Eagles helped Walsh get job
Incoming Adelaide coach Phil Walsh has hailed the role of former West Coast coach John Worsfold and senior pair Darren Glass and Beau Waters after his elevation to the top job at the Crows.
Walsh, who played with Collingwood, Richmond and Brisbane, said Worsfold's steadfast vision when the club hit rock bottom in 2010 was a critical lesson for him, as were the team-first philosophies of Glass and Waters.
The two Eagles on-field leaders were among four players he made mention of yesterday, with former Port Adelaide ruckman Brendon Lade and current Port skipper Travis Boak.
"We all understand what we are trying to do and we just don't deviate from it," Walsh said.
"It is probably the lesson I learned from John Worsfold.
"When I went to West Coast he explained the vision that he wanted.
"In my first year there (2009) we won eight games.
"The next year we came last.
"He (Worsfold) didn't deviate from the vision one bit and the next year we played in a preliminary final."
Walsh pointedly told Crows supporters the club was chasing team success, not individual success.
In a possible reference to a player-celebrity culture that some believe has hijacked the Adelaide team, Walsh said he would "only select players who are totally committed to the team".
"I always believe that if you have enough of these players you will get where you want to go," he said.
Walsh said Lade, Glass, Waters and Boak were all examples of players who put the side "first in everything that they do".
"They were more concerned about the performance of the team than the performance of themselves and I am hoping to find that the Adelaide Football Club has got players like that," he said.
Worsfold, in turn, credited Walsh as the brains behind the forward press that returned West Coast to finals in 2011 and 2012.
He described the no-nonsense 54-year-old as an excellent tactician and a sound choice to lead Adelaide.
Walsh served for five seasons from 2009-13 as West Coast's strategy and innovations coach.
Worsfold said he had headhunted Walsh for his strategic nous.
"We believed he was the pioneer of setting up what everyone calls the forward press," Worsfold said.
"He had it in his blueprint for what he thought was the next big thing in the game.
"I met with him to discuss what his thoughts were around footy and my thoughts and they were very strongly aligned.
"That's why he came and joined us to help us implement that style of play. He's a big thinker about the game and where the next strategies are going to lie."
It is probably the lesson I learned from John Worsfold."Phil Walsh
