Can't wait for him to turn on the media and give them some of his best dead eye stairs and 1 word answers. Going to be tops.CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO EAT HIS BALLS
WOOSHA SAYS FOR YOU TO SHUT UP!!
Over a long period of time, when people have spoken about the Essendon Football Club they’ve talked about a club with really strong culture and with great history.
It’s been a club seen as wanting to be really successful in a sustained way. As the new coach of the Bombers, we don’t want to just hang our hat on what the club has done, we have to make it all happen again.
We need to rebuild it to that point where it’s talked about in the same breath as the top two or three clubs in the competition and that’s what I’m aiming to do in every facet.
People had been asking when I regained my passion for coaching. Truth is, I never lost it. My time was simply up when I finished at West Coast and I was tired. I cracked into my VFL-AFL life when I’d just turned 18 and absolutely committed everything to it through my playing career. I had a year away from it when I’d finished playing and freshened up.
Halfway through that year I started to explore the possibility of working as an assistant coach, just to get back in at club level because I loved the environment so much.
I then obviously got the opportunity to apply for a couple of senior jobs and after talking to David Parkin, he felt I was ready to go. Then 12 years later, I felt I needed a break and during that time out, I knew football was what I loved doing.
I can categorically say I’ve never fallen out of love with the game.
But going to Adelaide to help the Crows has had a huge impact on me. Until then, I wasn’t sitting there thinking about what jobs were out there or whether I should look at getting involved.
When Phil Walsh passed away, I knew straight away I’d be able to assist the Crows in any capacity. There I saw how well a lot of the stuff Walshy had put in, which had a heavy emphasis on a lot of the things we’d done together at the Eagles, was being embraced. It wasn’t in terms of game plan, but how he had set the systems up around coaching and the communication with the players. It was the only way I’ve ever seen some of the stuff we did at the Eagles in another environment and got feedback from it — and it was all positive.
You never know what’s going on at other clubs, so before then it had been impossible to measure something like that. It opened my eyes to the fact that a lot of the stuff I believe in and have worked on and put in place around team and culture worked really well.
It sparked me into thinking I could do it at another club again. So by the time Essendon came calling, I was open to considering a senior position again. I just had to work out what they were looking for and that’s why I thought the interview process was critical for them.
I’ve got strong views on what I bring and how I’m going to go about it and that had to line up with what they believed they wanted. I wasn’t trying to pitch for the job, I just wanted to tell them how I would do it and I would understand if that didn’t line up with exactly what they were looking for.
Embracing the new job with my family was also a critical factor. I wouldn’t have stepped into it if we hadn’t have all believed it was sustainable with what we want to achieve as a family.
We had really crystal-clear conversations about what it means and how it will look for us with me again being a senior coach, but also this time in a different State. We went through all that and everyone was more than comfortable with it and now really excited about all moving to Melbourne.
Now I’m at Essendon, there are a few things to deal with urgently. It’s a new coach from when the club’s recent supplements issue first surfaced and someone who wasn’t at the club in any capacity.
But I’ve worked in the past really hard at West Coast in a situation where what the club was trying to achieve was more than just being a good footy team. It was being a respected club again and Essendon have to go through a bit of that.
I can draw on my time with the Eagles to deal with that and I’ve got no doubt I’m a stronger coach and person for what we went through culturally and through a rebuild after finishing last in 2010. We stuck really close as a club and didn’t panic and that was a great lesson.
The saga the Bombers have been through is far from an elephant in the room for me and there has already been so much work put into it. It’ll all be done and dusted soon and we’ll deal with whatever the outcome and move on. It’s a new challenge for me, which I love, and we’ll confidently focus on starting next season with it all behind us.
I want a really clear picture on how we build the team up.
We’ve got a reasonably good squad at the moment, but there will be some gaps that appear over the next two or three years as senior players move on. So we need to make sure we’re blooding from underneath to transition really well and that’s one thing I want to get my teeth into quickly.
The other part of it is making sure the players are really clear about my expectations of them, myself and the coaching group and how we all fit into the expectations of the Essendon Football Club.
The same with my coaching staff. I know people have been talking about my old mate Guy McKenna, but I still have to talk to a couple of the other coaches and I’m still working through Essendon’s season review.
There will be some conclusions that I’ll need to look at and then I’ll make a call on what the coaching structure looks like. I’m not going to look at employing anyone until then. I’m not panicking on any of that.
I’ve also heard people saying I’m back into coaching for the money after a failed business deal. The truth is we tried to help out a family member when he was going through some tough times. We wish we could have helped him more, but it’s had absolutely no impact on me taking this job … none whatsoever.
I’ve just had a few days off with the family up in Broome. It was our first chance for some quality time in about three months and now we’re all just really excited about what lies ahead for us.
Go Bombers.
Gee I love how upfront he is
I like Worsfold. I’m not sure how he’s gonna go for us, but I like the man’s style.
Think he’ll do well for us, can’t wait for the next couple of years
I wanted an unhinged frothing lunatic. But i’ll have cold dead eyes any day of the week.
He sounds like an organised man who knows exactly who he is, what he can do and how to do it. That article is sensational. My fav line, which sums it up, is “and how we all fit into the expectations of the Essendon Football Club”. Love the “whole Club” view.
Since Woosha’s appointment it seems like the media have wiped the slate clean which is probably an AFL directive. Positive articles are such a refreshing change after the relentless malicious attacks of the last 3 years. It’s so good to be treated the same as the other Clubs rather than a bullied and vilified second class citizen.
I was luke warm with Woosha before the appointment, but he is very impressive. Of course, talk is easy in the off-season, but he’s done it before and looks pumped to do it again even better.
He’s certainly saying all the right things. I must say, after becoming extremely disillusioned about the club, I’m now feeling pretty excited about the future. This guy will hopefully be the turning point. Bring on 2016 I say
Gee I love how upfront he is
It was upfront wasn’t it … albeit a tad strange, … it’s like he’s already succumbed to the “refuting reports in the media via open letter” virus that’s infected us for 3 years.
Almost wish he hadn’t …
Gee I love how upfront he isIt was upfront wasn’t it … albeit a tad strange, … it’s like he’s already succumbed to the “refuting reports in the media via open letter” virus that’s infected us for 3 years.
Almost wish he hadn’t …
I felt a tad uncomfortable with the ‘helping family friend’ bit. I reckon its better to ignore bullshit rumours like that than give them air
I’m sure he probably feels uncomfortable with it also but he was honest and upfront…and said he wished he could have done more to help…
Liked it a lot
he called it ‘the saga’
is he a closet blitzer
Yes, good article - as to be expected of a fellow City Beacher…
he called it 'the saga' is he a closet blitzer
Woosha2Pears
he called it 'the saga' is he a closet blitzerWoosha2Pears
Could well have been my username in 2009.
Gee I love how upfront he isIt was upfront wasn’t it … albeit a tad strange, … it’s like he’s already succumbed to the “refuting reports in the media via open letter” virus that’s infected us for 3 years.
Almost wish he hadn’t …
The transparency is refreshing. He ain’t beating around in the bush. Look forward to seeing us train over the summer!
Some of you have tinfoil hats so melded to your skull you’re half tin-man.
Yep. Alright. I’m on board. Go Johnny Go.
The man is up front thats for sure. Full marks for the honesty john.
Everytime i hear him talk about Essendon i get a more and more excited about next season