Victoria won by 17 points after a see-sawing match, but Williams said the experience had been terrific.
"I was very proud to be associated with this team, from all the people we got from all around Australia to join in three or four days, it was a fantastic effort and we put on a wonderful display," he said.
"Maybe it was the 10-minute mark of the last quarter, with 16.9 each, and I think the crowd were getting exactly what they hoped for.
"The players and the staff are very disappointed we didn't win. That's the fact.
"It was a lot of effort for no return, but I'm sure looking back in the years to come we'll be really proud of the efforts.
"I thought the guys fought it out all the way to the end."
Williams, a former Collingwood captain, paid tribute to the nearly 70,000 who turned up for the game on a night when rain was forecast.
"I really thank the Victorian crowd, and also the media, for getting behind it. As I said, it was going to be as boring as anything if there was only thirty or forty thousand people there … so well done to everyone.
"Well done to the AFL for organising it, and giving these young players or these players the opportunity, who haven't ever had a sniff of this sort of commitment to the game, that lasting memory.
"So well done."
