Carlton coach David Teague concedes big-name AFL recruit Zac Williams needs to get fitter

Zac Williams was subjected to one of the most scathing take-downs in recent memory this week after a horror show for Carlton.

Zac Williams is under the pump at Carlton (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Carlton coach David Teague concedes big-name AFL recruit Zac Williams needs to get fitter but also defended his big-money recruit after a week of heavy criticism about his poor workrate for the battling Blues.

Brisbane great Jonathan Brown took Williams to pieces on Fox Footy this week following his 11-possession-effort against his old side GWS, labelling him “one of the laziest footballers going around”.

Williams joined the Blues as a free agent on a six-year deal worth around $900,000 a season and after a failed stint in the midfield, has been shifted to half-back, where he starred in his time at the Giants.

With pressure mounting on players and the coach, with a review already underway, Teague said there were mitigating circumstances for Williams, including an interrupted pre-season.

But Teague also said the Blues would like to be getting more from their recruit, acknowledging his midfield running was an issue.

“We took him out of the midfield for a little bit ... he was probably low on confidence and we put him back to a position where he’s played some really good football in the past (at half-back),” Teague said.

“It’s a tough game and it requires a lot of you and he’s had quite a few little niggles and an interrupted season.

“So we think that there’s still a lot of upside there; we think he can get fitter and he’ll become a good player for this football club in the long term.”

🗣 "He's one of the laziest footballers going around"

High-priced Blues recruit Zac Williams has been exposed and lashed by a Brisbane great.

📺 WATCH the damning vision: https://t.co/[e-mail]/iqWDv9oV1D

— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) June 22, 2021

Williams has “put his hand up”, according to Teague and acknowledged he needs to improve.

Teague was adamant the 26-year-old, who has now played 126 AFL games, could still become a potent midfielder and meet Carlton’s expectations for him.

“We (recruited) him to be a midfielder and at the moment we‘re playing him at half-back because he’s been able to add more value to the team there,” he said.

“So we‘ll assess that going forward.

“Ideally he gets a really good pre-season and moves back into the midfield going forward, but he may not; he may stay at half-back.”

With the walls closing in on Teague and the 14th-placed Carlton, who are staring at another fruitless campaign, the coach said he was still the man for the job.

“Do I feel I’m the guy to take the club forward? I do. I absolutely do,” he said.

“We’re not getting the results at the moment, I understand people talking about that.

“But as a collective as a club, I think we‘ve got great people in good positions and we’ll come out of this. I have a lot of confidence in that.”

Originally published as Carlton coach David Teague concedes big-name AFL recruit Zac Williams needs to get fitter