Gregory Donald Williams (born 30 September 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented , the Sydney Swans and in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. A midfielder, he is a dual Brownlow Medal winner and at his peak was the then-highest-paid player in the history of the sport, including an under-the-table $200,000 bonus payment. He was also linked to further controversy during the 1990s.
Playing style
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.
Playing career
Before the VFL
The third of eight children, Williams spent his early life in Melbourne, before moving to Bendigo at the age of 10. There, he played football for the Golden Square Football Club in the Bendigo Football League, earning strong acclaim at junior levels, representing Victoria in the Teal Cup in 1980.
Prior to the 1982 VFL season, Williams trained in the pre-season with the Carlton Football Club (to which the Bendigo Football League was zoned), but the Blues ultimately rejected him, deterred by his lack of speed and fitness. He returned to Golden Square for the season, winning the Michelsen Medal as league best and fairest. Carlton invited him to try out again in the 1983 pre-season, but again he was rejected. He returned to Golden Square, and once again he won the Michelsen Medal.
Sydney Swans
At the end of 1985, when Hafey took the job as coach of the Sydney Swans after being sacked by Geelong, Williams was promptly offered a sizeable contract to follow Hafey to Sydney. Williams was reported to have been offered roughly double the money he was on at Geelong. Williams accepted, and the deal was done with a transfer fee of $120,000 between the clubs, which was much less than the $200,000 that Geelong had sought.
Williams continued his strong form into his career with Sydney. In 1986, his first season there, Williams won the Brownlow Medal in a tie with 's Robert DiPierdomenico, and made the All-Australian team for the first time; he would back this up with his second All-Australian selection in 1987, and he placed third for the Brownlow in 1989.
Williams played two more seasons, before retiring at the end of a controversial 1997 season which saw a protracted legal battle between the AFL and Carlton over a suspension Williams received from the tribunal. He finished his career with 250 senior games: 34 with Geelong, 107 with Sydney, 109 with Carlton and 9 for Victoria in State of Origin matches. In his league career he accumulated 3600 handpasses; this was more than five hundred more than any other player before him, so prolific was his use of handpass, and it remained the record until 2006. As of the end of the 2024 season, his career average of 26.9 disposals per game remains the record for retired players, and his career average of 14.4 handpasses per game was the record among retired players until the retirement of Daniel Cross in 2015.
Statistics
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|style="background:#CFECEC; width:1em"|
|Led the league for the season only
|-
|style="background:#b7e718; width:1em"|
|Led the league after finals only
|-
|style="background:#DD6E81; width:1em"|
|Led the league after season and finals
|}
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1984
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 11 || 12 || 4 || 5 || 154 || 158 || 312 || 37 || || 0.3 || 0.4 || 12.8 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 13.2 || 26.0 || 3.1 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1985
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 11 || 22 || 6 || 8 || 276 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 399 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 675 || 81 || || 0.3 || 0.4 || 12.5 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 18.1 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 30.7 || 3.7 ||
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1986
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 24 || 28 || 21 || 311 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 379 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 690 || 90 || || 1.2 || 0.9 || 13.0 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 15.8 || 28.8 || 3.8 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1987
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 22 || 21 || 11 || 255 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 332 || 587 || 56 || 46 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 11.6 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 15.1 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 26.7 || 2.5 || 2.2
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1988
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 18 || 20 || 14 || 280 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| 249 || 529 || 64 || 34 || 1.1 || 0.8 || 15.6 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 13.8 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 29.4 || 3.6 || 1.9
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1989
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 17 || 19 || 23 || 214 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| 258 || 472 || 63 || 28 || 1.1 || 1.4 || 12.6 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 15.2 || 27.8 || 3.7 || 1.6
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1990
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 11 || 17 || 6 || 164 || 185 || 349 || 46 || 18 || 1.5 || 0.5 || 14.9 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 16.8 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 31.7 || 4.2 || 1.6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1991
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 15 || 13 || 16 || 163 || 249 || 412 || 44 || 21 || 0.9 || 1.1 || 10.9 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 16.6 || 27.5 || 2.9 || 1.1
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1992
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 16 || 2 || 10 || 204 || 185 || 389 || 58 || 28 || 0.1 || 0.6 || 12.8 || 11.6 || 24.3 || 3.6 || 1.8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1993
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 23 || 21 || 9 || 297 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 367 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 664 || 84 || 29 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 12.9 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 16.0 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 28.9 || 3.7 || 1.3
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1994
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 22 || 15 || 12 || 278 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 364 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 642 || 56 || 40 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 12.6 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 16.5 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 29.2 || 2.5 || 1.8
|-
| scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C | 1995<sup>#</sup> ||
| 2 || 17 || 29 || 15 || 185 || 179 || 364 || 63 || 21 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 10.9 || 10.5 || 21.4 || 3.7 || 1.2
|-style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1996
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 18 || 11 || 7 || 169 || 161 || 330 || 51 || 18 || 0.6 || 0.4 || 9.4 || 8.9 || 18.3 || 2.8 || 1.0
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1997
|style="text-align:center;"|
| 2 || 13 || 11 || 9 || 171 || 135 || 306 || 52 || 20 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 13.2 || 10.4 || 23.5 || 4.0 || 1.5
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3| Career
! 250
! 217
! 166
! 3121
! 3600
! 6721
! 845
! 303
! 0.9
! 0.7
! 12.5
! 14.4
! 26.9
! 3.4
! 1.6
|}
Honours and achievements
{| style="margin-right:4px; margin-top:8px; float:right; border:1px #000 solid; border-radius:8px; background:#fff; font-family:Verdana; font-size:8pt; text-align:center;"
|- style="background:#fff;"
| colspan="2;" style="padding:3px; margin-bottom:-3px; margin-top:2px; font-family:Arial; "| Brownlow Medal votes
|-
! style="width:50%;"| Season
! style="width:50%;"| Votes
|-
| 1984
| 7
|-
| 1985
| 15
|-
|- style="background:#D9F9E9;"
| 1986
| 17
|-
| 1987
| 13
|-
| 1988
| 2
|-
| 1989
| 16
|-
| 1990
| 7
|-
| 1991
| 8
|-
| 1992
| 6
|-
| 1993
| 17
|-
|- style="background:#D9F9E9;"
| 1994
| 30
|-
| 1995
| 6
|-
| 1996
| 7
|-
| 1997
| 3
|-
| Total
| 154
|-
| colspan=2| <small>Key:</small>
|- style="background:#d9f9e9; border:1px solid #aaa; width:2em;"
| colspan=2| <small>Green / Bold = Won</small><!--
<br />* = joint winner</small>
|- style="background-color:#FFCCCC; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em;"
| colspan=2| <small>Red / Italics = Ineligible</small>
-->
|}
Team
- AFL Premiership (Carlton): 1995
- McClelland Trophy (Carlton): 1995
- Ansett Australia Cup (Carlton): 1997
Individual
- 2× Brownlow Medal: 1986, 1994
- 2× Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFLPA MVP Award): 1985, 1994
- 4× All-Australian: 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994
- John Nicholls Medal: 1994
- Australian Football Media Association Player of the Year Award: 1994
- 2× Herald Sun Player of the Year Award: 1993, 1994
- Norm Smith Medal: 1995
- 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
Controversy
Williams was a controversial figure during his career.
;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. 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.
;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.
;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 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. 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.
;Racial vilification
In August 1995, Williams was charged with racially vilifying West Coast Eagles opponent Chris Lewis, after referring to him as a "black c***" 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. 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. 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. 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,
Health
In February 2013 it was reported 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.
Notes
<small>:1. Match statistics for kicks, handpasses and disposals are available only since 1965.</small><br>
<small>:2. Limited to players with fifty or more league games played.</small>
References
External links
- Greg Williams Profile in Blueseum
- AFL: Hall of Fame