Mark Williams New Head of Development

[Hogan2014 390]

Great get no nonsense approach & great developer of talent...the excuses are no more with Chocco, Yze & burgess 

[Whispering_Jack 30,140]

Spent a couple of years at Ajax Football Club in the Amateurs before his stint at Werribee to prepare himself for greatness at Melbourne.

bourne 

[Demonland 72,193]

Everyone looks better in the red and blue.

[KLV 1,765]

1 hour ago, spalding said:

He’s “hard work” according to a mate in the inner sanctum at Tigerland, but maybe that’s what we need.

I’m normally a glass half full sort of guy, so obviously I have no place to be on demonland! 

He’s a zealot, but a talented and well meaning one. I suspect his approach will be like a breath of fresh air to our players and an antidote to the calmness of Goodwin. However that unique approach probably loses it’s novelty after a few years and then, it seems,  is when other clubs have moved him on.

[buck_nekkid 5,861]

With the full review, we have taken some big steps. If we can get the best out of Richardson, Williams, Goody and Yze, you would have to think that is a pretty strong group to lead the club.  Getting these guys to have clearly marked out territories and actively supporting each other will be a challenge, but the potential is huge if it works. No egos, but a common goal of success will be nice.

[deebug 1,754]

Wow was not expecting this?this is great news ?and just in time to sit in on the draft?

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

35 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Spent a couple of years at Ajax Football Club in the Amateurs before his stint at Werribee to prepare himself for greatness at Melbourne.

 

bourne 

 

Thats a joke right?

He coached Port Adelaide for 12 seasons which included a Premiership and 17 finals appearances then developed the current 3 time flag winning Tigers team.

  Who gives a [censored] about AJAX and Werribee

Edited December 8, 2020 by Pickett2Jackson

[In Harmes Way 7,783]

Watch Ben Brown kick 75 goals next year and carry us to a grannie with Choco taking the credit for improving our kicking.

Chuffed with everybody else about this signing by the way.

...and not nearly enough love for the dire straits gag which is just about the best thing I’ve read on this site. Absolute gold.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I cannot believe this.

It is beyond unreal.

Never before has this club shown such ballsy yet inspired confidence.

 

[DemonOX 8,791]

3 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

First 3 lines of the article are like porn for a Demon supporter

TURNING around Melbourne's problematic kicking will be the first priority for new Demons head of development Mark 'Choco' Williams. 

The Port Adelaide premiership coach has vowed to bring back an "old-school" mentality at the Demons next year in what shapes as a crucial year after two failed seasons under Simon Goodwin.

And he wants to help emerging gun Christian Petracca emulate the feats of his former pupil Dustin Martin. 

Guess who’s back? Dees land flag coach to fast track youngsters

Music to my ears picket. 

[The heart beats true 18,123]

Why is there so much love for this bloke? 

I feel like he’s been telling the Dusty story to anyone who’ll listen for 6 years. I also think he benefits greatly from an association with Richmond when he actually wasn’t there when they came good.

It’s very hard to tell from the outside what impact player development roles have. He might be amazing, or maybe Dustin Martin, the 3rd pick in the AFL draft, was always going to be a great footballer. Hope to be proven wrong, just find it really interesting that theres such a lovefest for him in such a nondescript role. Maybe I missed something?

[WERRIDEE 5,479]

This is best news ever. Premiership coach developed the current Premiership team. Head of development suits him to a tea. Got Werribee up there which is a hard task for a stand alone team. YOU BEAUTY. I LOVE IT PREMIERSHIPS FOR THE FORSEABLE FUTURE NOW GO DEES.

[Jack7 528]

Great pickup,i hope he doesn't rub it in that we should've taken Dusty instead of Scully and Trengove

[dazzledavey36 54,944]

Am also lead to believe that Mark Williams was also a serious contender for thr coaching job back in 2013, but eventually Roosy got the gig.

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,765]

5 hours ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

Hardwick rode this guys coattails to 3 flags.  He set them up and made Dustin Martin the player he is.

I reckon this is a self perpetuated myth.

He acts like he whipped up Dusty out of a couple of planks of wood in the back shed.

My read on this is that Williams played a welfare role in keeping Dusty on the rails. 

Inferring that he somehow orchestrated three Richmond premierships from a player development role is frankly ludicrous and completely ignores the work of so many people across the organisation.

[Grr-owl 1,220]

4 hours ago, DemonOX said:

What job did he want in 2019???

He contacted Goody and asked if he could come onboard. Can't recall if Chocco actually named the position. Just said that he offered to work at MFC and was knocked back. Pretty sure I heard it on SEN, probably with Lyon and Watson.... you might be able to find it if you search long and deep enough.

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,798]

Teaching accuracy in goal kicking is one of his hobby-horses.

We really need that!

[Demons1858 1,760]

29 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Am also lead to believe that Mark Williams was also a serious contender for thr coaching job back in 2013, but eventually Roosy got the gig.

he said he was in the last 3 in his sacked podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/sacked-mark-williams-the-power-to-win/id1470557961?i=1000447367888

Edited December 8, 2020 by Demons1858

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

1 hour ago, The heart beats true said:

Why is there so much love for this bloke? 

I’ll attempt to answer this.

In a former role in my life, I used to manage a very large legal team at a major bank which controlled significant spend on legal firms each year just after the GFC - circa $35m each year. I headed up (and controlled) this spend for 5 years. That attracted significant interest. And, quite obviously, invitations to various things followed - bull sharks to a fishing trawler.

Who cares you might reasonably ask? Well, I didn’t. I didn’t give a flying stuff.

BUT - there was one moving part which was relevant. I was based in Sydney, and I was known to be about the only person in a relatively senior out-sourcing gig in NSW who was passionate about AFL. Everyone else liked rugby union, or cricket, or just themselves. I was known to be a Demons tragic - relevantly, I didn’t sell out. ?

GWS had just started up in Sydney, and it was keen to attract the interest of Sydney’s corporate community. They tried admirably but they received little to no penetration. In the early days at least.

Anyway, as a result of being the only dude who was vaguely interested in AFL at the time, I was invited to, and attended, a lot of GWS’s corporate functions, all of which were exceptional. I heard Mark Williams speak at several of them, quite often for ages. He was just SO freakin impressive. He gets this stuff. He’s charismatic as all hell. He’s a great motivator. He’s experienced. He’s a visionary. He’s a legend.

Like many here, I thought he was an absolute tool with his antics after the 2004 Grand Final. And then I heard him speak regularly from 2009 and beyond - I heard him a lot in fact. Don’t be confused here, this guy’s the real deal. He’ll make us great. The likes of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca, I expect, will hang off his words.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this boring and conservative club has just shown so much vision and confidence. I saw the appointment whilst causally looking at my wife’s Insta account - I just can’t believe it. Thought it was a joke at first.

We could very well win the flag next year. Just sayin’.

It’s time to get around this club. Everyone has to sign up. Force your next door neighbours to do so as well. It’s time to show some heart.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Ron Burgundy

[Demons11 7,014]

6 hours ago, demonstone said:

I know we've been in dire straits, but I didn't expect to lose Mahoney for nothing and get Chocs for free.

Brilliant!

[Supreme_Demon 3,851]

I am absolutely over the moon with this appointment of Mark "Choco" Williams as Head of Development!

 

I was crying out for this for nearly 2 years! Finally! What a massive coup for the Demons to have someone of Mark's football IQ and calibre at the club! He was  a great coach at Port Adelaide and also led them to their first AFL Premiership in 2004.

I cannot wait for him to start at training with our Demons players and impart his wisdom, skills and knowledge upon them.

 

This is a massive boost to our club! I am now genuinely excited about season 2021! Go Demons!

[Pates 9,660]

Great pick up, he’s a very good and experienced operator. The club is putting together a good team to with with Goodwin, can’t say he’s not being provided the best people around him. Lots of experience in successful systems. 

[Adam The God 30,259]

Echoing the rest of this thread, really excited about Williams' appointment. I wonder if Mahoney's leaving will open up some soft cap space for another coach in there? Say a strategy coach...

[MurDoc516 1,529]

I wouldn't have mind Williams as a senior coach if Goody got the sack. 

There's a lot to say about how certain people in the media would literally refuse to talk about us on their shows because we were too inconsistent. Williams will give them something to talk about.

[Wells 11 5,401]

5 hours ago, MurDoc516 said:

I wouldn't have mind Williams as a senior coach if Goody got the sack. 

There's a lot to say about how certain people in the media would literally refuse to talk about us on their shows because we were too inconsistent. Williams will give them something to talk about.

I hope you're meaning that our consistency will be the talking point,   with choco being a part of that, not choco just creating meaningless headlines.