Luke Webster (born 25 May 1982) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

coach and former player. He played for in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

, and currently serves as senior coach of the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

and as a development coach at AFL club the

. Webster played primarily as a midfielder or defender. He was drafted to the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

as the first selection in the 2001 AFL Rookie Draft, and was elevated to the senior list during the 2003 season following an outstanding year for

East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

, which included being awarded the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pl ...

as the best player for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the state game against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. As a junior, he captained the

n Under 18s team in the 2000 national championships and played for the

East Perth Football Club The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Formed in 1902 as the Unio ...

in the WAFL, including their 2001 premiership team. Webster's playing career was plagued by injury, having three knee reconstructions in four years. He first injured his left knee during the first game of the Under 18s carnival and had to undergo a knee reconstruction which put him out of the remainder of the 2000 season. In 2002, after showing promising form in the pre-season games for Fremantle, he suffered another injury to the left knee requiring a second knee reconstruction in a practice match against Collingwood at Fremantle Oval. A week after being one of Fremantle's best players in its first ever final in 2003, he damaged his right

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

playing for East Perth in the WAFL preliminary final. He returned to the AFL for Round 21, 2004 and played the last two games of the season. After being in and out of the Fremantle team for the next 3 years, Webster injured his left knee again early in the 2008 season whilst playing for East Perth. Webster underwent a knee reconstruction via the controversial LARS method of using a synthetic ligament instead of the body's own tissue with a view to an earlier than anticipated return in season 2008. Webster's brother Ryan, father Ron and grandfather Ray also all played league football for East Perth. Ron Webster, who died in January 2006, was also the CEO of the Western Australian Amateur Football League. After the end of his playing career, Webster took on a role as a development coach at the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

. In 2013, he additionally took on the role of senior coach of Carlton's , the

Northern Blues The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

. After the 2015 season Webster was released by Carlton. He then signed as a Development coach with the

in October.

References

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Luke 1982 births Living people Fremantle Football Club players East Perth Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) coaches People educated at Trinity College, Perth Australian rules footballers from Western Australia East Perth Football Club coaches 21st-century Australian sportsmen