STAR Woori Yallock midfielder Jordy Williams hopes to return to AFL Yarra Ranges this season after breaking his ankle in Round 1.
Surgeons inserted seven screws and a plate in the 23-year-old’s right foot last Monday.
The reigning league best-and-fairest winner will be in a cast for six weeks then a moon boot for another six.
Williams said he hoped his 2017 campaign wasn’t just “half an hour of footy for the year”.
“It’s been mixed emotions, obviously disappointment but there’s a bit of hope I can get back before the end of the year,’’ he said.
“It’s three months from now that I can start walking and running so that’ll lead us up to Round 13 and there’s still a lot of footy to be played in the second half of the year.
“It’s just whether it’s more important to play footy or more important to get it right and not have any trouble in the long run.”
Jordy Williams lasted only 30 minutes against Upwey, before breaking his ankle. Picture: Christopher Chan.
Williams suffered the break in a marking contest with Upwey forward Dan Waters midway through the second quarter.
His father, Essendon champion Darren ‘Daisy’ Williams, suffered the same injury in 1986.
”We collided in the air and as I hit the ground my boot gripped and all my weight went over the top of it,’’ he said.
“When I looked at it my ankle was facing the other way and as I tried to stand up to get helped off it clicked back in, it was a strange feeling.
“It was painful at the start then the shock of what the injury was took over and it was disappointment.”
An assistant coach of the Tigers, Williams will take on a greater role over the next few months.