New Essendon coach John Worsfold says he never lost his passion for AFL football and has vowed to make the Bombers a force in the competition once again.

Worsfold has signed a three-year deal to replace James Hird and addressed the media as the club’s 32nd senior coach on Monday.

The 47-year-old coached West Coast to the 2006 premiership, with his 12-year tenure there coming to an end at the conclusion of the 2013 season.

He cited mental fatigue as one of the key reasons for his decision to step away at the time but has been refreshed by a two-year spell on the sidelines.

“There’s been a few questions around whether I’ve got the passion (to coach again) … and something that I’d like to clarify is that I never lost the passion but I was tired,” Worsfold said.

“At the end of my reign of 12 years at West Coast I absolutely needed a break. It would have been wrong to remain coach of that group without the energy to do it. “AFL footy is my passion, it’s what I love doing, and that’s why I’ve done it for 26-odd years.

“I feel refreshed and energetic and really ready to do the job.”

Worsfold’s first task will be to help his players rediscover their love of playing AFL football.

Hird stepped down late in the club’s troubled 2015 campaign after nearly three years of turmoil associated with the 2012 supplements program and subsequent ASADA investigation.

“Standing back from afar I’ve felt for the Essendon players … they probably haven’t had that love of the game as much as what they should have,” Worsfold said. “So that’s certainly an aim – to make sure that they love turning up to training, they love playing the game and they love representing the Essendon Football Club.

“It’s a challenge but any coaching job is a challenge. I’m looking forward to coaching this group.”

Former Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney and Collingwood assistant Scott Burns were also short-listed for the position, but Worsfold was always understood to be the favoured candidate by the Bombers’ board.

Ex-Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna, who played alongside Worsfold in the Eagles’ 1992 and 1994 premiership sides, is likely to be offered a position on a new-look coaching panel.

Essendon have been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons for the last three years due to the ongoing supplements scandal which rocked the club.

The World Anti-Doping Agency will appeal the decision of the AFL anti-doping tribunal not to sanction 34 past and present Essendon players at a Court of Arbitration hearing in Sydney in November.

“We’re obviously hopeful that we’ll have a clear end to all there ASADA stuff fairly soon,” Worsfold said.

“But disregarding that, that’s not a focus of mine to talk too much to the players about that.

“They’re pretty keen to get back into training and start getting ready to improve.”

Worsfold admitted there are gaps that need to be filled on the club’s playing list but is bullish about what they can achieve.

He will speak to the club’s list management team before deciding whether to attempt to persuade Jake Carlisle or Jake Melksham, who have both requested trades, to stay.

The Bombers won only six matches in 2015 and finished 15th on the ladder.

– AAP