John Worsfold
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John Worsfold (born September 25, 1968), known affectionately as Woosha, is the current Coach and former Premiership captain of the West Coast Eagles, a team which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL) competition. Worsfold played 209 games with the West Coast Eagles from 1987 to 1998. His coaching career started at Carlton Football Club as an assistant, before being offered the position of senior coach to the Eagles upon the dismissal of Ken Judge. He is popular among fans and players alike who see in him the golden days of the club.
He has achieved considerable success as a coach of the club and has rebuilt the team as a credible finals contender in recent years culminating in the club reaching the 2005 AFL Grand Final where they were narrowly defeated by the Sydney Swans in a closely contested game. In 2006 Worsfold also coached the club to take the premiership in an AFL Grand Final once again against the Sydney Swans and in doing so became only the fourth person in the history of the game to both captain and later coach the same club to an AFL premiership.
In addition to his distinguished AFL career he also completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1989 at the Curtin University of Technology, located in Perth, Western Australia.[1]
[edit] Man-on-man vs Zoning back
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 (see news article).
| Preceded by: Steve Malaxos |
West Coast Eagles Best and Fairest winner 1988 |
Succeeded by: Guy McKenna |
| Preceded by: Steve Malaxos |
Captain of the West Coast Eagles 1991-1998 |
Succeeded by: Guy McKenna |
| Preceded by: Ken Judge |
West Coast Eagles coach 2002- |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ "Famous Curtin Graduates". Retrieved March 13, 2006.
