Williams weighs up homecoming plan
THE cancellation of the NEAFL season could bring a former Kangaroo back to his Townsville roots.
Josh Williams left North Queensland behind when he moved to the Gold Coast in 2017, before being signed by the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
As an 18-year-old he played two games for the club but was delisted at the end of the 2018 season.
His return to the Gold Coast coincided with a grand final appearance with Southport Sharks, but their chance for premiership redemption has been stripped by the coronavirus pandemic.
Now the former Hermit Park Tiger admits he could be heading back home to feature with one of the city’s clubs, in what he hopes will help him and his teammates rediscover why they first picked up the Sherrin.
“Going back to our local clubs, hopefully can give us the drive and passion to love football for what it is again,” Williams said.
“You definitely can (forget that), just with how furious it is at the time … you forget how to just have fun.
“Southport have been great for that, just before going out there’s always a comment about having fun. That’s probably why we’ve been successful, it’s what footy is about, and sometimes it gets too serious.”
Williams’ 2019 campaign with the Sharks was plagued by a shoulder injury, which eventually led to surgery in October.
But with the chance to help the club claim back-toback titles after their triumph in 2018 it was a pain he endured throughout the season.
At various stages he said there was no strength to it whatsoever – he “couldn’t even do a push up”.
“It definitely was a drance throughout the hinseason, it’s something you just have to deal with while you play,” Williams said.
“I wouldn’t have other way.
“You can’t really take yourself out saying you’re in a Grand Final – you have the chance to win it all.
“If we did the surgery earlier I wouldn’t have been able to play, but after going pretty well in the season there was it any always a chance to play in the Granny and I didn’t want to give that up.
“Unfortunately we came up against the best team outside of the AFL.”
Since recovering from the injury Williams has “put on a few kilos” and gained a lot more strength.
It had him in great stead for the NEAFL season to push for a comeback to the
AFL and adopt what he learned since his Kangaroos debut.
He has even fielded interest from some VFL clubs since the North East championship was cancelled, however the 21-year-old intends to remain in Queensland.
Ultimately it is still his goal to reach the plateaus he did in 2017 and Williams said the calibre of the sport in
Queensland could be his ticket back to the top.
“Probably just the commitment to playing at the elite level, I think my work ethic wasn’t there and as an 18year-old I didn’t know what it was like to be a professional athlete,” he said.
“Now coming back to a part-time level I’m training even better than I was back then.”