John Worsfold

John Worsfold
Personal information
Full name	John Worsfold
Nickname(s)	"Clark Kent", "Woosha"
Date of birth	(1968-09-25) 25 September 1968
Place of birth	Subiaco, Western Australia
Original team	South Fremantle juniors
Height/Weight	180 cm / 86 kg
Club information
Current club	West Coast (coach)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1986–98 1987–98	South Fremantle West Coast	25 (?) 209 (38)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1988–93	Western Australia	5 (0)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2002–	West Coast	235 (124–109–2)
1 Playing statistics to end of 1998 season . 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2011.
Career highlights
Western Australia Under-18 team 1985 South Fremantle Best First Year Player 1986 WAFL Rookie of the Year 1986 West Coast best and fairest 1988 West Coast captain 1991–98 Western Australia captain 1992, 1993 West Coast premiership side 1992, 1994 West Coast Best Clubman 1993, 1998 West Coast premiership coach 2006 All-Australian coach 2006 Allan Jeans Coach of the Year Award 2011

John Worsfold (born 25 September 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the current coach of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He made his senior debut for the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and was named an inaugural squad member of West Coast on their formation in 1986. After winning the club's best and fairest award in 1988, Worsfold was appointed captain of the club in 1991, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1998. During his period at the club, Worsfold played in 209 games, which including the 1992 and 1994 premiership sides. During this time, he also appeared in five State of Origin matches for Western Australia, captaining his state twice.

In 2000, two years after his retirement from playing, Worsfold joined Carlton as an assistant coach, remaining in this position until the end of the 2001 season, when he was appointed senior coach of West Coast. Since assuming the position of coach, Worsfold has led the club to eight finals series, including the 2006 premiership. Overall, he has coached the club in 235 games, the second-most of any coach of West Coast, behind Mick Malthouse. At the end of the 2011 season, Worsfold was awarded the inaugural Allan Jeans Coach of the Year award.

Playing career

Educated at South Fremantle Senior High School, Worsfold played under-18 football for Western Australia at the 1985 Teal Cup. He made his debut for South Fremantle in 1986, playing 19 games in his debut season, and winning the Daily News' WAFL Rookie of the Year Award. Named an inital squad member of the West Coast Eagles, Worsfold made his debut in Round 4 of the 1987 VFL season against Carlton, which was also the Eagles' first year in the then Victorian Football League.

Initially playing a midfielder role, Worsfold won the club's best and fairest award in 1988 when the Eagles first played in the finals. In 1991 Worsfold was appointed captain, and moved to a defensive role across the half back flank, where he formed part of a celebrated half-back line with fellow club legends Glen Jakovich and Guy McKenna. Worsfold was captain of the club during the 1992 and 1994 premiership seasons, becoming the club's first premiership captain. He remained captain until he retired at the end of the 1998 season, where he was controversially dropped for the club's second week finals match, a game that would have been the final game of his career. Ironically, this was a virtual repeat of what happened to his predecessor as captain, Steve Malaxos, who was dropped for the 1990 Preliminary Final and never played again. He was succeeded as captain by fellow defender and vice captain McKenna.

Worsfold was named on a half back flank in the West Coast team of the decade in 1996, and again in the club's twentieth anniversary side, "Team 20" in 2006. In both teams, Jakovich and McKenna make up the rest of the half back line.

Coaching career

His coaching career started in 2000 at Carlton Football Club as an assistant to David Parkin and then to Wayne Brittain in 2001, before applying for the senior coaching roles at both West Coast and Fremantle at the end of the 2001 season. Eventually he was appointed to the senior coaching role at West Coast, the club he had formerly played for, where he achieved some level of immediate success, taking the club back to the finals in his first season. After a string of early finals exits in 2002, 2003 and 2004, Worsfold finally took the club back to the Grand Final in 2005, where the Eagles were narrowly defeated by four points by the Sydney Swans.

In 2006 the club finished on top of the ladder after the home and away series, and followed it up with a win in the Grand Final, again against the Swans, this time the margin being a solitary point. In doing so Worsfold became only the fourth person in the history of the AFL/VFL to both captain and later coach the same club to an AFL premiership, and the first at the West Coast Eagles. In the 2007 season West Coast finished third on the ladder. They lost to Port Adelaide in the qualifying final then they got eliminated by Collingwood in the semi final. The 2008 season was not as successful for Worsfold and the West Coast Eagles Football Club. With the loss of players Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, West Coast went from third to fifteenth. Finishing with four wins and eighteen losses. In the 2009 season Worsfold and the West Coast Eagles Football Club made an improvement, finishing eleventh on the ladder with eight wins and fourteen losses.

But the 2010 season brought in the lowest point of Worsfold's coaching career with the West Coast Eagles completing a spectacular fall from grace and winning the wooden spoon, winning just four games; two against Essendon, one against 2008 premiers Hawthorn and against Melbourne. Injuries and poor form had plagued the Eagles' 2010 season. Twelve months later however, the Eagles were back in the finals, finishing 4th at the end of the home and away season and losing a preliminary final against eventual premiers Geelong.

Man-on-man Defence vs Zoning Defence

In an era where most coaches have implemented "the flood" defence by having their players zone back, Worsfold has maintained a man-on-man style of game. While this has led him to much success in the home and away season, finishing 2nd and 1st after the home and away rounds in 2005 and 2006 respectively, the strategy, or rather the inflexibility from this strategy has also led to criticism at times. Firstly, teams such as the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle have been perceived to exploit West Coast's macro-positioning. However, the most notable example of this criticism has come after the qualifying final against Sydney in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

The 2009 season has seen Worsfold and his coaching department implement the use of both zone defence and man-on-man strategy depending on the situation.

Personal life

Worsfold married his wife, Georgina, in 1994, with whom he has three children: Sophie, Charlie, and Grace. Outside of football, he completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy at the Curtin University of Technology in 1989, and later worked as a pharmacist for an amount of time. In 2009, Worsfold completed a course at INSEAD, a business administration school in Fontainebleau, France. Worsfold is also a director of CR Steel, a steel fabrication and installation company based in Cockburn Central.

External links

• John Worsfold's profile on the Official AFL Website of the West Coast Eagles Football Club

Awards
Preceded by Steve Malaxos	West Coast Eagles best and fairest 1988	Succeeded by Guy McKenna
Sporting positions
Preceded by Steve Malaxos	West Coast Eagles captain 1991–98	Succeeded by Guy McKenna
Preceded by Ken Judge	West Coast Eagles coach 2002–	Succeeded by incumbent