Spending the majority of his career in defence Tom Williams is not a noted goalkicker, but his three against Melbourne on Saturday night were instrumental in the team’s third win of the season.
Williams said his goals were a bonus and that his primary focus was on keeping Melbourne’s defenders accountable and providing support for the small forwards in the wet.
Watch highlights from Tom Williams three goal performance against Melbourne on Saturday
“Because it was wet, [the message] specifically to the forwards, we needed to contest down the line, we didn’t want anyone leading up and leaving that void for the defenders to drop off,” Williams said.
“In the first half we weren’t consistent enough at it, thankfully in the second half we managed to get it done - I think that little change was the difference, in our line anyway.”
The wet conditions combined with both sides’ contested style of play didn’t make it an ideal day for tall forwards, but Williams admirably stuck to the task at hand.
“It was a… rugby maul we knew we had to win ugly and as forwards we weren’t going to clunk a lot of them,” he said.
“So our job was just to get it to ground level and let the little fellas have their day - I think we did that pretty well.”
Williams said the victory against Melbourne was timely ahead of the mid-season bye, and that the team would use the break to reflect and refine their game plan.
“It’s a good win to get, especially with the bye coming up so we can work on a few things and hopefully play a more attractive brand as the weeks go on,” he said.
