Canberra Raiders halfback Sam Williams has declared himself ready to take the wheel of the Green Machine as club coach Ricky Stuart finds himself at sixes and sevens.
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The severity of first-string No. 7 Aidan Sezer's torn oblique is yet to be confirmed but he could be ruled out for another week or two, which would see him miss Canberra's round four clash with North Queensland.
Williams was Stuart's man of the match in a win over Newcastle, leaving the Canberra mentor with a halfback dilemma over the coming weeks beginning with a Cowboys clash on Saturday.
The 28-year-old could force Sezer to fight for his spot following an impressive shift in his first stint alongside fresh five-eighth Jack Wighton - Williams scored a try, iced the game with a field goal, and was solid in defence.
Williams' demeanour under pressure was a welcome sight for the Raiders faithful given the club's forgettable record in close games in recent seasons with the Cooma product adamant he is ready to fill the gap.
"We did a lot together in the pre-season in the halves group and I am quite comfortable with my role within this team, that if I am called upon and needed, that I will do a job," Williams said.
"I’ve got no idea what’s going on next week but my role [on Friday night] was to be within this team and try to win the game, and we did that. Whatever happens next week is probably out of my control but winning games it the number one objective and we did that.
"Every time you wear the green jersey it’s always pretty special. We started a bit scratchy, but it is the first time me, Jack and Hodgo [hooker Josh Hodgson] have played together with that halves partnership but I thought we improved as the game went on.
"The important thing is we were really tough and hung in there when we needed to at times when we weren’t playing great footy but we defended well.
"I probably took a little bit of time to start getting into the game and taking a little bit more control, so that is something I probably can improve on."
Williams' calming influence at halfback was pivotal for Wighton as he continues to find his feet at five-eighth, with Stuart committed to the move.
Wighton pulls on the No. 6 jersey as a far more complete player than he was a year ago. He is quickly becoming more effective off the boot and still boasts a dangerous running game with brutal defence.
But Stuart is most impressed by the newfound maturity in his five-eighth - seemingly gone are the days of Wighton making an error and dropping his head, thus opening the floodgates for more.
Williams is relishing the chance to play alongside a more stereotypical five-eighth, allowing him to take the reins and let Wighton's running game do the rest.
"I really enjoy playing with Jacko. He’s a little bit like Austo was last year. He is a bit more of a traditional five-eighth," Williams said.
"He’s warming into the position and he is a real threat with the ball and without the ball. He offers a lot of starch in that front-line and I think he is warming to the position well.
"We [as a team] did a lot of things wrong there in the second half that you’re probably not going to get away with all the time.
"The important thing is we didn’t go into our shell defensively, we went and got them and were still fairly aggressive. Going forward that’s probably something we can take out of it."
