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Bailey Williams (footballer, born 1997)

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Not to be confused with the West Coast player, Bailey Williams (footballer, born 2000).

Bailey Williams
Williams playing for the Western Bulldogs in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Bailey Williams
Nickname(s) "Horse", "Germ",[1]"Truck"
Date of birth (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997 (age 27)
Original team(s) Glenelg (SANFL)/Brighton Bombers
Draft No. 48, 2015 national draft
Debut Round 8, 2016, Western Bulldogs vs. Melbourne, at MCG
Height 189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Western Bulldogs
Number 34
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016– Western Bulldogs 147 (34)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 21, 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Bailey Williams (born 10 October 1997) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is commonly referred to as 'the horse germ'. At 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) tall and 86 kg (190 lb), he plays primarily as a rebounding half-back who can shift into the midfield. He grew up in Adelaide, South Australia. He played top-level junior football with Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League. He was drafted by the Western Bulldogs with their fourth selection and forty-eighth overall in the 2015 AFL draft.[2][3][4] Since then, he has been a VFL premiership player, and a winner of the Tony Liberatore Most Improved Player Award.

Early football

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He’s going to be a serious player because he just finds the footy, he’s a really calm, cool customer under pressure and he’s a good size for a midfielder.

Williams played football for his school, Brighton Secondary School. He was named as the best on ground during their grand final win over Henley in 2015, winning the Peter Roberts medal.[6][7] He also played for Glenelg's Under 18s division, where he flew under the radar of recruiters until he amassed 56 disposals in a single game against Woodville-West Torrens.[8][9] This performance quickly got him the attention of drafters, with this performance breaking his previous record of 34 disposals, while also beating the league record for most disposals in a game.[10] He was originally predicted at going pick 50 or later in the draft,[5] but ended up rising to pick 48.

AFL career

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2016–2019: Early career

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Williams made his debut for the Western Bulldogs in the 8th round of the 2016 AFL season, in the team's 32 point win over Melbourne.[11] On debut, Williams collected 14 disposals, a behind and 4 tackles.[12] The rest of his season was relatively mediocre, playing 5 more games and averaging 16 disposals and 3 marks.[13] He played in the reserves team, Footscray, in their premiership win over Casey, kicking a goal.[14] Williams signed a two-year contract extension in May 2017, keeping him at the club until 2019.[15] He played his first game for 2017 in Round 6, after he collected 31 disposals, 13 marks and 3 tackles for the reserves team.[16] His first game back only saw him collect 11 disposals, 3 marks and 3 tackles,[17] but he quickly stepped up his performance with a 23 disposal, 4 mark, 4 tackle performance the next week against Richmond.[18] However, this was to be his highest disposal count for the season.[19] He had another good game against Port Adelaide in round 22, collecting 19 disposals and 6 rebound 50s.

Williams retained a place in the Bulldogs best 22 in the 2018 AFL season, having his breakout game in round 3. In that game, he had career-high amounts of disposals and marks, collecting 26 and 12 respectively.[20] He also kicked a goal, and was named in the team's best.[21] A 24 disposal game in Round 9 saw him again be named as one of the Bulldogs' best, with coach Luke Beveridge describing him as "a player that is really progressing well".[22] A foot injury suffered in Round 15 saw Williams kept out of the side for 7 rounds.[23] He returned to the side for the final round of the home and away season,[24] where he kicked a goal, had 18 disposals and 6 marks.[25] Williams had a patchy start to 2019, only collecting 12 disposals which saw him get omitted. He was reinstated in the team in Round 5, but only collected 9 disposals and was again dropped.[26] He briefly stopped his dodgy form, playing 7 consecutive games from round 10 to round 17, but was once again dropped and did not feature that year.[27] He signed another two-year contract extension that saw him be tied to the club until 2021.[28]

2020–: Rapid improvement

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Williams began to rapidly improve in his breakout 2020 AFL season, becoming a crucial part of the team's backline in a chaotic season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He kicked a goal in both of the first 2 matches of the year.[29][30] He was named as one of the team's most valuable players in Round 8[31] after his 22 disposals, 4 marks and 6 rebound 50s helped the Bulldogs narrowly win over Gold Coast.[32] The following round, Williams played his 50th game,[33] notching up 23 disposals and 5 rebounds[34] to be named as one of the team's best players in the 41 point loss to Richmond.[35] He had another good game in Round 13, kicking a goal, collecting 19 touches and having 8 rebounds, his equal highest for the season.[36] In late August, it was revealed that Williams was the competition's most improved player according to Champion Data statistics, becoming 194 percent more influential in games than he had been in 2019.[37][38] Williams tried his best to get his team over the line in the elimination final against St Kilda, collecting 19 disposals, 3 rebounds and 6 marks, and was named as one of the finest Bulldogs players that game after they narrowly lost.[39] At the end of the year, he ranked first in the team for Rebound 50s and metres gained, averaging 4.9 and 395.9 respectively.[40] He finished fifth in the Charles Sutton Medal voting with a total of 121 votes, 84 behind first placed Caleb Daniel.[41][42] He also won the Tony Liberatore Most Improved Player Award, after being recognised for his breakout season.[43][44]

Williams had another season of good form in 2021. In the second round of the season, Williams helped the Bulldogs get over the line by seven points by winning a marking contest where he was outnumbered 3 to 1, which led to team captain Marcus Bontempelli kicking the winning goal.[45] Williams signed a two-year contract extension with the club in April 2021, keeping him tied to the Bulldogs until 2023.[46] In Round 5 of the 2021 AFL season, Williams suffered a collarbone injury, which ended his streak of 23 matches played in a row.[47] This injury saw him miss three rounds of the season, before returning to the team in Round 9.[48]

Statistics

[edit]
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2023 season.[19]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2016 Western Bulldogs 34 6 0 1 39 54 93 18 10 0.0 0.2 6.5 9.0 15.5 3.0 1.7
2017 Western Bulldogs 34 12 0 6 111 85 196 47 28 0.0 0.0 9.3 7.1 16.3 3.9 2.3
2018 Western Bulldogs 34 14 7 6 191 90 281 70 31 0.5 0.4 13.6 6.4 20.1 5.0 2.2
2019 Western Bulldogs 34 9 0 4 99 39 138 41 20 0.0 0.4 11.0 4.3 15.3 4.6 1.3
2020[a] Western Bulldogs 34 18 3 2 202 96 298 82 24 0.2 0.1 11.2 5.3 16.6 4.6 1.3
2021 Western Bulldogs 34 23 1 2 247 136 383 104 53 0.1 0.1 10.7 5.9 16.7 4.5 2.3
2022 Western Bulldogs 34 22 7 7 192 129 321 82 39 0.3 0.3 8.7 5.9 14.6 3.7 1.8
2023 Western Bulldogs 34 23 11 9 215 165 380 116 60 0.5 0.4 9.4 7.2 16.5 5.0 2.6
Career 127 29 37 1296 794 2090 560 265 0.2 0.3 10.2 6.3 16.5 4.4 2.1

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Get To Know: Bailey Williams". Western Bulldogs Media. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  2. ^ "AFL Draft 2015: Which club got which player in the draft". Fox Sports. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  3. ^ "The complete 2015 AFL Draft: Every pick". sportingnews.com.au. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  4. ^ Elliott, Josh (24 November 2015). "The 2015 AFL Draft wrap: Every pick of the draft". The Roar. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b Capel, Andrew (18 November 2015). "AFL draft 2015: Ball magnet Bailey Williams has AFL scouts wagging their tails". AdelaideNow. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  6. ^ Argent, Peter (5 August 2015). "Grassroots: Local footy round-up". InDaily. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Brighton Secondary School Connections Newsletter 2015". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Pick 48 - Bailey Williams". Western Bulldogs Media. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  9. ^ Davidson, Ryan (13 May 2016). "Coach recalls Bulldog debutant Bailey Williams' 56-touch game". AFL Media. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  10. ^ Turner, Matt (12 August 2015). "Glenelg's Bailey Williams emerges as AFL Draft prospect after 56 disposals in a game". AdelaideNow. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  11. ^ Cherny, Daniel (13 May 2016). "Melbourne v Western Bulldogs: Bailey Williams to debut for Dogs". The Age. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Season review: Bailey Williams". Western Bulldogs Media. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  14. ^ Gigacz, Andrew. "Casey vs Footscray VFL Grand Final - Match Report". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Pup signs on to new deal at the Kennel". AFL Media. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Daniel, Williams return for Giants clash". Western Bulldogs Media. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Greater Western Sydney vs Western Bulldogs - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Western Bulldogs vs Richmond - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Bailey Williams". AFLTables. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  20. ^ "By The Numbers: Western Bulldogs v Essendon". Western Bulldogs Media. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  21. ^ Twomey, Callum (8 April 2018). "Match report: Spirited Dogs shock Dons". AFL Media. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  22. ^ Daniel, Troy (19 May 2018). "Young Dog growing quickly". Western Bulldogs Media. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Bailey Williams To Miss At Least A Month". Triple M. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  24. ^ "TEAM NEWS: Round 23". Western Bulldogs Media. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  25. ^ "Richmond vs Western Bulldogs - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  26. ^ "TEAM NEWS - One change for Dogs". Western Bulldogs Media. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  27. ^ "TEAM NEWS - Three changes for Saints clash". Western Bulldogs Media. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  28. ^ "Williams inks new deal". Western Bulldogs Media. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  29. ^ Phelan, Jennifer (20 March 2020). "Pies dismantle Dogs to make early statement". AFL Media. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  30. ^ Correia, Chris (14 June 2020). "Dogs' dinner: Sizzling Saints make a meal of lacklustre Bulldogs". AFL Media. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  31. ^ Whiting, Michael (23 July 2020). "Close call: Dogs up to third after eclipsing Suns in nail-biter". AFL Media. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  32. ^ "Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  33. ^ "Western Bulldogs vs Richmond - Line ups". Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  34. ^ "Western Bulldogs vs Richmond - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  35. ^ Twomey, Callum (29 July 2020). "Tigers dominate as red-hot Dust blows Dogs away". AFL Media. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  36. ^ "Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  37. ^ Morris, Tom (28 August 2020). "The gruelling summer program that helped Bailey Williams become AFL's most improved player". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  38. ^ "Truckin' on: Bailey finds new gear". Western Bulldogs Media. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  39. ^ Whiting, Michael (3 October 2020). "Cloud nine: Saints march into semis after holding off hot Dogs". AFL Media. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  40. ^ "2020 Review: Williams, Wood". Western Bulldogs Media. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  41. ^ Ryan, Peter (6 October 2020). "Caleb Daniel wins Charlie Sutton Medal". The Age. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  42. ^ "King Caleb: Daniel crowned top Dog". Western Bulldogs Media. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  43. ^ "Williams finds his groove". Western Bulldogs Media. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  44. ^ "Bulldogs' B&F boilover: Bont upstaged in thrilling count". AFL Media. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  45. ^ Twomey, Callum (28 March 2021). "What a game! Bont inspires Dogs in an instant classic". AFL Media. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  46. ^ "Williams locked in at the Kennel". Western Bulldogs Media. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  47. ^ "Collarbone injury for Williams". Western Bulldogs Media. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  48. ^ Laughton, Max; Zita, David; Balmer, Matt (15 May 2021). "AFL Round 9 Teams: Freo young gun returns, Blues recall three big guns for crunch clash". Fox Sports. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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