THE WESTERN Bulldogs are comfortable for their young players to return to training next Wednesday before a senior coach has been appointed.
 
The club's first-to-fourth-year players are due to return to the club on November 5 with the senior players due back 12 days later on November 17.
 
The coaching selection committee, that includes Chris Grant, John Worsfold, Luke Darcy, Graham Lowe and Simon Garlick, has met and spent the past week speaking to people within the football industry and identifying potential candidates for the job.
 
AFL.com.au understands the candidates under consideration for the job include Fremantle assistant coach Peter Sumich, Western Bulldogs assistant Brett Montgomery and newly appointed St Kilda director of coaching Luke Beveridge.
 
Beveridge is holidaying overseas with his family and, despite reports, is understood to have declined to be involved in the selection process for the Gold Coast job.
 
St Kilda has not been made aware of any desire of the Bulldogs to speak to the 44-year-old. Beveridge played with Mebourne, St Kilda and the Bulldogs, and has been an assistant coach at Collingwood and Hawthorn.
 
Another prospective candidate, former Carlton coach Brett Ratten, who is understood to have recently re-signed a two-year deal with Hawthorn as an assistant coach, has indicated he is happy to stay with the Hawks.
 
After the Suns appointed Rodney Eade to the job on Thursday, the Bulldogs remain the only club without a senior coach.
 
The club parted ways with its coach Brendan McCartney (the day after its captain Ryan Griffen requested a trade to Greater Western Sydney during the trade period) despite McCartney having two years to run on his contract.
 
McCartney has since got a job as a development coach at Melbourne.
 
The Bulldogs appear to be a team on the rise, managing to snare last year's No.1 pick Tom Boyd on a multi-million dollar deal to complement an impressive young midfield that includes Tom Liberatore, Jackson McCrae, Jake Stringer, Mitch Wallis and Marcus Bontempelli.