By LIAM TWOMEY
SCOTT West said the experience he gained while head coach at Werribee was invaluable.
West stood down from the top job on Monday to pursue a coaching role in the AFL system.
He led the Tigers for two years after replacing Paul Satterley at the end of the 2011 season.
“I can’t put a price on it,” West said.
“It has been an unbelievable experience.
“You come out of football and go straight into coaching and you are probably a little bit naive about how everything fits in and what the senior coach requires.
“I think stepping away and coaching your own team, you are doing everything and that sort of learning experience is priceless moving forward.”
In his two years at Werribee, West took the club to back-to-back preliminary finals.
On both occasions the Tigers were defeated by the eventual premiers.
In 2012 it was Geelong that narrowly edged out Werribee by less than a goal while last month, a star studded Box Hill side ended the Tigers’ season on their way to premiership glory.
“I’ve always said that you can measure success in a number of different ways,” West said.
“We have made two preliminary finals and were probably a bit more unlucky last year only losing by a few points.
“This year we put up a good fight and were probably just over powered by bigger and stronger bodies towards the end of the game.
“I have been really proud of what we have been able to achieve in the two years.
“I had obviously hoped to have the ultimate success but I’m certainly proud of what we did achieve.”
West will now begin the search for a role at an AFL club for the 2014 season.
“I have probably gone out on a little bit of a limb but I guess, to a degree, the development phase of doing what I did at Werribee had probably reached its peak,” he said.
“I was very open with Werribee and letting them know that I would like to pursue an AFL gig, an assistant role somewhere.
“I encouraged them at the end of the year to start talking to potential replacements.”
The Werribee Football Club also thanked West for his contribution to the club during the past two years.
“Scott showed he is a very knowledgeable football person with the coaching ability to take our club to two preliminary finals and that is a credit to his planning and preparation,” Tigers’ CEO Mark Penaluna said.
