By Kate Mitchell
I still remember the first time I met Will Hams, I honestly thought he was someone’s little brother who had tagged along with the big kids. It was at a Gippsland Power home game in 2011. Not very tall, with a slight frame Will had a helmet on to play.
When I realised he was actually going to run out on to the field I became genuinely concerned for his safety. This poor kid was going to get crunched.
But straight away my perceptions were proved wrong. Will may have been little in size but he wasn’t little in courage or ability. I was amazed at his willingness to smash into packs and get amongst it. After working so hard to get the ball his disposal was then spot-on.
I left the ground that day thinking 'gee, that kid Hams has got some go'. Needless to say I was instantly a fan.
Footy started as a family thing for Will. At age 6 he was the little bloke running around in the school under-10s team coached by his dad.
At home he would don his Richmond gear with Matty Knights’ number on the back to kick the footy with older brother Tom.
For Will, back then, footy was just about having fun with his mates “I kind of followed my mates a lot in teams around Sale, I reckon I just about played for every team in Sale," he says.
It was evident from an early age that Will had the makings of a good footballer.
After winning best and fairest awards all the way through his juniors the progression to the Gippsland Power program was the obvious next step. Coming into the under-15s was a daunting experience “I didn’t really know many of the boys," Will says. "I only knew the ones from Traralgon and Sale, so I was excited and a bit nervous but it was really good straight away, Pete (regional manager Peter Francis) was really good to us and our coach was really good to us to, we had a really good team”.
With the Power's home base in Morwell it meant an hour in the car just to get training but the travel didn’t really faze Will. “You just have to deal with it, it’s something you wouldn’t prefer but coming from Sale and coming from Gippsland everyone knows that you have to travel and it’s just one of the things you have to sacrifice to play the good footy”.
While Trent Cotchin may be his favourite player to watch, Will didn’t have to look far from home for players to emulate.
Training and playing with the likes of Clay Smith (Western Bulldogs) and Danny Butcher (Port Adelaide) he learned a lot about attacking the footy and he looked up to them.
There was also another fairly handy footballer at the club that he aspired to emulate. “When I was with the 16s we trained with the 18s for a while and you couldn’t help but admire Dyson Heppell and the way he went about it. You try and pick up traits along the way, you see how hard they work and what you need to do to try and get the best out of yourself to get to their level”
While the willingness to put in the hard yards was there, Will’s first year in the TAC Cup was full of frustration. A stress fracture in his foot hampered his pre-season. While recovering from that injury he did a lot of boxing sessions and started to bulk up, only to come down with a debilitating case of glandular fever. Will dropped about six kilograms but still managed to come back and play a number of games for Power late in the season.
To see Will now you certainly don’t think he’s someone’s little kid brother, you see a strong young man. His physical transformation has been astounding. “I thought I better put a bit of muscle on this year so I’ve worked pretty hard in the gym and done a lot of conditioning.”
That hard work has paid off with Will’s fitness levels going through the roof.
Add to that a growth spurt and he now has a body able to withstand the rigours of elite football. “I think this is the biggest period I’ve had without anything wrong with me with sickness or injury”. It certainly shows.
It’s no surprise that Will models his game on Dale Thomas. Like Will, Daisy was a talented but skinny blonde kid who loved his surfing and his footy. “I follow Dale Thomas, I like the way that he plays, he is a Gippy boy and he was kind of a bit of a light frame. I pretty much try and work the way he plays inside and out, he’s a tough player, I like him, and also Beau Waters as well.”
To start the 2012 season, Will’s TAC Cup coach Nick Stevens took his top age players to Mount Hotham for a pre-season camp that challenged the boys both physically and mentally.
Day after day of 20km mountain treks did more than just improve Will’s fitness, it showed him that if he believed in himself he could climb any mountain.
Having benefitted from Stevens' timely advice, Will is full of admiration for his coach “Stevo has been amazing. I wasn’t really sure if I could try and get to the AFL or really make it but this year Stevo has really helped me with that, he’s got me a lot of confidence. Dealing with the confidence issue was the main thing and since then I think my football has just gone through from there”.
That confidence was the final piece in the puzzle to take Will from a good player to an elite player. While he was not part of the original Vic Country squad named for the U18 National Carnival, Will’s stunning form for the Power meant that he couldn’t be overlooked. While reminiscing about his experience playing for Vic Country Will’s eyes light up. “It was pretty exciting; I definitely didn’t expect it that’s for sure. I remember I had a driving lesson so I missed the call from Pete and then I rang him back and he didn’t answer. I got home and Mum just goes 'I can’t believe it' and I was like 'can’t believe what?' And she goes 'oh my god you don’t know!' I looked at the answering machine and it was Pete, yep I had the call up to play Vic Country! I think I was speechless, you couldn’t get the smile off my face I was just really excited. It was nervous times going and meeting all of the boys because you’ve never played with them but it was just a really good experience”
Will went from being not even in the squad to one of Vic Country’s best players for the championships. After missing the first game he played the remaining 4 matches that included the final game at Etihad stadium. He found himself back in the middle of Etihad with his Gippsland Power team mates for the TAC Cup grand final. On that day Will played a crucial role for his team in the midfield, kicking a goal and being named in the best players. But in what has been touted as one of the best under-18 final ever played, the Oakleigh Chargers shattered the dream with a golden point victory.
The scene of so much heartbreak now becomes the scene of opportunity as Will attends the AFL Draft Combine at Etihad Stadium this week. He may not be a household name like some of the other highly-touted attendees but that doesn’t mean he won’t be generating a lot of interest from AFL clubs.
‘That kid Hams has got some go.’
Last Modified on 19/08/2013 10:58