West Adelaide coach and Crows club champion Mark Mickan fighting Parkinson’s disease

INAUGURAL Adelaide Crows club champion and West Adelaide premiership coach Mark Mickan has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

INAUGURAL Adelaide Crows club champion and West Adelaide premiership coach Mark Mickan has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The Bloods released a statement on Monday confirming the 56-year-old’s recent diagnosis and said he would continue in his role as senior coach at Richmond Oval.

“Mark and the club will continue the work they have been doing with specialists on the management of his condition to ensure the best outcome from a health perspective,” the statement said.

West Adelaide coach Mark Mickan at the West End chimney celebration after the Bloods won the 2015 SANFL premiership. Picture: Calum Robertson

“He will continue in the role of senior coach of the WAFC with the support of the extended coaching department and the club.”

Mickan played 85 AFL games with Brisbane and Adelaide from 1987 to 1993 and won the Crows first club champion award in 1991.

Mark Mickan holds on to the footy against Carlton at Princes Park in 1992.

Mark Mickan, left, during his time as an assistant coach at the Adelaide Crows in 2000.

He has been coach of West Adelaide since 2014 and led the club to the 2015 premiership which ended a 32-year drought at the Bloods.

West Adelaide players were told of the news just before training last Thursday and the club has rallied around the premiership coach.

As well as coaching the senior side, Mickan is continuing his day-to-day duties at the club and is remaining positive in the face of the diagnosis.

Mickan was a star ruckman who captained the Brisbane Bears from 1987 to 1989 and was also West Adelaide captain in 1986 and a four-time Bloods best-and-fairest in 1983, 85, 86 and 1993.

In 1998 he was named in the All-Australian team and in 2002 he was an inaugural inductee of the SA Football Hall of Fame.

He was also awarded the Fos Williams Medal in 1988 as South Australia’s best player in the state of origin clash against New South Wales.

As a coach he led Woodville-West Torrens from 1998 to 1999 and Glenelg from 2006 to 2011, and took them the 2008 grand final.

From 2000 to 2002 he was an assistant coach at Adelaide under Gary Ayres and he has also served as ruck coach at the Power.