Let’s be clear. The Western Bulldogs and Melbourne might have played off once before in a Grand Final, but theirs is hardly one of the fiercest rivalry in the game.
That might change, depending on what happens at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, but for now, what stands out with the Dogs and the Demons are the interesting ties that bind.
Much of it is to do with Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge, who played 42 games for the Demons between 1989 and 1992 before moving onto the Bulldogs for 31 games over the next three years before finishing at St Kilda with 45 games in four seasons.
His father John was the long-time legendary recruiting manager at St Kilda and among his early proteges was Jason Taylor, who is Luke Beveridge’s best mate going back to when they started primary school together.
Taylor did the hard yards at the bottom tier of AFL recruiting, traveling around regional Victoria for about $1000 a year. That grew into a more permanent role working for Derek Hine at Collingwood, before winning the role as Melbourne’s recruiting manager at the end of 2013.
Beveridge also has a close relationship with Melbourne’s list manager, Tim Lamb. They first became acquainted at VAFA club St Bedes/Mentone where Beveridge made history by guiding the Tigers to consecutive flags in Premier C, Premier B and Premier A Grade between 2006 and 2008.
The 2006 flag against AJAX, in which the Tigers came from eight goals down to win, with Beveridge the playing coach masterminding it all from across half-back, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest games of amateur footy ever played.
Lamb, who worked for Victoria Police, was Beveridge’s off-sider through those three flags, and through their friendship, became friendly with Taylor, who eventually brought him across to the Demons as a recruiting officer. Together, they have nailed Melbourne’s recruitment ever since, both at the draft and through trade and free agency.
Footy did bring them briefly into conflict. The Dogs had recruited Mitch Hannan from St Bernard’s, another well-known VAFA club, for their VFL team, with a view to drafting him on to their AFL list at the earliest opportunity.
But the Demons got in first and things briefly turned frosty between them in late 2016 when they selected Hannan in the third round of that year’s national draft.
“I had some arguments with ‘Lamby’ and Jase back when they took him because we were going to take him in that draft. It pissed me off; I understood it and well done to them, but I’m glad we got him back. He’s a very important part of our forward line.
“They’re two great mates. But as much as I’d love them to salute at some point, I definitely don’t want it in two weeks’ time,” Beveridge said after the preliminary final.
Beveridge, Hannan and Dogs ruckman Stefan Martin, who played 57 games for Melbourne between 2008 and 2012 before a long stint with Brisbane and then joining the Bulldogs this year, are probably the only three former Demons alive who won’t be cheering for a drought-breaking Melbourne win on Saturday night.
Martin was an early influence over Max Gawn and when he departed for Brisbane, it allowed Gawn to move up the big man pecking order at the Demons.
There are a couple of WhatsApp groups comprising former Melbourne players. The one started by Rod Grinter doesn’t have Beveridge as a member, while another that includes Beveridge and New York-based former Demon Glenn Lovett will be going easy on him.
“We want the Dees to win but we’re all supportive of Lukey because he’s a great mate. We won’t be getting stuck into him,” Lovett said.
Beveridge also has ties with another key football figure at the Demons. In late July 2014, St Kilda announced that Beveridge, about to complete his third season as the defensive coach at Hawthorn, would join the club as director of coaching once his duties with the Hawks were completed for the year.
“I’m really excited about the prospect of coming to St Kilda and working with the players and the coaches as the club builds towards future success,” Beveridge said at the time.
It is not entirely accurate to state that he never quite made it to the Saints.
He was assigned an office at the club’s then Seaford headquarters and spent a few days there after the Hawks won the Grand Final setting some things up for when he returned from a much-needed and long-planned overseas trip with his family. He had both a Saints email address and a club polo shirt.
But he and Saints coach Alan Richardson never spent any more time together. Things fell apart at the Bulldogs just as Beveridge arrived in the United States and among the casualties was senior coach Brendan McCartney.
The Dogs established a panel to look for a new coach and the timing, given it was already well into October, was quite late. Former Bulldog Luke Darcy was enlisted on to the panel but only on the proviso that Beveridge was on the short list to become the next senior coach.
Beveridge undertook most of the process to become the Dogs’ coach while on holiday and then secured the job when he returned home in the middle of November.
One of his first phone calls was to Richardson to tell him they would not get to work together at the Saints after all.
On Saturday night, they will lock horns, with Richardson now the head of football performance at the Demons and pretty much in charge of what takes place in the coach’s box while coach Simon Goodwin weaves his magic from the boundary line.
More familial ties? For much of Richardson’s time at the Saints, his list manager and then footy boss was Ameet Bains. The pair worked together through several drafts and at the end of 2014, they agonised between taking Paddy McCartin and Christian Petracca with the first pick.
They went with McCartin, which was a tough call for Richardson at the time, because he was friendly with the Petracca family away from football. Had the Saints had their time again, they would doubtless have chosen differently, but for the last two years, Richardson has enjoyed his front row seat as Petracca has gone from good to great for the Demons.
And while the Saints whiffed on Marcus Bontempelli the year before, choosing Jack Billings instead, Bains, who left St Kilda in 2018 to become chief executive at the Bulldogs, now has Bontempelli on his side.