IN THE DOGHOUSE: Kevin Hillier

■ The Werribee Football Club will have full alignment with the North Melbourne Kangaroos from the 2016 season. What does this mean for the club, the players and supporters? The club will retain its home ground, colours, nickname and theme song. There will be 23 blokes in Tiger jumpers running on to the ground each weekend – that won’t change. And the fact that 12 or more may be Kangaroo-listed players won’t be a game changer. There will still be opportunities for non-North players to play for the club if they’re good enough. North Melbourne is not taking over the Tigers – it will supply players and other personnel. Werribee is facing a very challenging 2016 season. The proposed redevelopment of Avalon Airport Oval means finding an alternative training venue and home ground for a year. Arden Street may be the saviour. Werribee has done well with the partial alignment, making four finals appearances. But when you look at Footscray, Box Hill and Geelong, the talent gap is widening. I am keen to hear from Tigers fans about this. Yes, I work for the club as media manager. And personally, I think this will be good for the long-term future of the Tigers.

■ My memories of Luke Beveridge at the early ’90s Bulldogs are of a tough, hard-at-it player and a nice bloke off the field. His appointment last week as senior coach of the Bulldogs was done well, and Luke handled the situation with aplomb. Especially when a ‘journo’ asked one of the stupidest questions of all time. Check out the website as I refuse to repeat it. The smartest move he made all week was to appoint Bobby Murphy as skipper for 2015. These two appointments will allow the Bulldogs to concentrate on what’s important – a good preseason and a positive start to 2015.

■ Sport in the west lost two of its elder statesmen last week. Grand United Cricket Club is mourning the passing of Ken ‘Lofty’ Pearce. Ken was named captain of Grand United’s team of the century and had a very good career as a district cricketer for North Melbourne. The Bulldogs lost a beauty with the passing of Ben Bradley. What a man. Ben was an integral part of the change rooms for more years than most of us can remember. Much is made of on-field greats. Ben Bradley was one of the greats off the field.

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