It was almost the perfect symmetry.

On 1 October 2016, the Western Bulldogs won a drought-breaking 2016 premiership - the club's first flag in 62 years - with Luke Beveridge winning his first AFL premiership as senior coach.

Magpie fans remember Beveridge fondly from his days as player development manager in 2009 and 2010, with club winning its 15th AFL flag in his last year at the club.

But the story goes deeper, and it links to that same dateline.

For on 1 October, 1927, his grandfather, Jack Beveridge, played in his first league premiership as part of the Collingwood Machine, with whom he would go on to play in four successive flags.

Luke Beveridge wasn't aware of the link to the datelines, exactly 89 years apart, when the Bulldogs took to the field against the Swans in last Saturday’s Grand Final.

But he remains immensely proud of Jack's football legacy, which has passed on through the generations.

"Wow, I didn't know that," Luke Beveridge said this week when told of the 1 October link. "We are extremely proud of what Jack achieved. It was an incredible period of success with the Machine."

Fittingly, Luke was entrusted with the acceptance speech when Jack was posthumously inducted into the Collingwood Hall of Fame six years ago.

“Jack’s contribution to the success of the era was borne out of an immense passion for the game," he said. "The passion has filtered through the second and third generation of his kin.

"It is a passion that shows through in (Luke’s sons) Kye and Noah, and their cousins. That passion will endure in our family for forever and a day.

"With all teams to have sustained success, people just think they (the Machine) were the best side by a fair way — and they must have been — because they won so often and achieved so much.”



Luke Beveridge was a development coach at Collingwood in 2009 and 2010.

Luke's love of the game and many of his beliefs were instilled in him by his grandfather, and his father, John, who played in the Collingwood under 19s and reserves, and was a long-time St Kilda recruiting manager.

Jack Beveridge was a local lad, from Abbotsford, when he came under the notice of Collingwood recruiting scouts. He played in the seconds' premiership in 1925, and was a star almost from his first game, in the opening round of the following year. The Sporting Globe said after that debut: "If ever there was a born footballer, he is one ... He plays with the skill, judgement and coolness of the seasoned football."

He played in the 1926 losing Grand Final against Melbourne - one of the three teams his grandson would play for in 118 games - but he did win the Austral Cup, for the most popular player in his debut season.

1927 would be the start of that sustained run of success. After another good season, Jack Beveridge was out there on the MCG on 1 October, 1927, as he and Collingwood sought the redemption for the year before.

The game almost didn't go ahead. A drought in Victoria had broken with persistent rain lashing across the state and the MCG, and putting pressure on the VFL to call off the Grand Final, as the VFA had done.

But the show went on, and the Magpies were glad it did. Goals were difficult to come by, the Magpies would only score two for the game, but it would be enough to secure the first of four successive premierships.

Jack Beveridge had a difficult day, not just because of the weather. The centreman was one of three players knocked down in the opening minutes of the second half. He was winded, but it didn't stop him from making a contribution to the club's 12-point win. He would also play in the 1928, 1929 and 1930 flags, as the Machine created history by becoming the first - and so far only - team to win four premierships on the trot.

Luke Beveridge's Bulldogs stopped Hawthorn's chances this year of chasing the Machine's record, with a stunning semi-final victory. Better still, the Dogs went on to win a fairytale premiership win over Sydney.

That it happened on 1 October, 2016, only served to further connect his story to that of his late 'Pa'.

One of the most striking things that Luke remembered about Jack, who died when his grandson was almost 16, in 1986, was that he always seemed to be happy.

 “He (Jack) always seemed content and carefree ... I suppose he had pretty good reason to be with his achievements," he said.

Luke Beveridge is anything but content, as he plots more success for his young team. But the fact he helped preserve the Machine's record, and won his first premiership as an AFL senior coach, feels pretty bloody good.