Buti's Call: Only a fool would discount a team coached by John Worsfold

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This was published 4 years ago

Buti's Call: Only a fool would discount a team coached by John Worsfold

By Tony Buti

Last Saturday, John Worsfold coached his 350th AFL game. Unfortunately, this milestone was not marked by victory, with his Essendon team losing against St Kilda.

Any move by Essendon against Worsfold should be resisted by the club’s board.

Any move by Essendon against Worsfold should be resisted by the club’s board.Credit: AAP

Essendon who many predicted as a top-four contender have not commenced the 2019 season well. In round one they were thumped by 72 points by Greater Western Sydney and last Saturday against the Saints they played an insipid first half before rallying in the second but falling short at the final siren by eleven points.

If the Dons don’t show a marked improvement over the next few rounds and go into the mid-season break in the bottom three or four on the ladder the pressure on Worsfold will build. It is the nature of the AFL and professional sport in general. Results may not be everything but fulfilling expectations are.

But any move by Essendon against Worsfold should be resisted by the club’s board.

Worsfold is currently the most experienced coach in the league and has spent 16 years leading West Coast and now Essendon.

In his 350 coaching games, Worsfold has an overall winning record of 50.3 per cent ranking him 11th among the 18 AFL coaches. Of the current coaches, only Alastair Clarkson has coached over 300 games at AFL level (331 games for a very impressive winning record of 62.2 per cent).

Worsfold had an illustrious playing career with the West Coach Eagles, captaining the club to the flag in 1992 and 1994.

When he retired from playing at the end of the 1998 season, he spent a year working in the media before taking up an assistant coaching role at Carlton where he stayed until the end of the 2001 season before heading back to Perth to coach the club where he had legend status.

John Worsfold has an ability to stay calm under pressure.

John Worsfold has an ability to stay calm under pressure.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo

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But if truth be told, Worsfold was not the Eagles’ first choice to replace Ken Judge. Future Adelaide Crows coach Neil Craig was the anointed one.

But after a public outcry by Eagles supporters and the possibility that the Eagles’ favourite son would be snatched up by cross town rivals, the Fremantle Dockers, Worsfold was appointed coach of West Coast for the 2002 season.

In the two years preceding Worsfold taking over the Eagles, the club finished out of the finals in 13th and 14th position on the ladder.

In his first season coaching the Eagles, Worsfold took the Eagles back to the finals and they also played finals in the following three years but made early exits.

However, in 2005 they made the Grand Final where they narrowly lost to Sydney by four points but were successful in 2006, defeating Sydney by a solitary point, giving Worsfold the rare distinction of captaining and coaching the same club to premierships.

In his 12 years coaching the club, the Eagles played in the finals in eight seasons, won a flag and missed out by four points on another premiership. Not a bad record for anyone.

The Eagles played finals football again in 2007 but the three following seasons - without Chris Judd and Ben Cousins - saw them drop out of the eight and they received the inglorious achievement of the wooden spoon in 2010. But this is when we saw the calibre of Worsfold come to the fore.

I have been fortunate to have a few chats with Worsfold where he impressed me with his intelligence and thoughtfulness.

But what most impressed me and was corroborated by others who intimately know Worsfold is his ability to stay calm under pressure, to ignore the ‘noise’ and focus on the task or challenge before him with steely resolve.

Worsfold used these personal attributes to bring the Eagles back into winning form the year after the disastrous 2010 season.

John Worsfold captained the club to the flag in 1992 and 1994.

John Worsfold captained the club to the flag in 1992 and 1994.Credit: Jason Childs

In 2011, West Coast finished 4th at the end of the home and away season and lost a preliminary final to eventual premiers, the Geelong Cats. The club played finals again in 2012 but after a disappointing 2013 season where they missed the top eight, Worsfold resigned as coach.

In his 12 years coaching the club, the Eagles played in the finals in eight seasons, won a flag and missed out by four points on another premiership. Not a bad record for anyone.

In 2015 after the death of his close friend, Adelaide coach Phil Walsh, Worsfold became coaching director at the Crows before returning to head coaching duties with Essendon for the 2016 season. It was a tough year, with the Dons filling a second string team with top-ups from the VFL, the consequence of the club’s 2013 doping scandal.

The hierarchy and others associated with Essendon were instantly impressed with Worsfold’s calmness to the challenge the club faced in 2016.

He didn’t complain and with his famous single-minded determination did the best he could with what he had in front of him, which in reality was a reserves team.

The Dons finished last in 2016, but as was the case when he coached the Eagles to a wooden spoon, Worsfold worked methodically through the challenges he and the club faced, resulting in a final’s appearance in 2017.

Worsfold’s ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges makes him a valuable asset at any club.

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Last year, Essendon had a disastrous start to the year, but finished the season well to record the same number of victories (12) as they recorded in 2016 but missed the finals.

This season, although only two rounds old, has also not commenced well for Worsfold’s charges. But only a fool would disregard a team coached by Worsfold so early in the season.

And only a person ignorant of Worsfold’s coaching record and personal attributes would seek to dislodge him from his current coaching gig.

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