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Former Essendon Bombers coach John Worsfold details ‘shattered players’ finding out about supplements saga

Former Essendon coach John Worsfold has laid bare the painstaking concessions the club was forced to make to save the football souls of players left “shattered” by its supplements scandal. Worsfold, who has moved into a cultural leadership role with WA mining industry company Emeco, said the AFL’s usual demands on winning had been tempered with the Bombers in 2016 to the point where he even instructed coaches not to talk too harshly to players as they rebuilt their faith in the game. A veteran of decades at the game’s elite level, he admitted being confronted by how emotionally-shelled some players were in the wake of the scandal. He said the cynicism of some players, on their return to Essendon after a 12-month ban, had been understandably difficult to break. “Those players were shattered,” Worsfold told The West Australian this week. “Seeing young people disillusioned with the game was hurting me and they deserved to get back to a place where they could enjoy what the game could bring them. “For a lot of them, they hadn’t really established themselves as players and it was supposed to be the time of their lives, but it wasn’t fun. MORE: CAREER SWAP GIVES WOOSHA FRESH START “It wasn’t easy rebuilding their trust in the game and trust in the people in charge of them. The players didn’t come up with the injection scheme, they just put their footy career faith in people.” Worsfold recalled the suspension of players in the group which became known as the “Essendon 34” as a “bolt out of the blue” that sent further serious shock waves through the club. Much like at the West Coast he coached in 2008 after the illicit drug furore that rocked that club, Worsfold said a temporary focus went away from winning. “It just smacked everyone between the eyes,” he said. “So what we ended up focusing on was just getting through 2016 ... we were going to have fun and we were going to improve. It wasn’t about where we were going to finish on the ladder or how many wins we got and it created a great platform for the other guys to come back in the next year. “They didn’t come back into a shattered group that had only won three games, lost 17 in a row and been pounded by the coach every week for being no good. “I couldn’t have coaches screaming at players because we weren’t in front at quarter time or half time, but guiding them while challenging them to improve and doing the work to get better. “In the end, those returning players came back into an environment seeing these young blokes excited to have them back and happy that their footy had kept progressing even though we didn’t win games.” Worsfold said the end to his tenure at Essendon — and the succession plan which anointed Ben Rutten — had been an agreed transaction under a yearly assessment of the position between he and Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell. He said he had been compelled to help prepare Rutten on hearing his dual Eagles premiership teammate Don Pyke talk about the stresses of being an AFL coach on his departure from Adelaide. That toll had been compounded last year by the COVID lockdown, a fact borne out by Rhyce Shaw’s decision to step away from North Melbourne citing mental health issues after just one season in the top job. “I’d seen enough in Ben to suggest he was going to be a good coach,” Worsfold said. “But looking at what young coaches go through and hearing what Don had spoken about, I thought if I could better prepare Ben, it would be great for the Essendon footy club, awesome for Ben and I’d get satisfaction out of knowing I’d contributed to helping a young coach after 17 years in the industry.” Worsfold admitted the succession plan had been initially “awkward” until details of the mentorship had been bedded down. But he was adamant that suggestions he and Rutten had clashed during last season over football ideology differences had been well off the mark and that they had calmly worked through any thought contrasts. He said critics such as champion Essendon goal-kicker Matthew Lloyd had not understood or been privy to what was happening behind the scenes. The pair would walk together around the club’s Tullamarine complex once a week to talk about football issues and Worsfold would often challenge Rutten about how he would respond to issues being confronted by rival clubs at the time. They also engaged in an “Australian coaching symposium”. Facilitated fortnightly by Pyke, it also included Australian cricket coach Justin Langer, Sydney Roosters three-time premiership coach Trent Robinson and then-Sydney NBL coach Will Weaver. “We worked unbelievably closely together throughout the whole year, right up to the last press conference and there was no confusion around it,” Worsfold insisted. “Things like doing meditation out on the oval pre-game was Ben, not me. “But I supported Ben wanting to go down the connection path because he was big on that and we started to put all that into place because I wasn’t going to keep everything my way and then make him start from scratch. “We incorporated a lot of Ben’s ideology into what was happening throughout the course of the year. There was a difference throughout the year, but no disconnect and we had that much fun working together.” Worsfold said Rutten had been emotional in a farewell speech for him in front of the players. He said they parted in strong terms and remained in contact and scoffed at Lloyd’s post-season suggestion he had stayed at Essendon a year too long. “He doesn’t understand what was going on last year, all he sees is the team’s performance and makes his judgment on that,” he said. “If I’d left last year and Ben was in charge with all the distractions that happened with COVID, he could have been exposed to all that intensity and pressure in his first year on his own. “I played a role in shielding him from that while he was learning and probably more than 80 per cent involved in match-day stuff. “Did I stay too long? I would say the value I added to the Essendon footy club and to Ben Rutten is there and you can’t take it away.”

The West Australian exclusiveFormer Essendon Bombers coach John Worsfold details ‘shattered players’ finding out about supplements saga

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Former Essendon Bombers coach John Worsfold details ‘shattered players’ finding out about supplements saga