David Mark: Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge's attack on journalist Tom Morris opens him up to claims of hypocrisy

Luke Beveridge's extraordinary personal attack on a journalist was unprofessional and has demonstrated a severe misunderstanding of the role of the media.

Moreover, his attack on Fox Footy's Tom Morris after the Bulldogs' loss to Melbourne in the first match of the AFL season opener opens up Beveridge to accusations of hypocrisy.

Beveridge accused Morris of gutter journalism and a conflict of interest for reporting that Bulldogs player Lachie Hunter would be omitted from last night's team.

Hunter was named as the medical emergency before the match, but later took his place in the team as a late replacement for Jason Johannisen, who was sore in the warm-up.

In other words, Morris's reporting was accurate — Hunter only took his place in the final team at the last minute, and only after Johannisen was injured while warming up.

When Morris asked Beveridge to clarify what had happened, the Bulldogs coach went on the attack.

«You've got the nerve to ask me a question, and even be here,» Beveridge said.

«You barrack for Melbourne, Tom Morris. You've been preying on us. You've been opening us up and causing turmoil within our football club by declaring our team well before it needs to be declared.

»Is that the gutter journalist you want to be?"

Morris attempted to respond but Beveridge went on.

«Somehow you've found out about it again, so we need to get to the bottom of this — obviously we need to put our hand up and say there's some leakage going on, but you're preying on it,» he said.

«It's a team you barrack for, your conflict of interest here is considerable. Your gutter journalism at the moment is killing us behind the scenes.»

There is nothing in Beveridge's accusation that suggests Morris stepped outside the boundaries of