JOHN Worsfold says he would “gladly” give up the West Coast Eagles 2006 Premiership if it meant his former star player Ben Cousins never turned to drugs.

The West Coast legend also revealed he wants to help Essendon’s players rediscover their love for football after the supplements saga.

Worsfold, the hot favourite to take the helm at Essendon, told a seminar aimed at men’s happiness that he was motivated more by helping young men “grow” than by winning.

“One thing that really annoys me is when the media will often say, ‘AFL coaches are putting winning ahead of player welfare’, and from my personal point of view that is so wrong,” the dual Premiership captain said.

“I would gladly give up wins. If you said, ‘Hand your 2006 Premiership Cup back and you can wind the clock back to where Ben Cousins will never touch an illicit drug and lives a healthy life’, I would easily give it up, easily.

“That would make me much happier, to know that Ben Cousins hasn’t gone through what he’s gone through.”

media_camera Former West Coast Eagles captain and coach John Worsfold with Raising Happy behavioural psychologist Vishal Maharaj. Picture: Daniel Wilkins.

Worsfold this week spoke at Subiaco Oval for the Raising Happy Seminar created by behavioural psychologist Vishal Maharaj. Before 50 men he joked how there was speculation he had the Essendon job before he’d been interviewed.

Having helped the Adelaide Crows for the past three months after the death of coach Phil Walsh, Worsfold said he was naturally inclined to step into that coaching role, but the interstate travel and time away from family made him decline.

“When I look at the Essendon Football Club at the moment and I weigh up would that be a good club to go and help, could I help these young men enjoy their footy, play good footy and grow, I think, ‘Yeah I could do that’,” Worsfold said.

“They have been through an unbelievably tough time.

“If you’re getting paid $250,000 a year to tie your laces on your footy boots and run around and have a kick you should be really happy.

“You get 10 years to do that and they should be the best 10 years of your working life. These guys have been miserable for three years of that unbelievably important part of their life and I feel sorry for them.”

Knowing what it feels like to play in a great football side, Worsfold said he was motivated to help the Essendon players reignite their passion for playing the sport.

“Not by necessarily making them win straight away but making them have a better vision of where they want to get to and how good it will be,” he said.

“Mindset is a massive thing and it is one of the issues, if I do decide to go back into the AFL as a senior coach, I will challenge people on.

“It is not as black and white as you think. ”

Worsfold also said he wasn’t surprised by the Eagles’ on-field success under coach Adam Simpson, saying he was convinced in 2010 — when West Coast finished last — that the team would soon become premiership contenders.

“If I had gone negative and defensive in 2010 I think it would have delayed where they are now,” he said.

“If I had come out and said, ‘We do need to change this squad’, maybe we would have traded some of those players out who have become really good players or delisted them if I had not stuck with my beliefs. A couple of players said to me in 2011, ‘How did you stay so positive last year?’ I said, ‘Because I know what it feels like to be a great team and I knew you guys would become that great team’.”

Originally published as I’d give up Cup for Ben: Woosha