{"id":845785,"date":"2026-08-06T16:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845785\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:28:12","slug":"i-would-beveridges-candid-waiver-admission-after-bombshell-geelong-report-as-star-ponders-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/845785\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I would\u2019: Beveridge\u2019s candid waiver admission after bombshell Geelong report as star ponders future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has revealed he himself may have signed a waiver relating to concussions back in his playing days, in the wake of the revelation Geelong struck an agreement with a current player regarding any future brain injuries<\/a> sustained on the field.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, Herald Sun chief football writer Jay Clark revealed the bombshell would, in essence, attempt to waive \u201csome legal rights\u201d for future head knocks sustained on the field.<\/a><\/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

By Thursday evening, the league and players\u2019 union released a statement saying the waiver had been removed and any future arrangements would need to be approved by the AFL and AFLPA.<\/p>\n

Speaking to journalists after his side\u2019s 23-point loss to North Melbourne in Round 22, the 2016 premiership coach was understandably coy on the revelation, however, was empathetic for any player in a similar circumstance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anything about it, so it\u2019s difficult to have a view \u2014 it really is,\u201d Beveridge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every player wants to keep playing until their boots fall off, so it\u2019s an interesting discussion around liability and risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know enough about it. All I know is that when I was playing, we all had concussions. If I had to sign a waiver to keep playing, I would\u2019ve. That\u2019s me personally, back in the day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened \u2026 We\u2019re so careful with our players now. The way we train, and the way duty of care goes, we really look after them. I don\u2019t know enough about that situation to comment on that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AFL revealed Geelong won\u2019t be penalised for its secret concussion deal, in a move that has angered clubs and fans across the code.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Liberatore leaves the field after his side’s loss to North Melbourne in Round 22, 2026.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Veteran Tom Liberatore is one of Beveridge\u2019s star players who has been notably impacted by concussion throughout his 267-game AFL career, with the inside bull telling Seven\u2019s Mitch Cleary on Thursday night that it remains at the forefront of his mind when contemplating his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main priority is to make sure I don\u2019t have any more; that\u2019s pretty much the main thing,\u201d Liberatore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main priority is my health and safety, and making sure I look after my future after footy. I\u2019ll prioritise that, and we\u2019ll go from there.\u201c<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old comments appeared to catch his head coach by surprise in his post-match press conference when relayed to him, as Liberatore remains out of contract for 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis future doesn\u2019t hinge on concussion, but yeah, he\u2019s had a few,\u201d Beveridge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one we\u2019ve kept out for weeks on end to make sure he\u2019s really ready to come back and play. There\u2019s no way we\u2019d rush a player back.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit of water to go under the bridge over the next period of time, but you\u2019re always worried about players who have had a few.\u201d<\/p>\n

In concerning news to come out of the Round 22 clash, Bulldogs ruck Tim English hobbled from the field inside the final 10 minutes of the match clutching at his left knee.<\/p>\n

Having already missed a period of time through injury earlier this year in a major test to their key position depth, Beveridge was unsure to the extent of English\u2019s niggle. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t give you an update, I don\u2019t know the extent of the injury, what\u2019s happening, we didn\u2019t put him back on obviously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

English is consulted by trainers before eventually leaving the field in the final 10 minutes on Thursday night.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201c(Tristan Xerri) is a very good around the ground stoppage player. I think we were hoping for a bit more from a group at centre bounce (and) we didn\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to say, overall, we lowered our colours through that area of the ground from the collective point of view.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said last week there was a stalemate between us and Fremantle, but I\u2019d say North Melbourne got the points tonight through that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 last fortnight of the home-and-away season sees them take on both Carlton and Melbourne at Marvel Stadum and the MCG respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has revealed he himself may have signed a waiver relating to concussions back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-845785","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\/845785","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=845785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}