West Coast Eagles forward Jack Williams taking learnings from Jarrod Witts battle for knowledge base
Young West Coast forward Jack Williams was handed one of the toughest assignments in football on Friday night when he was asked to assist Bailey Williams as a part-time ruck, trying to halve the battle with Suns giant Jarrod Witts.
But the 20-year-old conducted himself with aplomb, kicking a goal and collecting a career-high 17 disposals, along with 10 hitouts and four clearances, as the Eagles put a major dent in Gold Coast’s finals aspirations.
Williams wasn’t getting ahead of himself in the rooms, though, taking the time to reflect on the challenge and how he can use it to continue to improve his game going forward.
“(Witts) is an absolute unit, he’s massive, and he’s really crafty. He’s one of the best rucks in the league, but I love that challenge, and I love playing against these guys and learning how they play their ruck game and taking stuff from that,” he told The West Australian.
“I think I’m really settling into my role in the team pretty well, just gaining confidence every week and getting into that rhythm of waxing between ruck and forward.
“I think it’s a really important role to help out with Bailey (Williams) and then also when I’m up forward making it a contest and being a presence as well.
“I’m just being scrappy, making a contest and if I’m playing on opponents who outsize me, I’m just trying to play to my strengths, trying to be creative and winning or halving contests.
“Each week, I’m getting better at it and learning new ways to play it, so I’m pretty happy.”
Camera IconJack Williams of the Eagles celebrates a goal. Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Williams added it was also nice to get a win for interim coach Jarrad Schofield, who enhanced his chances of securing the top job for next season with the crowd-lifting victory.
“It’s great to get a win for him, he’s really transitioned well, and it’s been seamless,” Williams said.
”He’s bringing a really strong focus on playing on the edge and getting our contests right, and I think we saw last week in our first half we really brought that and today we were able to bring it for the full game.”
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