Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains has continued to back Luke Beveridge in the ongoing feud between the drought-breaking premiership coach and outspoken media pundit Kane Cornes, implying that Cornes' ban from the club's changing rooms before games will continue next season.
Cornes has been highly critical of Beveridge's coaching in recent years, and has made suggestions that the 55-year-old should depart the club from his position as senior coach.
The back-and-forth between the two boiled over when the pair exchanged words heatedly before the Bulldogs' Round 11 clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, less than a month after Cornes claimed the Bulldogs had banned him from their change rooms.
In an interview with Herald Sun's Michael Warner, Bains indicated that Beveridge and the playing group felt that Cornes' antics were a "significant distraction" and needed to be removed ahead of the club's primetime fixtures.
"In the rooms, particularly pre-game, is the most tense time of the working week for our coaches and our players," Bains said.
"It's our job as a club to ensure that any significant distractions are removed.
"Beveridge is such a staunchly loyal person, so he will defend his people if he feels like they've been wronged or attacked. At times, people don't like being stood up to.
"Ultimately, there's a balance on these things, but from our end, we know [Beveridge] is coming from a good place."
Bains conceded that the Footscray-based outfit do have a largely positive relationship with the Channel 7 broadcaster, of which Cornes is an employee of, but stated that the concerns of Cornes' involvement will need to be addressed.
“There's obviously a relationship challenge there, but we have a strong partnership with Channel 7 and have been fortunate to have a lot of primetime games," Bains said.
“Once the fixtures are out, we'll definitely have a chat about how we continue to collaborate and address it.”
The Bulldogs' ban on Cornes followed the suit of North Melbourne, who imposed even stricter sanctions on the 300-game Port Adelaide star for what the Kangaroos called "inappropriate, targeted, vindictive, bullying behaviour" on the club and its players.
Similarly to the Bulldogs, this also looks likely to remain in place next season.
Despite the noise surrounding Beveridge's future at the club, Bains continues to believe Beveridge is the man for the job, extending his contract through the 2027 season back in June.
His view on Beveridge's tenure hasn't changed since the Dogs ultimately missed out on September action, doing so with the highest percentage for a team outside the top eight in AFL history.
“We feel we've got the right things in place across the club to help us flourish,” Bains said.
“It's a very even competition. You need everything to be going in your favour and hopefully that does unfold for us, but we'll certainly go into next year with some confidence around where we sit. Stability is paramount within that.”
