LIAM DURKIN
FOOTBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
BY LIAM DURKIN
THEY don’t come much more loyal than Chris Williams.
Williams played his 300th match for the Churchill Football-Netball Club recently, adding another dot point to his career.
The Cougars’ veteran brought up the milestone on his home ground during Round 13 of the North Gippsland Football-Netball League season.
Williams was able to celebrate with not only a win, but by kicking three goals as Churchill got the job done over Gormandale.
There has been no shortage of glitter attached to Williams’ 300 games, with a good number of them coming in finals.
Amazingly, he has played in nine grand finals during his time with Churchill, which when averaged out equates to a grand final every two seasons.
With the Cougars headed for yet another finals series, Williams said there has been little time to look back on things too much.
“It (the 300th) was pretty low key, Saturday night was just a few quiet beers, I think I’ll probably reflect on it more after my career has finished, but it has been a pretty good journey so far,” he said.
“I think playing with a lot of mates that I’ve grown up with, through juniors, through school, through cricket as well, I think that bond, that mateship that you have together growing up and having success and playing finals over a long journey is probably the main reason (why I’ve kept playing).
“We don’t generally spend a lot of money on importing players in, we just want to play with our mates and play together. I think that is a reason for the success.
“It’s pretty hard to walk away when you’ve got a bunch of guys that you play with each week, playing in nine grand finals in 18 years makes it hard to leave.”
Somewhat fittingly, Williams’ 300th match came against the team that featured during his career highlight: the 2008 senior premiership.
In that grand final, the Cougars defeated an inaccurate Gormandale in an absolute thriller,
getting up 11.10 (76) to 9.19 (73).
“There was a lot of rushed behinds, especially late in the game,” Williams recalled.
“If we had of kicked straight in the last quarter we probably would have been up by three/four goals, but I guess that is the pressure of a grand final. Fortunately for us we were on the right end of the scoreboard when the siren went.
“That is definitely the highlight, playing in a senior flag at 24, coming off a year in the reserves where I won a league best-and-fairest and didn’t get a whole lot of senior opportunity, so to earn my spot and get an opportunity the year after and for the group to take the next step after losing 2007 was really good.
“Definitely something I’ll look back on.”
Williams became just the fourth Churchill player to reach 300 games, joining Gary Welsh, Darren Blair and Travis Brighton.
Ever the team player, Williams has carried a variety of roles throughout his time.
“I’m not a superstar footballer, I just do my bits and pieces for the team,” he said.
“If that means I need to play a shut-down role as a defensive forward, or play on the half-back flank, or whatever the case may be, I’ll just put my hand up.”
While he might not see himself as a superstar, there is another Churchill player carrying the exact same name that most pundits believe deserves of that bill.
Having two people named Chris Williams on the team sheet is bound to cause headaches for some administrators, although the 300-gamer said there had never really been any confusion over league votes or goal kickers.
“We have a bit of banter about who’s better, I always say he’s number two because I’m older, but he certainly has a fair bit of footy talent,” Williams said of his namesake.
“He’s known as Squidy, I’m Willo, so it’s pretty simple, there has been a few times there has been a few little mix ups here and there.”
A life member, Williams said he felt he had a few more years left in him yet.
“I’m still enjoying it, and I’ve always said while I can still commit and contribute I just want to keep playing,” he said.
Loyalty to Churchill extends far beyond the football field for Williams, who has also played
over 240 games for Churchill Cricket Club.
You would be hard pressed to find a more capped sportsperson in one town.
For now however, it is full steam ahead as Williams looks to add to his number of grand final appearances.
“We’re building nicely, we’ve got three pretty tough games leading into finals, so really setting ourselves for those last three games to try and finish top three.”
