Finding out mid-press conference his long-time friend had been sacked, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has reflected on the cut-throat nature of leading an AFL club.
After initially addressing injuries to Bulldogs players and their elimination-final clash with Adelaide, Beveridge was stunned to learn Alastair Clarkson had been axed as North Melbourne coach.
Beveridge spent three seasons as an assistant coach under Clarkson at Hawthorn, before winning the top job at the Bulldogs at the end of 2014.
The longest-serving Bulldogs coach in the club's history, Beveridge started off by saying there was "little he could say".
But he then gave thoughtful and considered answers about Clarkson and the state of AFL coaching.
"The difficult thing with what we're all doing is it's a different culture now in in our code," Beveridge said.
"We've almost become like the EPL (English Premier League), where the senior coach's tenure and your own coaching mortality is speculated about a lot more than it used to be.
"As opposed to say the NFL (National Football League), where you can have a winning season and that's considered a success.
"The fallout with families and people close to you is considerable.
"What I'm concerned about is the next generation of senior coaches - do they actually really want to put them in a situation where, from the start of their tenure, their vocational sustainability is speculated upon?
"It's not a nice place to live."
Beveridge described Clarkson as an "amazing coach".
Clarkson coached Hawthorn to four premierships, before winning just 20 of 82 games in four unsuccessful seasons in charge of the Kangaroos.
"An amazing custodian of the game, and really outspoken - someone who's pushed his own opinions to make the game better," Beveridge said of Clarkson.
"I spent three years with him at the Hawks in a really successful time, and I got enormous value and experience out of that.
"He's a resilient and durable guy, and he'll be fine.
"We're all, I'm feeling for him after that news has broken, but we all know that he's going to be OK."
