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.
[2] The hallmark of Williams' play was his ability to win ground contests, and almost immediately free the ball to nearby teammates via quick, accurate handpassing.
[3] To that end, Williams' other strengths included his vision and awareness of the teammates around him; he is said to have been heavily involved in midfield tactics at ball-ups.
[3] Williams strengths outweighed several negative physical characteristics which could have hindered his career as a footballer.
Most notably, he was a slow runner; he had been knock-kneed as a child and his pace was not helped by five knee surgeries throughout his career.
In his second season, he played every match, won the VFL Players Association MVP Award and the Carji Greeves Medal.
[3] In Round 19, 1989, Williams amassed 53 disposals, which is the second highest ever recorded in a VFL/AFL match; it included another haul of 28 handpasses, and his career best tally of six goals.
[6] During 1991, Williams decided that he wanted to return to Melbourne the following season, and St Kilda and Carlton emerged as the two potential candidates.
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.
Williams frequently found himself in trouble with umpires and had many tribunal appearances – often as the result of overzealous retaliation against his taggers.
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.
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.
Prior to Round 10, the court overturned the nine-week suspension,[11] with Justice John Hedigan making direct recommendation that the AFL Tribunal establish its own appeals process as part of his judgement.
[19] In February 2013 it was reported[20] 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.
[21] :1.^ Match statistics for kicks, handpasses and disposals are available only since 1965. :2.^ Limited to players with fifty or more league games played.