TOM Williamson didn’t deny it: the last few years have been tough.
But he has never doubted his ability to make it at the elite level. Now, he’s hoping his actions can do the talking.
It’s been a long road for Williamson, who burst onto the Navy Blue scene with the most promising of debut seasons.
Becoming a Blue with pick no.61 in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft, Williamson defied his late draft selection to become a critical member of Carlton’s defence almost instantly.
Debuting in Round 3, he would play 15 games in his debut season of 2017: however, a back injury has seen him manage just two in the following two years.
However, he finally believes he’s primed to make an AFL impact once again.
“It’s been a challenging time,” Williamson told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
"It almost felt like the harder I tried, the more things would go backwards."
— Carlton FC (at ??) (@CarltonFC) April 20, 2020
And how exactly did Pat Cummins feature in the return to fitness for Tom Williamson? Our exciting youngster tells all. #OwnTheFuture
“I’ve been lucky over the last eight months to get a really strong program in and work closely with Andrew Russell and all of the high performance team.
“I’m lucky enough that I’ve turned the corner now and it’s all looking up for me.”
The last two seasons have been a cruel blow for Williamson, who in each of the respective years has come back from the sidelines only to break down once again.
Under the watchful eye of the Director of High Performance in Russell, Williamson puts his recovery down to two things.
“One is the psychological side of the injury: your body doesn’t heal as well under stress and constant worry,” he said.
“Getting that under control was a big thing for me early on and letting it happen, putting trust in Andrew Russell.
“The second thing would be pilates and getting that strength and glute work in that everyone knows is so important in a sport like AFL.”
As he watched his fellow draft mates Sam Petrevski-Seton and Zac Fisher become ever-presents in Carlton’s side, Williamson has been forced to bide his time: but he’s refused to think negatively.
If anything, his hunger and drive to succeed in Navy Blue has grown even more.
“I never thought I was done by any means, but at times I questioned and wondered if there were other things I could be doing,” he said.
“It never crossed my mind that I was done. I always knew that if I got a clean run at it, I was good enough to play the game.
“I didn’t know how long it was going to be until it was going to turn. Hopefully it can come out in a bit of footy for me this year.”
