{"id":776758,"date":"2026-07-03T15:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/776758\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T15:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T15:59:12","slug":"afl-2026-luke-beveridge-comments-on-tim-english-trade-rumours-position-move-vs-swans-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/776758\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Luke Beveridge comments on Tim English, trade rumours, position move vs Swans, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke Beveridge has addressed a mystifying move for his star ruckman as a \u201cvote of no confidence\u201d claim emerged on Friday night<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s only set to muddy the waters after shock talks of a trade possibility<\/a> a fortnight ago. <\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tim English was perplexingly deployed deep in defence during the Bulldogs\u2019 35-point loss to Sydney on Friday night, prompting curiosity from the Fox Footy panel at the SCG. <\/p>\n

Rory Lobb became Beveridge\u2019s preferred option in the middle, totalling 18 centre-bounce attendances by full-time to English\u2019s six. <\/p>\n

The 28-year-old was in the middle for 25 per cent of centre ball-ups, after averaging close to 70 per cent attendance for the year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat message is Luke Beveridge sending by playing Tim English at full back?\u201d Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall posed mid-game. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a vote of no confidence in the ruck.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his post-match press conference, the only explanation the Dogs\u2019 coach gave was that Sydney\u2019s Brodie Grundy was simply too strong for his charges. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t planning to (use Lobb more than English),\u201d Beveridge told reporters in Sydney. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just think our guys found Brodie Grundy just too strong. He just dominated \u2026 that was a challenge. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought \u2018Lobby\u2019 did pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

THE 3-2-1: Stark Swans \u2018change\u2019 in shock statement as Dogs move badly exposed, stars hurt<\/a><\/p>\n

THE 3-2-1: \u2018Rolled the sleeves up\u2019: Crows survive Eagles scare as concerns raised over star<\/a><\/p>\n

OFF-CONTRACT PLAYERS: 12-club bidding war; contender set to be raided<\/a><\/p>\n

Probed further on English and if he was managing some sort of ailment, Beveridge said: \u201cHe\u2019s not carrying anything. He was a bit stiff in the back over the break. <\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, some of the ruckmen in the competition – and Brodie\u2019s one of them – (are) just a huge handful for any ruckman; they\u2019re just big and strong \u2026 you just give credit to their ruckman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curnow kicks six in Swans statement win | 02:23<\/p>\n

Following Beveridge\u2019s media conference, triple flag-winning Tiger Jack Riewoldt said he agreed with Dunstall\u2019s \u201cno-confidence\u201d mid-match claim. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is two games in a row \u2026 two weeks ago, he came up against Rowan Marshall and Tom De Koning, and they ruck him at centre bounce and get him to roll forward,\u201d Riewoldt said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s standing at full back while Rory Lobb takes the ruck against Brodie Grundy in the Swans\u2019 forward line. <\/p>\n

\u201cTake it back two weeks ago, and he was standing at full forward while Lobb took the ruck in his own forward line. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis could not be a bigger vote of no confidence in Tim English. They\u2019ve put him at full back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis believes \u201cthe questions will come\u201d as to why that was the move Beveridge decided to make on the night. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tipping he hasn\u2019t played a lot at full back, so that\u2019s certainly news,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you\u2019re trying to put a player in a position where they can, one, have confidence, and two, flourish with the skillset they have, full back is not the right position for Tim English. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe questions will come \u2026 no doubt they\u2019ll come during the week, but at the end of the day, he was well-beaten in the middle of the ground. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe came into the game with a back injury, so I wonder how much that had hampered him in his ability to wrestle and perform – but he was dominated in that part of the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riewoldt defiantly added: \u201cYou can\u2019t play a team defence and system, and then expect a man who prior to tonight played maybe 10 per cent in one quarter in his career down back, and expect that system to stand up against the second-best team in the competition. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a move to win a game of footy, for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

English, a South Fremantle product, is contracted at Whitten Oval until 2029, but has been the subject of trade scuttlebutt in recent weeks. <\/p>\n

Just a fortnight ago, Lewis, speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch, said he\u2019d heard \u201cstrong word around\u201d<\/a> that the 208-centimetre ruckman was \u201cgettable\u201d this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would surprise me if he\u2019s there next year,\u201d he said in mid-June. <\/p>\n

And Friday night\u2019s curious move is only set to pour more fuel on speculation about English\u2019s future in red, white and blue. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d have to be asking himself, \u2018Am I the number one ruck at this club, now?\u2019\u201d Riewoldt said. <\/p>\n

Lewis responded: \u201cWe spoke about it a couple of weeks ago On the Couch. Read into that what you will, but there\u2019s movement on the field that is indicating that he might not be their number-one ruckman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riewoldt added: \u201cThe drums are only going to get louder on this after what\u2019s happened in the second half tonight \u2026 I think it might have been a shot across the bow at Tim English.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Beveridge has addressed a mystifying move for his star ruckman as a \u201cvote of no confidence\u201d claim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-776758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}