Joe Williams (rugby league)

Joe Williams (born 4 September 1983) is an Australian sportsman who played rugby league and boxed as a professional.

Joe Williams
Personal information
Full nameJoe Williams
Born (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
PositionHalfback, Five-eighth
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–07 South Sydney 46 7 126 4 284
2008 Penrith Panthers 1 0 2 0 4
2008 Canterbury Bulldogs 2 0 0 0 0
Total 49 7 128 4 288
Source: [1][2]

His rugby league football career spanned from 2004 to 2008 and included appearances as a halfback and five-eighth with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.[3]

Background

Williams was born in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.[4]

Playing career

A Cowra Magpies junior who moved to South Sydney Rabbitohs lower grades. He was educated at Marcellin College Randwick, Williams was selected to play for the 2001 Australian Schoolboys.[5]

In 2002, Williams kicked the winning field goal in the 2002 Jersey Flegg Grand Final in the Sydney Roosters victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons. Williams joined South Sydney after failing to break into the Sydney Roosters first grade side. He made his debut for South Sydney in round 12 of the 2004 NRL season against Cronulla-Sutherland which ended in a 38–18 loss at Shark Park. Williams played 14 games for Souths in his debut season as the club finished last on the table. The following two seasons at Souths proved to be difficult as Williams was part of the side which finished last in 2006 and narrowly avoided the wooden spoon in 2005.[6]

During the 2007 NRL season, Williams played in the first semi-final Souths had reached since 1989. They were defeated by Manly 30–6 at Brookvale Oval.[7] As he had played 9 games for feeder club North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup, he was eligible to play in the rest of the finals series. They made it through to the Grand Final, only to be narrowly defeated by Parramatta 20–15, after a late try was awarded after a dubious decision. Williams had kicked a field goal with 3 minutes remaining to make the score 15-14 until Parramatta scored a try with 20 seconds remaining through Weller Hauraki.[8]

In September 2007, Williams signed a one-year contract to play with the Penrith Panthers for the 2008 NRL season after initially agreeing to a contract with French side, Toulouse Olympique.[9]

He was released from his Penrith Panthers contract on 14 May 2008 and joined Canterbury-Bankstown.[10][11]

After only two games with Canterbury-Bankstown, Williams retired from the game and turned to boxing. His final game in the NRL was a 58–18 loss against the Canberra Raiders in round 15 of the 2008 NRL season. Canterbury would go on to finish last at the end of 2008.[12]

He last played with Country Rugby League side Dubbo CYMS and later coached them in 2012.[13]

Career stats

Boxing career

On 18 October 2014 he successfully defended his World Boxing Federation (WBF) junior welterweight world title against Indonesian opponent Rusmin Kie Raha at Bolton Park Stadium. He also obtained a World Boxing Association (WBA) Asian title with a unanimous points victory.[15]

Personal life

Joe Williams is the son of Wilfred Williams, who played for a number of Sydney teams in the late 1980s.[16]

He has spoken about his battles with depression, especially during his time in Rugby League. In October 2014, a short story called The Enemy Within was released.[17] He currently works as a motivational speaker.[18]

In October 2016 Williams visited the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, carrying an Australian Aboriginal Flag to demonstrate solidarity between Aboriginal Australians and Native Americans.[19]

Music

Williams appears on the Brothablack music video, Are You With Me Out There, along with Anthony (Mouth) Mundine.

Footnotes
  1. "Joe Williams - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. NRL Stats
  3. Paul Kent (17 November 2008). "Ex-Bunny Joe Williams a real knockout in boxing debut". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  4. "Characters". South Sydney Story. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  5. "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  6. "The worst teams in NRL history". Sporting News.
  7. 2007 NRL season results#Week One
  8. "Eels break Peachey's heart". Herald Sun.
  9. "Williams joins Penrith" (fee required). AAP Sports News. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  10. "Williams released". Penrith Panthers. 14 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  11. "WILLIAMS JOINS BULLDOGS FOLLOWING PANTHERS RELEASE". RLeague.com. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  12. "Most boring team ever? 2008 wooden spoon Bulldogs would beat 2017 version by twenty points". The81stminute.
  13. "Williams to coach Dubbo CYMS". dailyliberal.com.au.
  14. "South Sydney Rabbitohs North Sydney Bears Affiliated Players". ssralmanac.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  15. Malone, Matt (19 October 2014). "Wagga's Joe Williams on top of the world". dailyadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  16. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Wilfred Williams - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  17. Media, Mayfly (15 September 2014). "The Enemy Within". Retrieved 14 March 2018 – via Vimeo.
  18. "The Enemy within Motivational Speaking — JWB". Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  19. "Joe Williams takes the Aboriginal flag to Standing Rock". NITV. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
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