Williams eager to continue NRL career after Raiders departure

The veteran has not made an NRL appearance this year and after eight games in reserve grade, club and player agreed to part ways.

At 31-years-old, Williams recognises he is approaching the end of his career, however he remains confident he has more to give.

The halfback's agent has had talks with NRL and English Super League clubs and he's optimistic an opportunity will emerge.

"I still feel as though my body and mind is still in a position to keep playing at a professional level," Williams said. "I'm not retiring, but I didn't want to hold the club back from trying to explore other options.

"I've been pretty lucky in terms of injuries and mentally I still enjoy going to training and that professional environment. If an opportunity was to come up, it's something myself and my wife will have to think about."

A Cooma product who grew up idolising the Raiders, Williams progressed through the Canberra junior development pathway before making his NRL debut in 2011.

He featured in 107 first grade games at the Raiders and Dragons and played for Catalans and Wakefield Trinity in the Super League.

While he didn't reach the heights of some of his contemporaries, Williams provided a steady hand throughout his time in Canberra.

The halfback rode the NRL rollercoaster during his career at the Raiders, playing through some successful years and some lean years.

The halfback was a member of the squad that progressed to the 2016 preliminary final and helped the club qualify for the 2019 grand final.

The side has changed significantly in three years and Williams feels the Raiders are building a roster that can replicate the 2019 success.

"The squad we had a couple of years ago, we put together 30 players that could compete at the top level," Williams said.

"Throughout this year I've played reserve grade and seen up close some of the young players here.

"There's a little bit of transition with both [Josh Hodgson] and [Ryan Sutton] moving on at the end of the year. There's a lot of kids moving through, one thing I didn't want to do was stay here and stop the young fellas pushing to play first grade or to secure a top-30 contract.

"If I was to continue to play, I'd be stopping someone from getting an opportunity to show what they can do, that would be a bit selfish on my behalf. The club is in a good position, as long as people like Don (Furner) and Ricky (Stuart) are at the front of that."

While determined to continue his career, Williams is at peace if this is the end.

The halfback will continue to play local football while building his small business, Strategic Wellbeing.

It's a venture established alongside former Raiders teammate Jarrod Croker and the club's wellbeing manager Andrew Bishop, and they're eager to expand after two COVID-affected years.

"I've been very lucky over the years to spend this amount of time in the professional environment that is rugby league. I've got things in place to be able to move forward with life," he said.

"I want to keep playing football. If that's professionally, so be it, if not, I'd like to continue to play locally or in the bush.

"Strategic Wellbeing is something over the last couple of years we've only done bits and pieces due to COVID.

"It's something I want to explore and push out. If that's the route I go down, that's where my focus will be."

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