Williams called the win “one of the finest home and away victories” in Port Adelaide’s history; one achieved without the Burgoyne brothers and captain Dom Cassisi.
“It was always going to be tough with their onballers and ruckman coming back into the side,” he said.
“We really rate them – we don’t get the opportunities to play at the MCG… to the players’ credit they really executed brilliantly today.”
Williams gave an insight as to how the Power effectively exploited the Hawthorn rolling zone, labelling strategic analyst Nick Russell as the orchestrator of the success.
“There was a fair degree of understanding of their game plan, we were lucky to get Nick Russell back from Hawthorn, who spent a lot of time in their box.”
Despite the Hawks still missing a number of their Premiership starters, Williams was excited with the performance of his younger brigade, led by first gamer Hamish Hartlett and Tom Logan, whose job on Luke Hodge and the spectacular mark he took in the third term won praise from the coach.
“Most people in the stands would not know who Tom Logan was before the start of the game,” he said.
“But if someone beats that for the mark of the year, you have got to be kidding.”
The Power coach singled out the stellar performance of Warren Tredrea, who managed to kick six goals straight and exploit the undermanned Hawthorn defence to great effect.
“Tredders knows his days are closer to the end than the start, so he is wanting to make the most of it,” the Power coach said.
“If you were in the rooms you would not know he is not the captain – he still stands up and talks when he needs to talk and supports everyone.”
“He has a massive will to succeed, his will to be great hasn’t dwindled. He gets excited by these games and the occasion.”
The long-serving Port Adelaide coach, out of contract at season’s end, believes the next match against St. Kilda will give Williams a strong indication of the improvement his side has made from season 2008 and wants the Power faithful to get behind the side.
“St. Kilda are the form side - we look forward to getting back and preparing for next Friday night.”
“It will be great to see our fans come out to the game and get on the roll we are on right now.”
