Zachary Williams Biography

Zac Williams will not play in 2023 after rupturing his ACL at training.

"These incidents are so unfortunate and we are all feeling for Zac, he could not have done any more this pre-season to get himself ready for the year," Carlton footy boss Brad Lloyd said.

Zac Williams will miss up to three months after scans revealed a high-grade calf injury sustained in the Blues' win over GWS.

Carlton CEO Cain Liddle slams a racist message that was sent to Zac Williams via social media platform Instagram.

"It is a disgrace that people believe they can just say whatever they want to a person and think no action will be taken," Liddle said.

"We will never stop calling out this sort of racist behaviour because nobody, no matter who you are, should have such vile words directed towards them.

"Zac has the entire Carlton family standing with him, he knows he has our full support but at the same time he is hurting because he has had to put up with this crap throughout his life and that simply is not good enough."

Carlton will throw gun recruit Zac Williams straight into the midfield in 2021, with the club confident the high-profile free agency addition will add an exciting new dimension to its growing onball group.

"We've seen some of the work he's done, and it's been a tough midfield to break into at GWS. They've had a lot of good players go through there and he's had the ability to play off half-back, but we've got more depth across half-back than in any position on the ground right now," Carlton coach David Teague said.

"He's been quite good and he's brought some experience of playing in there from a different system. He's helping the guys around him, but we're definitely training him up as a midfielder."

Carlton recruit Zac Williams, who supported the Blues as a youth, says there will be no extra pressure to perform after signing a mega-deal to join the club as a restricted free agent.

"I don't think so. I knew there was going to be speculation and people will have their opinions, which is fine. That's football and that's the way it is. I'm not even worried about what anyone else says, I'm just worried about getting down there and gaining respect of the playing group and the coaching staff and making sure I'm doing the right things," Williams said.

Zac Williams joins Carlton as a restricted free agent after the Giants chose not to match the Blues' offer to him.

Williams on a lucrative six-year deal and GWS will receive a first-round compensation pick in return.

Zac Williams informs GWS that he wishes to explore his free agency options among clubs in Victoria.

"It's disappointing to receive this news as Zac has come a long way since coming through the Giants Academy pathway," the Giants' football boss Jason McCartney said in a statement.

"We understand that free agency is part of the current football landscape and that the players have the right to go down this path."

Carlton is reportedly in the hunt for GWS free agent Zac Williams.

Williams, who is uncontracted beyond season 2020 and subsequently remains one of the competition's most sought-after restricted free agents, is yet to sign the offer of a multi-year extension that has been tabled by the Giants.

The 25-year-old, who is understood to have also attracted the interest of Essendon and North Melbourne and remains a priority re-signing for his current club Greater Western Sydney, is undecided on his future after 109 games over eight seasons in New South Wales.

GWS coach Leon Cameron says he believes that free agents Jeremy Cameron and Zac Williams will remain at the club beyond 2020.

"My gut tells you, in a short answer, that those two boys will be running around in the Giants colours for another four or five years. They love the place," Cameron said.

Zac Williams will miss a month after suffering a hamstring injury in the third quarter of the Giants' win over Collingwood.

"He had a little grab in his hamstring when he kicked the ball off the ground early in that third quarter. We got a scan on his hamstring which just shows a little split in his upper hamstring tendon," Giants head of medical Cullan Ball said.

Zac Williams racks up 26 possessions, 10 tackles and five inside 50s as a midfielder in the Giants' 47-point triumph over Collingwood.

"I've been telling you all for seven years that I'm a midfielder!" Williams, who usually plays as a dashing half-back, said after the game facetiously.

"Leon called me into his office during the week and told me I was going to start on the ball and I was pumped to have a crack inside, but also a bit nervous. But the other boys backed me in right from the start so that helped me a lot."

Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron confirms Zac Williams will play his first senior game of 2018 in this week's elimination final against the Swans.

Williams hasn't been seen this season after he ruptured his Achilles at training in January, but he played the last two games of the NEAFL season and gathered 67 possessions across those matches.

Zac Williams will have surgery on his ruptured Achilles and is likely to miss most of the 2018 season.

Zac Williams suffers a ruptured Achilles at training and will be sidelined for an extended period.

"This is a really unfortunate injury for Zac who had been training really well throughout the pre-season so far," GWS head of athletic performance David Joyce said.

"Zac will meet with a specialist early next week to determine the extent of the injury which will allow us to then map out the best possible management pathway."

A sidestep developed playing rugby league is helping rising star Zac Williams prosper at Greater Western Sydney.

"When I was younger I played a bit of rugby league coming up through my junior years," Williams told AAP.

"I think playing rugby with all my friends and my cousins in the backyard I just developed the sidestep from a young age, so it's sort of helped me out over the last couple of years."

He played on the wing and at five-eighth in the 13-a-side code, but Australian Rules captured his heart despite a family connection to rugby league.

"Dad played league. He got a few letters from NRL teams up in Sydney, but he just never took the opportunity because he didn't want to leave home," Williams said.

"I guess, he was a bit of a mother's boy like I am, but my mum kicked me out of the house and told me to go find my dreams."

In five years, Zac Williams has gone from rookie selection to become one of the first picked at Greater Western Sydney.

From Narrandera, a small town south-west of Sydney, he arrived out of the Giants' academy into the big smoke with a best-on-ground performance in a country Grand Final to his name and a fair bit to learn.

He then set about becoming a good enough player to earn the unofficial title from Champion Data as the game's most underrated defender in 2016.

In that break-out season he averaged 405 metres a game and ranked seventh among general defenders in score involvements as he finished seventh in the club best and fairest.

"He's one of our first picked every week," Giants defensive coach Mark McVeigh said.

"He's a very humble person. Nothing goes to his head and he always has a smile on his face. He is a pleasure to coach to be quite honest."

Zac Williams' signs a new three-year contract with Greater Western Sydney that will keep him at the club until the end of 2020.

"Obviously the Giants gave me my opportunity to play AFL when every other club overlooked me," he said.

"I'm happy here up in Sydney and I've made some really good friends here.

"I had a good year last year and we got to play in our first final and prelim final, so we're going in the right direction, so that was a major reason behind me re-signing with the club."

Zac Williams signs a new two-year deal with Greater Western Sydney.

"It was a pretty easy decision to re-sign with the club for another two years," Williams said.

"I've been here for three years now and I'm really settled in Sydney with some of my best mates here at the club."

Zac Williams becomes the third Giant to win an AFL Rising Star nomination after tallying 21 possessions, five marks and three tackles in a win against Melbourne at Skoda Stadium.

Zachary Williams makes his AFL debut for GWS at Manuka Oval with 13 disposals (5 kicks and 8 handballs), 2 marks and 3 tackles in a 44-point loss to Gold Coast.

Rookie listed Zach Williams will make his AFL debut against Gold Coast in round 5.

"It was a big shock to me, I wasn't expecting to actually get elevated from the rookie list just yet," Williams said.

"It was an unbelievable feeling. I rang mum yesterday and think she had a bit of a teary moment. We've been working towards this ever since I was 15 or 16."