Greg Williams (Australian footballer)

Williams made his name as one of the best centres in the history of the game. He was particularly skilful at handpassing, and was the most prolific user of the skill during his era.[1] The hallmark of Williams' play was his ability to win ground contests, and almost immediately free the ball to nearby teammates via quick, accurate handpassing.[2] To that end, Williams' other strengths included his vision and awareness of the teammates around him; he is said to have been heavily involved in midfield tactics at ball-ups.[1] His kicking and ball winning skills were also strong.[2]

Williams strengths outweighed several negative physical characteristics which could have hindered his career as a footballer. Most notably, he was a slow runner; he had been knock-kneed as a child and his pace was not helped by five knee surgeries throughout his career. He was also short, stocky and carried extra weight early in his career.[1]

Williams earned the nickname "Diesel", after the nickname of an American NFL player whose motivational tapes were used by Williams' first Victorian Football League (VFL) Geelong captain Michael Turner, and remains widely used.[3]

[9]

• Team
  • AFL Premiership (Carlton): 1995
  • McClelland Trophy (Carlton): 1995
  • Ansett Australia Cup (Carlton): 1997
• Individual
  • Brownlow Medal: 1986, 1994
  • Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFLPA MVP Award): 1985, 1994
  • All-Australian: 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994
  • John Nicholls Medal: 1994
  • Australian Football Media Association Player of the Year Award: 1994
  • Herald Sun Player of the Year Award: 1993, 1994
  • Australian Football Hall of Fame Inductee: 2001
  • Carlton Football Club Hall of Fame Inductee: 1999
  • Sydney Swans Hall of Fame Inductee: 2009
  • AFL Team of the Century - Interchange Bench
  • Carlton Football Club Team of the Century – Centre
  • South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Team of the Century – Centre

Williams was a highly controversial figure during his career, and was involved in several scandals.

Tribunal record

Williams frequently found himself in trouble with umpires and had many tribunal appearances – often as the result of overzealous retaliation against his taggers.[1] He was charged a total of 19 times, found guilty 12 times, and suspended for a total of 34 matches during his career.[10] He was also known for his generally impolite treatment of umpires, and the Tribunal found him guilty of verbally abusing an umpire on three occasions, for which he was twice fined and once suspended.[11]

Illegal player payments

In February 1992, it was uncovered that both Williams and the Sydney Swans had breached the league's salary regulations. Williams had received additional, undeclared payments via one of Sydney's sponsors during the 1990 season, with both the club and the player aware of the rort. Both plead guilty to the AFL. The club was fined $50,000, and Williams was fined $25,000 and de-registered by the league for eleven weeks. Williams was in his first pre-season with Carlton at the time, and his debut for the club was delayed until Round 7 as a result of the deregistration.[2][12]

1993 Brownlow Medal

When Williams finished one vote behind winner Gavin Wanganeen for the 1993 Brownlow Medal, it was noted that Williams had received no votes in Carlton's nine goal victory against Melbourne in Round 10 at Princes Park – a match in which Williams accumulated 44 disposals, kicked a goal and was generally thought to have been the most dominant player on the ground. The votes in that game attracted some media attention at the time, and Williams' poor relationship with umpires was often considered to have been a factor in his failure to poll votes.[13] In 2006, one of the umpires in that match, Murray Bird, alleged this to be true, stating that he had wanted to award votes to Williams, but that his more senior colleague on the day, John Russo, had overruled him on the basis of Williams' negative attitude towards him. Russo denied the allegations. Williams briefly considered a legal challenge for the 1993 Brownlow Medal, but did not proceed.[14]

Racial vilification

In August 1995, Williams was charged with racially vilifying West Coast Eagles opponent Chris Lewis, after referring to him as a "black cunt" during a match; he was one of the first players charged under an AFL rule, introduced in June 1995, which was specific to racial vilification. The case was settled with a public apology from Williams to Lewis; no penalty was imposed.[15] It was not the only incident between the two players in their careers, with Lewis suspended for spitting at Williams in a match in 1993.[11]

Suspension appealed through the courts

Williams was involved in a particularly controversial tribunal case following an incident in Round 1 1997. After the final siren of Carlton's match against Essendon, umpire Andrew Coates stepped in to break up a small conflict between Williams and Essendon's Sean Denham. Williams pushed Coates in the chest to continue the exchange with Denham. The contact was not violent in nature, but was forceful enough to knock Coates off balance.[16] Coates did not report Williams for the incident, but after viewing video footage, the AFL brought its own report against Williams to the tribunal. He was found guilty of "undue interference with an umpire" and suspended for nine matches.

Because the length of the suspension would have personally cost Williams $100,000 in match payments, Carlton decided to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court of Victoria; at the time, there was no Appeals Board at the AFL Tribunal, so the courts were the only place to appeal decisions.[17] An injunction against the suspension was awarded on the Friday after the match, allowing Williams to continue playing until the case was heard (although he did have to serve a three-week suspension for a kneeing offence committed the very next week). Prior to Round 10, the court overturned the nine-week suspension,[10] with Justice John Hedigan making direct recommendation that the AFL Tribunal establish its own appeals process as part of his judgement.[17] The AFL then appealed Hedigan's decision in the Victorian Court of Appeal, and the three justices found in the AFL's favour (by a majority of 2–1), and re-instated Williams' nine-week suspension, to be served starting in Round 17. Carlton attempted to take the case to the High Court of Australia, but the High Court rejected the application. Altogether, Carlton suffered more than $400,000 in legal costs.[10] Williams served six matches of the suspension before retiring at the end of the season. The AFL did act on Hedigan's recommendation, and established an Appeals Board for the 1998 season.

Williams has a son, Jake, who trained with Carlton in the 2007 pre-season, but was ultimately not drafted to the AFL. Jake was eligible to be selected by either Carlton or Sydney under the father-son rule.[18]

In February 2013 it was reported[19] that Williams was among a group of seven former AFL and NRL players who were tested by researchers at Deakin University and found to have symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative condition which has affected some athletes who have had a history of severe concussions and other head traumas. It was reported that Williams was suffering memory loss, including that he no longer recalls many specific details about some of his greatest football achievements, such as Carlton's 1995 premiership game.[20]

:1.^ Match statistics for kicks, handpasses and disposals are available only since 1965.
:2.^ Limited to players with fifty or more league games played.

• Greg Williams's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Greg Williams at AustralianFootball.com
• Greg Williams Profile in Blueseum
• AFL: Hall of Fame