Joe Williams (rugby league)

Joe Williams
Personal information
Full name Joe Williams
Nickname Bunyip
Born (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position halfback, five-eighth
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–07 South Sydney 46 7 126 4 284
2008 Penrith Panthers 1 0 2 0 4
2008 Canterbury Bulldogs 2 0 0 0 0
Total 49 7 128 4 288
As of 13:47, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
Source: NRL Stats

Joe Williams (born 4 September 1983 in Cowra, New South Wales[1]), an Indigenous Australian, is now a professional boxer following a brief career in rugby league.[2] He was formally a footballer with the Bulldogs, Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition. He primarily played at halfback.

Playing career

A Cowra Magpies junior who moved to South Sydney Rabbitohs lower grades. While attending Marcellin College in 2001, Williams was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team.[3]

During the 2007 season, Joe played in the 1st semi-final Souths had reached since 1989. They were defeated by Manly, 30 to 6.[4] As he had played 9 games for Feeder club North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup, he was eligible to play in the rest of the finals series. They made it through to the Grand Final, only to be narrowly defeated by Parramatta 20-15, after a late try was awarded after a dubious decision.

In September 2007, Williams signed a one-year contract to play with the Penrith Panthers for the 2008 season after initially agreeing to a contract with French side, Toulouse Olympique.[5]

He was released from his Penrith Panthers contract on 14 May 2008 and joined the Bulldogs.[6][7] After only two games with the Bulldogs, Williams retired from the game and turned to boxing. He was last known to be playing with Country Rugby League side Dubbo CYMS

Career stats

Boxing career

On October 18, 2014 he successfully defended his World Boxing Federation (WBF) junior welterweight world title against Indonesian opponent Rusmin Kie Raha at Bolton Park Stadium. He also managed to obtain a World Boxing Association (WBA) Asian title with a unanimous points victory.[8]

Personal

Jow Williams is the son of Wilfred Williams who played for a number of Sydney teams in the late eighties. Joe has spoken recently about his battles with depression, especially during his time in Rugby League. In October a short story was released called the The Enemy Within. He currently runs a gym in the Wagga Wagga area, as well as conduct Motivational Speaking.

Music

Williams appears on the Brothablack music video, Are You With Me Out There, along with Anthony (Choc) Mundine.

Footnotes

  1. "Characters". South Sydney Story. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  2. Paul Kent (17 November 2008). "Ex-Bunny Joe Williams a real knockout in boxing debut". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  3. "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  4. 2007 NRL season results#Week One
  5. "Williams joins Penrith" (fee required). AAP Sports News. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  6. "Williams released". Penrith Panthers. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  7. "WILLIAMS JOINS BULLDOGS FOLLOWING PANTHERS RELEASE". RLeague.com. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  8. http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/2634529/waggas-joe-williams-on-top-of-the-world/

External links

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