Defenders often fly under the radar.

But the back line at the Western Bulldogs is a little different. 

Off-season recruit Alex Keath has made waves for his impact in year one. Hayden Crozier’s evolution into one of the competition’s most dynamic half-backs hasn’t gone unnoticed. And Caleb Daniel’s elite kicking skills have been no secret for quite some time.

But one of the big improvers in that defensive group remains unheralded, despite being in the middle of a career-best year.

That’s probably how Bailey Williams likes it. 

He’s a no-fuss sort of operator. 

And having notched his 50^th AFL game only a couple of weeks ago, he has looked every bit at home at AFL level amidst the uncertainty that is 2020. 

“It’s been a different year, we’ll probably never repeat it again, Williams told westernbulldogs.com.au

“I felt like I’d had a really good pre-season, probably my best pre-season, and then played round one and had that stint off through the isolation period. 

“It was pre-season all over again, pre-season 2.0 to come back again and be ready to go.”

Williams has been ready to go all year. 

He’s gone from being in and out of the Bulldogs’ line-up in 2019, playing just nine AFL games, to the 11^th-best general defender in the league according to the AFL’s Player Ratings. 

As of the end of round 10, he was the fifth-ranked Bulldog overall – behind only Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Tom Liberatore and Caleb Daniel.

“It was a challenging year last year,” Williams said. 

“It’s always hard when you’re not playing, and I was in and out a lot. I was having chats with Bevo around what I needed to work on and stuff like that. 

“This pre-season, I tried to build my engine and come out this year and not make any excuses for why I shouldn’t be playing. 

“I’m happy with how this year’s going personally for me.”

The 22-year-old has fast become an important fixture in the Dogs’ mix.

Much like Crozier, the coaches back Williams in to judge his read on the ball – to back himself in the contest, or go aerial when he thinks he can. 

His drive out of defence is also important - and he’s happy to pinch a kick-in or two off Daniel, but keen to leave most of them with the man who has the ability to pin-point passes in almost any direction. 

Williams has grown in confidence at AFL level from playing regularly. 

But there’s still an edge to his game from feeling far from a lock in the team, just yet. 

Having been on the outside looking in for large parts of 2019, Williams knows the hunger of players trying to force their way into Luke Beveridge’s line-up. 

“I don’t think you ever feel safe in your spot, there’s always guys wanting to come in and pushing to earn a spot as well,” he said.

“You always want to play well and hold your spot. I feel like my form’s been good and that gives me confidence each week.”

That confidence has led to a new nickname. 

“It’s self-proclaimed, Truck,” he says with a laugh. 

“Me in the weights room, shifting tin, thinking I’m lifting heavy when I’m not really.

“If you’re confident with it and you can keep saying it loud enough, you only need a couple of people to catch on and then it’s stuck. 

“Even the coaches are starting to saying it, so that’s when you really know it’s stuck.” 

Truck has evolved since pre-season 2.0, after a couple of weeks where lifting just wasn’t an option. 

After driving back to Adelaide with housemate Caleb Daniel, two weeks of isolation at home meant he had to find a different approach. 

“It was a bit challenging – I had no equipment there at all, no gym equipment, so I was probably two weeks behind the eight ball until I was allowed out,” Williams said. 

“There was a lot of body weights stuff, body weight circuits.

“Me and my Mum bonded a lot, especially those two weeks I was stuck at home. It was good to be back there, I felt like I was 18 again and she was looking after me. It was good to be back there for a month or so, Mum really helped me out.”

For all the uncertainty of 2020, one thing is now certain for the Bulldogs.

There’s little wriggle room if they want to feature at the business end of the year, starting with this week’s game against Adelaide.

“It’s a tough little stint we’ve had, the past three weeks,” Williams said.

But we felt like we were in the games, especially against Port and Brisbane. We felt like we had a quarter where we let those games slips. That Port game, we felt like we should have won… we dominated that game but couldn’t put it on the scoreboard. 

“These last six games are pretty important. We can’t really let one slip.”