New Western Jets talent lead Reuben William was always destined to work in football.
Having had an AFL career himself, William was keen to stay in the industry once his playing days were over the highest level.
Having worked with the AFL’s National Multicultural Academy, William has now stepped into the Jets talent lead role.
William said he was excited by the opportunity.
“I’m originally from Brisbane but I’ve been in Melbourne for about seven years now,” he said. “I’ve lived pretty much in the west and played in the north-west.
“It’s very exciting for me and I’m really looking forward to what I can build the program into.”
William, who played three games for the Brisbane Lions, knows that at just 27 this has come a lot earlier than he thought it would.
He brings a unique pathway to the role.
“I’ve always been a bit of a footy head even when I was playing AFL and VFL [Victorian Football League], always been very interested in pathways and talent, id talent as well and identifying talent.
“It was going to be this or coaching to be honest.
“I feel like I’m in good stead, having had some good experience at AFL clubs and VFL clubs and AFL House the last four years.
“I’m not too far removed from some of them, only nine years old some of them
“The pathway that I’ve been through the majority are striving to get to as well.”
William has already come across a number of familiar faces in his new role, having worked and played with many in the north-west.
He currently plays with Keilor in the Essendon District Football League and has played with Werribee in the VFL.
William said the familiarity was one of the best bits of the role and made it more interpersonal.
“It has been good so far, there’s always a little bit of challenges when you first start when you come into the role, at the quarter way mark of the season too,” he said.
“Getting to know staff, players processes was the first step I took into the role. First couple of weeks looked to really build out the program to what we want it to be.
“We want to make sure all clubs feel the love equally and we have a good relationship with all of them too, at the end of the day they are pretty much the starting point for a lot of our stuff too.”
William said he first big focus was on refining the processes and making sure that it’s same from under-15s through to under-18s.
He said they want to be a place where community clubs aspire to send their kids saying there was a lot of talent in the region.
“We always talk about its not about winning for us in the Coates Talent League, it’s about player development.
“If we can get a few more players drafted that would be really good to and it would set a really clear pathway for all our players in our region inner west out to outer west.”
Tara Murray
