A Queensland representative, premiership player and inaugural member of the Brisbane Bears will be in charge of one of the teams in Saturday’s AFL grand final.
He has been one of football’s journeymen, but Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams has a solid history in the game in the
Williams spent the last four years of his 201-game playing career with the Brisbane Bears.
He was the club’s initial signing back in 1986 after playing 135 games and captaining Collingwood. He was expected to be made captain when the Bears team took to the field for the first time in 1987, but instead was vice-captain behind surprise appointee Mark Mickan.
Williams wore the No.2 Guernsey as coach Peter Knights followed a one-time Hawthorn initiative by allocating the
Williams finished fifth in club champion voting in each of his first three seasons at
He suffered several form lapses during his time in the north and was drafted out to local club Windsor-Zillmere (now known as the Zillmere Eagles) in the old QAFL competition.
Williams played a significant part in the Windsor-Zillmere Eagles’ 1988 premiership triumph, playing under former
He also endeared himself to local officials with a courageous display in his sole State game for
With a string of his fellow Bears players from interstate who were eligible making themselves unavailable to play against
He retired at the end of 1990 after 66 games and 58 goals with the Bears playing mainly as a ruck-rover.
He went on to become an assistant coach to Kevin Sheedy at Essendon and took the Port job in 1999 following the sacking of club legend John Cahill after the Power failed to make the finals in each of their initial two seasons in the AFL.
Williams came back to haunt his old club in 2004 when Port deprived the Brisbane Lions of a historic fourth premiership in a row, the Power breaking open the grand final in the last 40 minutes.
