Former Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy believes Luke Beveridge’s “fanatical” obsession with his players being able to kick on both feet is one of the reasons behind the Dogs’ miraculous win on Saturday night.
The men from Footscray were able to storm home in the final quarter to win by a solitary point over the Lions at the Gabba, keeping themselves in the premiership hunt.
Bailey Smith was the hero for the Bulldogs, kicking a miraculous goal from the pocket on his opposite foot in the dying minutes that was crucial in securing the win.
Murphy believes the reason Smith was able to kick the goal was due to his coach’s insistence to learn to kick with both feet.
“Luke Beveridge, he’s fanatical about players being able to kick on both sides,” he said on SEN Drive.
“To get you out of trouble and to save time, you need it.”
The 312-game veteran says when Beveridge was brought in at the end of 2014, he changed the mindset at the club around being strong on both sides of the body.
“In junior football it was all about learning both sides, but when I got to the AFL it was ‘nah, you try and get onto your dominant side as much as you can,’” Murphy said.
“When he arrived, you would have been shocked. AFL players who looked like they’d never kicked on their opposite foot.”
Murphy’s co-host Andy Maher said there aren’t many players who could replicate what the young Bulldog did.
“He backed himself, didn’t worry about trying to straighten up, he did what footballers are meant to do,” he said.
“There would have been a significant amount of players on that field who if they were in Bailey Smith’s situation wouldn’t have been prepared to roll the dice on their non-preferred.”
Smith will line up for the Bulldogs on Saturday night against Port Adelaide in a preliminary final.