Jack Macrae has been dumped as the Western Bulldogs’ vice-captain and booted out of the leadership group following a process that included a player vote.
Macrae has spent two years as Marcus Bontempelli’s deputy but on Wednesday the Bulldogs revealed Tom Liberatore had been appointed to that role. Macrae was nowhere to be seen in the rest of the seven-man leadership group.
A club statement from coach Luke Beveridge read: “We recognise Jack Macrae’s contribution as vice-captain over the last two years and his impact as a leader over his journey so far. Jack will come out of the leadership group in 2024.”
Macrae, 29, has spent over a decade at the Dogs but his relegation comes a season after he lost his spot in Beveridge’s starting midfield.
A premiership player, three-time All Australian and Gary Ayres Medalist, Macrae attended just 36 per cent of centre bounces in 2023, down from 64 per cent and 77 per cent the two years prior.
But Cornes suggested it was a positive move for the Dogs, who failed to qualify for finals last year.
“Look, I don’t mind it,” the Port Adelaide great told SEN Sportsday.
“When things haven’t worked, change it up. It’s a reasonably drastic change on the surface because it would be a big hit to Jack Macrae’s ego (if it was a player vote) so it’s quite confronting when you’ve been in that space for a couple of years and you’re held in high regard and your playing resume is absolutely stacked and all of a sudden your peers don’t vote for you to drive the standards of the club.
“But it’s a good thing. It hasn’t worked, you’ve underperformed as a side, so start changing it. They’ve changed the coaching staff, high performance… and now the actual player leadership group is changing as well.”
In a big year for Beveridge, one of the most under pressure coaches this pre-season, Cornes called for the embattled senior coach to face the media and explain the decision.
“You’ve got an excellent captain, if he’s not the best captain in the game he’s close, Marcus Bontempelli, he needs more help. He’s been let down by his teammates around him, it’s part of the reason his side can’t stop run-ons, they’re poor defensively, there are a lot of issues at that football club so change it, and that’s what they’re doing. I like it,” Cornes said.
“I would just love to hear from Luke Beveridge so he can explain that to us as well.”
Liberatore experienced somewhat of a career resurgence in 2023, improving his output in disposals, clearances, inside 50s and tackles year on year.
Aaron Naughton, Caleb Daniel, Taylor Duryea, Ed Richards and Liam Jones round out the leadership group.