Australian Football

Originally from Vermont, Darren 'Daisy' Williams won the 1977 Morrish Medal while playing for Essendon's thirds, and made his senior debut, as a reserve, two years later. It was an unremarkable debut, and it proved to be the only game he played for the year. In 1980 he crossed to East Fremantle but after playing just a couple of league games, plus one in the NFC championships, he returned to Vermont. 

Essendon obviously monitored his progress because in 1983 he was invited back to Windy Hill and on this occasion he made his mark, establishing himself as one of the foremost rovers in the game. Highly skilled, his disposal by foot and hand was almost invariably effective, and he was a key player in the Bombers 194 and 1985 premiership teams. He also played in the losing grand final of 1983 and the night premiership side of 1984. In 1984 and 1985 he represented Victoria. A broken leg sustained early in the 1986 season kept him on the sidelines until the following year and when he resumed he appeared to have lost a little of his sparkle. Nevertheless, he ran third in the club's best and fairest count and continued until the end of the 1989 season, by which time he had played 109 VFL games and kicked 94 goals.

Author - John Devaney