The Eagles went down to Carlton by 41 points at Docklands on Friday night – 16.15 (111) to 10.10 (70) – with a disastrous second term to blame for the loss.
In an error-riddled 30 minutes, the Eagles were outscored 4.8 to just 0.2 as the Blues extended an 11-point lead to 41 at the main break.
Despite Worsfold’s side hanging tough after the main break – thanks largely to small forward Mark LeCras – the Eagles weren’t able to recover.
“[I was] fairly happy with the effort in the second half and the first quarter,” Worsfold said after the match.
“I thought the boys were in it but we’re still well short of what we know we have to get to in terms of skill level.
“That’s probably the biggest area that’s really hurting us – our ability to hit targets both under pressure but certainly when we’re not under pressure.”
West Coast’s seventh loss of the season leaves it behind the eight ball in terms of a run at September but still not out of the race given the even nature of the season.
However Worsfold said that right now, he wasn’t thinking about this season’s ultimate aim.
“On current form, finals aren’t really a priority for us,” he said.
“Consistency of effort and improving our skills and decision making are what we’ll be really working hard on throughout this season and also [putting] more games into players.”
The coach said he was pleased with youngster Scott Selwood’s effort as well as the debut of midfielder Tom Swift – who collected 14 possessions in a bright first-up display.
West Coast also showed resilience after half time to make inroads on the deficit before the Blues again kicked away late in the match.
But after being blown away at the same venue earlier in the season, Worsfold said he could definitely see signs his young squad was coming along.
“[That aspect was] definitely encouraging,” he said.
“We’re still nowhere near where we want to be at, but we can’t get Swift up to 45 games in the next week … some parts of what we want to improve on will take time.
“Other parts, like the attitude [were good]. I thought the boys fought on very strongly.”
Meanwhile, Worsfold said Adam Hunter had “pulled up well” and was likely to play a sequence of matches provided his form warranted selection.
The premiership defender, who has battled a chronic shoulder problem this season, played his 150th match on Friday night and the coach said he was still in the side’s best 22.
