By Marcus Uhe
Clint Evans wrapped his good mate and successor at Berwick Football Club, Andrew Williams, in a tight hug following his side’s emotional final-round win of the Eastern Football Netball League Premier Division season, with a simple message.
“Over to you now, mate”.
Williams was as observant as anyone as Berwick mounted a spirited fightback against Norwood in tough circumstances to maintain its place in Premier Division, showing the resilience that has embodied the club throughout a difficult year.
Just two wins may not have been the results that anyone at the football club would have liked at the beginning of the season, but their efforts won them plenty of admirers in 2024.
One of them, Williams, was so impressed that he threw his hat in the ring to coach the squad in 2025, and through the assistance of the outgoing Evans, agreed to terms earlier in the month to take the reins.
The former West Coast Eagle and Collingwood Magpie, who honed his craft in the Dandenong region as a junior before returning to the South East after his playing career, believes he is taking over a playing group with heart, grit and character.
With a passion for coaching, returning following stepping away from the role at Monbulk Football Netball Club at the end of 2023, Williams is eager to build upon the foundations laid by Evans.
“To be able to hang in and fight in the contests, to stay in games, sometimes when you’re outnumbered with some of these top-line clubs, that’s an enormous tick for the character of the group, which only holds you in good stead for what’s to come in the future,” Williams said.
“You know you can hang tough and fight when you’re a little bit up against it…I think it’s a massive plus and I know it’s something the club can look forward to keep improving over time.
“Not only hanging tough in games, but they’ll start to win a few of those games they’re showing some signs of being competitive in.
“They’ll be able to get their noses in front at times and start to get that belief that those games are winnable.
“When you believe in something it goes a long way to being successful in the future and it starts with the character of the group, and every conversation I’ve had with people at the club and ‘Boof’, they’re a really tough competitive group that have shown enormous fight this year against the odds.”
Williams said the prospect of Berwick being relegated to Division 1, staved off by the Norwood result in the final round, did not alter his desire to coach the group, having been impressed by the standard in the lower division, after watching Beaconsfield due to his son’s involvement in that program.
Eastern’s top flight of football comes highly regarded and one of the best levels in Melbourne, with a host of recently exited AFL players – Kayne Turner, Josh Walker, Tom Bell, Tim O’Brein – and VFL-listed talent plying their trades in the competition.
It’s an area where the Wickers, however, have not been able to compete in recent years, with results reflecting the gap in talent between their best and the competition’s top brass.
While flush for young talent and ex-Coates Talent League prodigies, the dearth in senior heads and bigger bodies left them fighting for survival, and with a percentage of just 47.3 at the end of the year.
Will Arthurson’s return to the field will assist on that front next year, having missed 2024 due to injury, and players of that ilk are on the shopping list ahead of a busy offseason.
Williams, however, does not view recruiting as the ‘be all and end all’, believing the right attitude can do wonders for a group’s trajectory.
His insights from his time at the Eagles, Collingwood and coaching in VFL circles, is set to be an invaluable asset, offering ‘money can’t buy’ knowledge and anecdotes.
“My theory is, if you put the time in and you prepare yourself well, and you want to keep improving your game with your training standards and all the habits that go into being the best player you want to be, these guys can fast track their footy really quickly and they probably don’t realise how quickly they can get to that level, but there’ll be no rush with any of that stuff,” he said.
“I came through in system footy when I was drafted to West Coast with a heap of premiership players and all I wanted to do was, learn off those guys, be seen and not heard.
“If an opportunity came my way I was ready just by watching what they did.
“Some young players today might think that they’re a little further advanced than they may be physically or might think an opportunity should be there for them ahead of their time, but my theory is, if you’re good enough, you’re good enough, whatever age you are, and if you’re displaying all the right behaviours, habits and training standards, opportunities are going to be there for you.
“It’s always good to have some good mentors around and good influences on the training habits and standards and stuff like that to measure yourself off.
“We’ll be trying to get some top-end talent into the footy club to take these kids forward as quickly as possible, but if that doesn’t happen, I’ve always been a coach that’s looked to coach the group that’s in front of him and wants to get better and if that’s what they want to be, I’ll assist them the best I can to be the best player they can be.”
Arthurson, ruck Jesse Cirulis and forward Noah Cannon have all re-committed to the club for 2025, with more expected in the coming weeks on the back of maintaining their place in Premier Division.
