Zac Williams is a half-back flanker. So Play him there.
Written by Ari Stamatakos
When news filtered through to the Carlton fans that out of contract Giant’s star Zac Williams will be nominating the Blues as his preferred destination, it sent jubilation amongst the Princes Park faithful. The thought of the link up with him, Adam Saad, Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh sent shivers down the spines of all Carlton fans. When it became known that it was a mutual decision for him to play more midfield minutes, the thought of when he tore up the arch-enemy in a Preliminary Final came flooding back and the realisation that we might have just got that elusive 'Premium' midfielder we had been lacking for some time, had just become real.
However, dreams don't always come true as, despite flashes of brilliance early on in the year, his performances have not been up to scratch, and it was encapsulated in the game against the Doggies. He attended 21% of Centre Bounces and he only amassed a measly 9 disposals, 0 clearances, 1 tackle and 2 clangers. He registered the lowest amount of AFL Dream Team points from anyone who wasn't subbed in or out. Arguably his worst performance of his career and this led to major criticism and concern, as someone on 800k a year should never, never put up those numbers. This caused him in the next game against the Dee's to be moved to halfback. 67% of his possessions came in the defensive half of the ground and this led to a much-improved performance. 19 disposals, 84% efficiency, 463 metres gained and a team-high 7 intercept possessions. While not elite, if this trajectory keeps going the way it's going then we will see a completely different Zac Williams than what he was a couple of weeks ago. The difference is that he is playing off the half-back line, where he belongs. The aforementioned Doggies game was unfortunately not an anomaly, as, despite not other performances being that bad, they haven't been exactly great.
Stats as a midfielder are not good enough.
For someone who is on premium money, you would expect premium performances. Whilst they aren't horrendous, they aren't premium quality. Looking at his best game of the season, against Brisbane. He had 20 disposals, 75% efficiency, 6 marks, 7 inside 50’s and 5 score involvements. Coincidentally, 72% of his disposals in this game came in the defensive half of the ground, just food for thought. A name like Williams, with the pre-season expectation and the price tag, attached, if this is his best performance a third of the way into the season, that is very concerning stuff. His seasonal averages are a point of concern as well. Again, whilst not being completely terrible, it is just average. He doesn't rank elite in any metric and his stat line would look more suited next to a name of Ed Curnow or Will Setterfield. What stands out is probably his contested possession work, which is surprising considering his best footy is played receiving rather than giving. He ranks above average in all three clearance metrics, ground ball gets (5.5), contested possessions (8.3) as well as contested possession rate (44.6).
The Team Thing.
With Williams moving back to defence, this allows much more tactical flexibility. As seen in the Dee's game with Liam Stocker and Sam Docherty, both playing much higher up the ground and having a much bigger influence playing in the exact positions that Williams has been. Doc, having a season-best outing playing on the wing and having 27 disposals going at 74%, 4 clearances and 6 tackles. Looking at Liam Stocker, it's hard to judge someone who has only played 9 games of footy, however when the majority of those have been off the half-back like and he was drafted as an inside midfielder, then there can easily be a comparison. Playing one of his better games of the season, he had a career-high 2 clearances, 9 uncontested possessions, 5 contested possessions from someone who is in his 3rd year, coming off a turbulent 2020, it’s pretty impressive. While he didn’t use the ball as well as he potentially is capable of, the Blues will be better off with Williams behind the ball and Stocker in the guts, then the other way around. This is a point is being made without mentioning players like Will Setterfield, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Brodie Kemp, Matt Kennedy, all of who are natural midfielders who will massively benefit from playing in their proper position, rather than being shoe-horned on the wing or in defence because a half-back flanker decided he wanted to have a go at playing in the midfield.
Final Thoughts.
All Blues fans are in the same boat, they are all disappointed that the Zac Williams midfield experiment didn't work. Despite him saying in the pre-season that he was “Still learning the Midfield craft” we persisted, and it hasn't come to fruition. There is no shame in admitting mistakes and returning him to half-back where he is more natural. This doesn't mean that you can’t try again in the future, next season perhaps, once he gets another full pre-season to learn the Carlton midfield structure, he could come out in round one 2022 a different beast. But until then, David Teague should put his tail between his legs, and make Zac Williams a beast, streaming down the half-back flank playing champagne footy which we all know he is capable of.
