested to me that that type of person might listen to the outside.
“Everyone in the league who hasn’t won a premiership for 15-20 years is looking for the coach to unlock the key. Bevo has that key and knows what that coach is.
“Is he a better coach now than he was in 2016? I would undoubtedly say yes. Have things gone right? No.”
The Bulldogs have lost to teams 4th, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 16th on the ladder and have a tricky run to come, playing the Giants, Swans, Pies and Lions over the next five weeks.
