Coming off a career-best season, emerging West Coast Eagles big man Bailey Williams will be taking momentum into 2024.
Playing every game last season, and besting his stats across the board, Williams established himself as one of the most exciting young rucks in the competition.
Originally featuring in the Eagles' lineup as a back-up ruck behind Nic Naitanui, Williams has since carved his own path and was one of West Coast’s most consistent performers in 2023.
Finishing sixth in last season’s John Worsfold Medal count, Williams said he was pleased with his game on a personal level.
“Personally, I was pretty happy, I was able to string some decent footy together,” Williams said.
“I shouldered a lot of the ruck load for most of the year.
“Obviously from a team point of view it was a little bit disappointing, our season and the number of games won, but personally, I was pretty happy with my game.”
Looking ahead to 2024, Williams is happy with how his pre-season has been shaping up so far.
“It’s been really good so far, it’s actually been quite exciting,” Williams said.
“We’ve got a lot of fresh faces around the club, players, staff and coaches.
“The training standards have been really good, and I’m really excited for the season, it’s been great.”
With the recruitment of former GWS ruckman Matt Flynn, Williams will potentially be taking on more of a forward-ruck style role this season, and he said he’s excited for the new challenge.
“I could have a little bit of a role change this year,” Williams said.
“I played a lot of ruck last year obviously, which I loved, but with Matt Flynn coming in and helping to boost our ruck stocks, it could see me play a little bit of a different role, meaning more forward time and playing second in the ruck.
“That will change my game a little bit and I’m excited for that, it’s probably where I’ve seen myself play, even from when I first got drafted.
“I’ve always been sort of a ruck who can play forward or a forward who can play in the ruck, I’m excited to get into it and hopefully I can have a big impact for the team.”
Heading into his sixth season in the blue and gold, Williams gives credit to Naitanui and ruck coach Ryan Turnbull on helping to take his game to the next level.
“It’s a funny one, I’ve always sort of worked in and around Nic (Naitanui) when he was at the club,” Williams said.
“He was the perfect mentor for an up-and-coming ruckman, and I worked with him a lot.
“After he left the club, I started working a fair bit more with our ruck coach, Ryan Turnbull, and putting both of their learnings into my game has been really helpful.”
With several new recruits joining the West Coast fold this off-season, Williams said he’s been impressed with how his young teammates have hit the ground running.
“They’ve been really good, the young boys have come in with a really good attitude,” Williams said.
“The way that we’ve set things up, we just allow the young boys to come in and just play footy, and they’re really showing their strengths.”
