Caleb Williams: Yamba man and former NRL prodigy sent to jail for driving while disqualified

A rugby league player, once heralded as a future NRL superstar, was making a comeback until his lengthy criminal record caught up with him.

Caleb Williams as a teen in 2014. Pic by Luke Marsden.

A Clarence Valley man once heralded as the next big thing in NRL has landed behind bars after a tragic chain of events saw his budding career fall apart.

As a teenager, Yamba’s Caleb Williams was touted as the NRL’s “next Greg Inglis”.

However, Williams, now aged 25, started to run afoul of the law when he returned to the Grafton area and fell in with the wrong crowd, a court has heard.

On Monday the young man’s lengthy criminal record caught up with him and he was sentenced to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and breaching a community corrections order (CCO).

Caleb Williams in a 2019 mugshot.

It has been a sad chain of events for Williams who was signed as a junior with the Gold Coast Titans and was also a junior with the Parramatta Eels for a time.

But the young’s man life has been littered with various struggles, with his defence lawyer Matilda Lynch telling a court Williams “was not in a good place” when he moved back to Grafton aged 22 and developed substance abuse issues.

In 2014, aged only 15, Williams said in an interview with The Courier Mail he did not remember his mother, who died on his birthday when he was aged three.

He also revealed the previous year was the first time he had seen his father.

In the profile, Williams was labelled “one of the most inspirational stories in Australian sport” and touted as “the next Greg Inglis”.

“Holes in his school shoes, the Aboriginal sporting phenom is proof money does not buy athletic success,” journalist Peter Badel wrote.

Caleb Williams in the 2014 profile as a teen when he was lauded as the “next Greg Inglis”. Picture: Luke Marsden.

At the time of his most recent offending the Yamba man was on a community corrections order for taking and driving a car without the owner’s consent, driving unlicensed and larceny.

When Williams was sentenced for these offences last May the court heard he wanted “a fresh start” and had reconnected with his community.

However, just after midday on November 7, police pulled Williams over when he was driving on Roberts Dr, South Grafton, according to court documents.

Police facts state that when asked to produce his licence, Williams said: “I don’t have one”.

Subsequent checks showed he had never held or obtained a NSW drivers licence.

Caleb Williams made headlines as his talents became clear in younger years. Picture Luke Marsden.

On Monday Ms Lynch told the court Williams appeared to be doing well earlier this year.

He had joined the Lower Clarence Magpies rugby team, which made the semi finals and he was recently scouted by the Gold Coast Titans.

However, the court heard Williams “struggled” when the year’s football season with the Magpies ended.

Ms Lynch asked the court to take into account Williams’ difficult upbringing and substance abuse issues when sentencing him.

Caleb Williams rose to prominence when he was younger but ran into substance abuse problems, the court has heard. Picture: Luke Marsden.

Magistrate Roger Prowse said it was time Williams came to the realisation that he would “suffer consequences” if he disobeyed court orders.

The court heard Williams had been sentenced to 13 months behind bars on January 19 at Casino Local Court after he was convicted of taking a car without its owner’s consent, having goods suspected of being stolen and driving while disqualified.

Mr Prowse convicted Williams of the fresh offence on Monday and sentenced him to six months behind bars.