When he crossed the Nullabor in the fervent hope of maintaining a connection with the game he clearly loves, Luke Webster could not have known that Carlton would, in a matter of days, satisfy that noble aspiration.
 
At aged 28, and with a 33-game AFL career at Fremantle cruelly cut short by no fewer than four knee reconstructions, Carlton’s newly-appointed Development Coach sought his fortunes in rather unorthodox fashion. Whereas the quintessential football widow tends to follow her game-driven husband cross country, Webster tailed his wife of 12 months after she landed a plum position for the legal firm Freehills.
 
“My wife Michelle works for Freehills and applied for a role in business continuity and sustainability in Melbourne. She landed the role, has been here since August and when I finished with ‘Freo’ I moved across,” Webster said.
 
“I wanted to stay in a club environment and find a right fit. So I started to make a few phonecalls to people I knew in Melbourne, and amongst them was Steven Icke who I knew at Fremantle. I had a phone conversation with him and he said to me, ‘Mate, you’ve probably timed it right - we’re looking at putting on a development coach which might be of interest to you’.
 
“A couple of days later I was asked to come in, and I met Brett Ratten, Mark Riley and Darren Harris. An hour or so later I got a phonecall from ‘Ratts’ saying the job was mine if I wanted it . . . so it all happened pretty quick and I’m rapt to now be part of where this club is going with its young guys.”
 
The Webster family’s historic links with the East Perth - the football club from which the likes of Carlton premiership players Syd Jackson, Matt Clape and Richard Dennis all hailed - are well-known. Luke’s grandfather Ray represented the WAFL club in a back pocket in its 1956 premiership victory over South Fremantle - a feat emulated by Luke almost 50 years later when he lined up in a pocket against South in the Royals’ thumping Grand Final win of 2001.
 
To complete the connection, Luke’s late father Ron and brother Ryan also represented East Perth, and Luke himself ended his playing days there in the latter half of 2009.
 
Six years previous, Webster found room in his trophy cabinet for a Simpson Medal earned for his showing for WA against South Australia in what was his first state appearance in 2003.
 
Webster also turned out for the Dockers’ in their historic first finals match in 2003. Yet the man who also captained his state’s Under 18 outfit in the national championships perhaps sells himself short when asked to reflect on his playing career.
 
“My story is pretty much about the four ‘recos’ that I had from 2000 through to my last in 2008, and that was with the LARs surgery. I did my knee four times along the way - three to my left, once to my right,” he said.
 
 
“I got back and played a couple of games, but then my luck ran out again. I had a training mishap and tore the rest of what was left of the cartilage in my knee.”
 
Webster takes issue with anyone who suggests that at 28 he’s too tender in years to take on the task at Visy Park.
 
“I don’t believe I’m too young. The good thing I have on my side is that I’ve recently retired from the game, so I know the way the game is and the way it’s played at the moment,” Webster said.
 
“I’ve got a fair bit of experience in that area, and obviously a fair bit of experience in the down side of football, which is a good thing for me even though it was tough for me to go through. What it enables me to do is talk guys through it - you know, ‘Do everything right to make sure things don’t go wrong’.
 
“I look back on my seven years in the game and I was lucky to play, but it went in a flash, you can be in and out in a blink, and I believe that I’m able talk to guys about ticking things off along the way.”
 
Though Webster’s role at Carlton is still to be defined, the parameters have basically been set.
 
“I’ll be mainly working with the first to third-year players in developing their game, and helping them with their strengths and deficiencies,” Webster said.
 
“It will involve educating the players, helping them learn about the opposition and will also involve supporting Darren Harris at the Northern Bullants, which could also potentially lead to a role as a line coach.”