Just read the best sentence in AGES.....(fingers still crossed....)
"The good news at Alberton is defender Michael Wilson may finally be off the injury list after hamstring strains delayed his recovery from knee reconstructions."
"Michael Wilson is just two good training sessions away from returning to competitive football for the first time in almost two years. Wilson last played on 10 June 2001 against Sydney at the SCG. The Power’s tough half back has gone through two knee reconstructions and more recently some hamstring trouble but is on the verge of returning in the SANFL this weekend.
Wilson could line up for the Port Adelaide Magpies for the first time since 1996, when they take on South Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Saturday."
HIs interview on the telly during the week was sooooooooo cute - so happy for him! Mentioned his wife buying him a tee that says "Damaged" on it again, that cracks me up!!!! (Leah rocks!)
So he played his first game yesterday....one half, in the reserves...and got through....OMG so relieved. I watched the whole thing with my eyes semi shut in case something bad happened....SO HAPPY 4 him!
And the ressies won bu loads - so yay they couldn't have done that without Wilbur (lol!)
And YAY for little Wilbur, James, playing a great game for Port yesterday - fo the Wilson boys! I was sitting in front of their mum - LMAO she made me laugh! She was a nervous wreck....awwww!
FINGERS STILL CROSSED!!! Need him back in teal. 2 more games til his 100th..
On Friday arvo, Josh Francou said this about Wilbur:
"“Wilbur’s one of these guys who must have walked under about 15 ladders I reckon, two knees and he keeps jagging hamstrings,” teammate Josh Francou said on Wednesday." Awww LOL!
YAY for there being a HUGE article and loads of pics bout Wilbur in today's paper!!!
"Onward and upward at last
By MICHELANGELO RUCCI
11apr03
THEY tell footballers, as the knife prepares to fix their damaged knees, that medical science can reconstruct their legs to be stronger than before the AFL's most-cursed injury.
Few believe it. The psychological scar is always deeper and longer than the surgeon's insignia on their reconstructed knees. The proof is in how sales of knee braces are not falling.
Michael Wilson, AFL Rookie of the Year in Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL season of 1997, is the exception to the rule. And he has had his knee cut up twice – once on the comeback trial.
Perhaps it is his infectious good humour, his habit of always finding a positive amid tough times that has made him endure two knee reconstructions – and countless other setbacks, including football's new curse, osteitis pubis – to be more sure of his ability to play AFL again this season. And play the game as if his right knee was not cut up twice.
Wilson, now 26, played his first competitive football match in 22 months last weekend when he put on the Port Adelaide Magpies jumper for a half at Alberton Oval in his first reserves game since the mid-90s.
He slept well after nerves were blown away by, for a change, training without incident with the Power the previous Wednesday. The hard-running defender took to the field with no thought for his reconstructed knee or how it would stand up to football again.
"The hamstring," said Wilson, reflecting on the hamstring injury which delayed his planned comeback in the Wizard Cup series, "makes you forget about the knee very quick."
Wilson will work up his match fitness through SANFL ranks again this weekend. His comeback to AFL remains undefined but not uncertain.
Wilson recalls his thoughts through the recovery of his first reconstruction – forced by an awkward landing from a ruck contest at the SCG in 2001 – were would he be as quick, as strong, as agile as he had been before the injury? He had built his game on these qualities.
"That's why I did everything right (as the doctors and physiotherapists prescribed) the first time to make sure this injury would not affect me," says Wilson.
Two years later, Wilson is faster than before his first injury. He also is stronger.
But he also realises no player is immune to bad luck.
"It was my first major injury," recalls Wilson. "It makes you realise you are not unbreakable. You'd go into packs and come out with bruises, corkies and knocks. Then you have major surgery . . ."
Wilson was playing his 98th AFL game when he crashed on the centre wing of the SCG forcing the knee reconstruction. His 100th-game milestone, whenever it comes this season, will not mean as much as his 99th.
"My first game back definitely means more because it will be about me being out there again," Wilson said.
"The 100th is just another match for me at the moment."
Wilson did not waste his time while waiting for his return to the AFL. He enrolled in a university course to study human movement, anatomy, biomechanics and physiotheraphy. He laughs when he thinks of the times he has been asked of a certain muscle or bone and has responded: "I've injured that." He will finish the last two years of his course after retirement, when he can take to full-time study.
Wilson became a father to son Noah during this extended absence from football. He has suggested team-mate Josh Francou, the latest member of the "Knee Club" do the same.
And Wilson became a movie critic. In the four weeks after surgery he borrowed 180 videos from a friend – and watched them twice. He is taking the catalogue to Francou next week.
Wilson also sat in the Power coach's box in his recuperation – and was surprised at how the command room "was a lot calmer than I expected". The experience gave him greater appreciation of what coaches expect from their players. But amid all this, Wilson missed three major aspects of football – training with his team-mates, the competitive drain of a match and the experience of the Power's two finals campaigns.
Finally, the wait is over."
OMG he's my soulmate.....180 vids twice??? Good effort!
YAY for Wilbur's brilliant comeback! Not only did he get through ok, he played really well, kicked a goal and tackled sooooooooooooo fiercely (which I HATED watching..kept panicking about the knee)...awww and he got his little bro outta a brawl LOL!
Ohhh ... so maybe I'll finally get to see this guy ... and get to see him live, in the flesh. Wouldn't that be nice.
ooohhh i hope he plays (but not too well of course).
Wilbur has FINALLY been picked for the power...so happy!
"Courageous clubman Michael Wilson will play his 99th AFL game for the Power on Saturday night against the Crows at AAMI Stadium. It will be 685 days since he played his 98th match against Sydney at the SCG on 10 June, 2001.
Since then Wilson has endured two knee reconstructions, and rode, swam and run infinite kilometres all in a bid to do what he will do on Saturday night – take to the field once again.
“There’s obviously a few downs but you just keep watching the blokes playing, and they’re winning games and they’re enjoying it and you just remember back to how good it was and that drives you onwards,” Wilson told club show The Power House on the Fox Footy Channel earlier this week.
After setbacks through February and March this year in the form of niggling hamstrings, Wilson has played three matches in the SANFL with the Port Adelaide Magpies, improving each week to the point of being selected for the Power on Thursday.
“I was a bit rusty after the first game (in the reserves) but I went alright the last two,” Wilson said.
“You have to get used to getting run into again, it doesn’t really happen too much on the running track! So I was a bit rusty but I’m enjoying it.”
Wilson, who won the prestigious Rising Star award in 1997, said he had some great memories of the West End Showdowns and looked forward to being part of another one.
“Just the wins,” Wilson said of his favourite Showdown moments. “Every time you win it’s fantastic.
“I’ve kicked a couple of goals. I think I kicked the first one in a showdown too so I always remember that.
“I love the games, they’re always on edge, there are big crowds there, big roars and they’re good games to win.”
Wilson, who has a reputation as being the fittest player in the Power squad, had missed just one match before he went down with his first ruptured cruciate ligament in Round 10, 2001. He was just two weeks away from becoming the first person to play 100 AFL games for the Port Adelaide Football Club.
All going well, he will have the opportunity to be the 12th person to reach the historic milestone next week against Richmond at AAMI Stadium.
Wilson will be wearing guernsey no. 21 on Saturday night after switching numbers during the off season hoping for some extra luck. Byron Pickett now wears Wilson’s no. 15.
All the best on Saturday night Wilbur. We’ll ride it every step of the way with you."
Massive YAY for coach's comments:
"“Wilson’s been outstanding. It’s not on sentiment. He’s forced himself into the side,” he said.
“More than anything, the guys are really going to enjoy having Michael Wilson back in the side.
“He’s a top five player for us – and as much as you guys in (the media) probably don’t recognise that fact, you wait until you see him go."
I mean that, it's not just like me saying it. But yep, yay for him - and yay for bec too. coz Mell was out for a few months with a knee injury, and I HATED it. And that was only a few MONTHS. And then when he came back I was (and still am!) worried about his knee, so yeah..... to a lesser extent, I know what its like. YAY for wilbur indeed
OK, now, I'm confused....
"Wilson has played three matches in the SANFL with the Port Adelaide Magpies, improving each week to the point of being selected for the Power on Thursday."
:S Soooo... whats the diff between the two?? He said something later in that article about playing in the reserves, so is the Port Adelaide Magpies the reserve team?? And the Power the actual team?? Or is there even more of a difference?
thanks
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mell--------->i I<---------me by his side.
Ok Lou, this should either unconfuse u or make matters worse lol...but here goes:
The SANFL is the South Australian National Football League (but as Bri's pointed out...what's with the national bit..lol) which is the local comp that plays Aussie Rules. Port Adelaide have been the most successful team in that comp (and most hated...pfft) for well over a century, and have won 36 premierships (YAY coz I was there to see 7 of them!!!) so when the AFL decided to bring in a new SA team, instead of making another "team for all south aussies" like the crows supposedly were, they brought in an already existing club, and because of port's success, tradition and history, we were it.
SO now we have the Port magpies in the SANFL, and the Power in the AFL, and they aren't linked anymore - but still share the same clubrooms, and are coached by the Williams brothers, and obviously share the same supporters. Wilbur made his return through the magpies because it's the 2 highest grade of footy (behind AFL), and because he's an original Port magpies boy - he's been playing with Port since the Under 8's.
So technically the 2 clubs are no longer part of each other, as the Power aren't allowed to finance the magpies or help them in anyway due to protests from the other whinging clubs lol but as far as tradition and history goes, they are still linked. The success of the Magpies is what got Port into the AFL.
Actually that's clearer!! I think I get it now! hehehehe.
And yeah, I'd figured that SANFL stood for that, but then when I thought about it I was like 'but.... National...??' lol.
YAY I'm so proud of myself that I understood all that! LOL
And awwwwwwwwwwwwww how cute is the 'under 8s' thing?? hehehehehe. We're trying to start doing that at Newcastle. A lot (maybe all? I'm not sure) of the teams have youth academys and stuff, so we're training local lads up so that they can come through into the team. And we're getting our first lot through now I think. Starting to anyway.
but yeah, we're in a pretty good place at the mo coz we've got a young team (average age of our usual back 4 is 23. i'd guess that's about average for our whole team, it ranges from 19/20 (Huuuugooo and JJ) to Shearer who's 35ish I think. But they're mainly 23 (Mell, Hughsie, Woody, Dyer etc etc etc). And then in a couple of years they will STILL be young, and we'll have the new guys coming up who are even younger but less experienced. but they'll be loyal to the club and everything having played with us since they were kiddies (hardly any of our guys are actually geordies at the mo!!)
I love the idea of developing kids at clubs - making them part of the tradition, giving them loyalty etc...like Wilbur and Poults! Pity that can't really happen in AFL, coz of poxy draft system lol
I didn't know where to post this, but I had to somewhere....one of my all time fave Port players, Scotty Hodges, was beaten up last night outside the stupid bloody Ramsgate Hotel (more trouble than it's worth, that place) and now has head injuries and has only just regained conciousness this afternoon. I'd heard the news report like 8 times today about an ex AFL/SANFL legend being beaten up - but didn't know who until my cousin just rang (Scotty is his all time fave player) so now I'm stunned.
2 more hours til Wilbur's return! YAY! Kinda annoyed that I'm not there, but YAY coz he's playing against the team he hates the most - he loves a good Showdown! LOL!
Look @ liddle Noah....grrrr and Wilbur's wife Leah...lol only joking, Leah's nice!
That's where the 2 Adelaide teams - Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power play against each other ... and basically punch on!
Sometimes it even takes place in the parking lots of pubs!
Scarey stuff when it's on - I'd hate to be in the state around Showdown time - eeeeek!
pah, i wrote a big long reply about showdowns and derbies and newcastle vs sunderland (which is like our version of a "showdown" except it's not quite as violent... lol.... although mackems are dumb so they had a go at the media this weekend i think?? wtf? oh well) and mell scoring in his first game vs sunderland so everyone loved him etc etc etc.
but i lost it. oh well.
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mell--------->i I<---------me by his side.
HUGE YAY coz this weekend is Wilbur's 100th game! And of course, I have an article to go with it lol
"Michael “Wilbur” Wilson finally reaches the AFL’s 100-game milestone on Saturday night – 99 weeks after making his 98th appearance for Port Adelaide.
Wilson and, indeed, all of Port will celebrate as one of the club’s favourite and most respected sons becomes the 12th player to play 100 games for the Power – after having been poised to be the first.
The courageous, versatile left-footer, the AFL’s 1997 Rising Star winner, made a successful return last Saturday night – against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium – from two knee reconstructions and a hamstring injury.
He had not played for the Power since round 11 of 2001, against Sydney at the SCG.
Wilson admitted at a media conference before training at Alberton Oval on Monday there had been times when he thought he wouldn’t reach 100.
“Once you’ve had one knee (go) and then another knee (go), and had an arthroscope in there and a couple of hamstrings, you really start to doubt what’s going on,” he said.
“But the program I’ve worked on with the doctors and the physios, we’re pretty confident in it and I’ve responded well to it, and I’m happy the way we’re going.
“Occasionally you’re running laps by yourself and you’re thinking: ‘What am I doing here? – it’s a long way away.’ But you’ve still got to watch the videos of what’s gone in the past and draw from the blokes who are playing games.”
What had he learnt after so long out?
“I probably wouldn’t say it to ‘Choco’ (coach Mark Williams), but probably that footy’s not everything,” Wilson said.
“I’ve just sat back and enjoyed the family life a little bit more (with wife Leah and son Noah, who has his first birthday on Wednesday).
“And I’m a little bit more relaxed with my approach to football – not being so uptight that every little thing has to go right to play well. That’s about it.
“(Fitness coach) Andrew Russell, ‘Choco’ and the coaching staff, their belief in me has been pretty good over the last couple of years. They’re always talking me up. I seemed to get better the longer I sat out. I was tossing up whether I didn’t come back.”
Was the battle to overcome injuries and resume playing as much psychological as physical?
“Early on, the battle is a bit psychological and physical, but the physical stuff falls by the wayside after a while and it’s just a matter of getting your confidence back out on the track, and getting through that first blowout you have in a reserves game and league (SANFL) games and then again on Saturday night (against Adelaide in his AFL comeback),” Wilson said.
“I built it up (Saturday night’s return) to be bigger than it was, which was probably a good thing. I still got caught behind and was fumbly, but I suppose you’ve got to expect that in your first game back.
“No, I wasn’t sore at all afterwards. It was a pretty physical game and there was a lot of body contact in it, but I came out pretty well.”
On being emotional after the match, Wilson said: “I’d sat on the side for those two years and got pretty frustrated and thought maybe I was missing the best part of the club’s history being formed there.
“And the form that they’ve had and the fact that I was back there and I actually made it – got to the line – and we got a win in the first game. Yeah, it all came out – it was good.
“Even though everyone was booing us, I got a bit of excitement out of it and just enjoyed it. That’s part of the reason you play football – the roar of the crowd, the excitement of the games. It was fantastic.”
Asked what he had learnt from having sat in the coaching box in all of Port’s home games and a couple of away games last year, Wilson smiled and said: “Er, there’s a lot of confusion up there … but they seem to be in pretty good control of what’s going on.
“It kept me in touch with what was going on, on the field, and I got a bit of a grasp of what Walshy (assistant coach Phil Walsh), ‘Choco’ and the likes are expecting from the players.”
Wilson described Port’s clash with Richmond at AAMI Stadium this Saturday night as “a pretty tough game”.
“They’ve come from behind to steal a win (against Hawthorn) and play bloody well, so we’re going to have our work cut out, but I think we’re up to the challenge,” he said.
Asked if he thought the Tigers would take the emotion from their thrilling revival last Saturday into this week’s game, Wilson said: “I’m sure they will. That’s the way they’ve played in the past few years.
“They’ve been very emotional and that’s where they win their games, and I’m sure we’ll see it again on Saturday night.”
My Wilbur's 100th game review....lol coz it HAS to be done!
The banner was awesome - with Wilbur and Schoey's gigantic faces on it lol - but looked so good! Wilbur ran through banner with liddle Noah - so cute, and Schoey with his 2 liddle cuties, Kiera and Taj (lol...can't help but think of THE Taj) - and I was yaying like mad lol!
5 minutes into the game, Wilbur fell heavily onto his leg, and didn't get up immediately, and I'm like OMG!!!!! Along with EVERYONE around me...but was all good, he was fine, thankfully! Then 10 minutes in....he hurt his shoulder...so much so that he had no feeling in it, and it was just kinda dangling...but he refused to go off for the rest of the quarter..I wanna know what his opponent thought, pretty cocky to think u can take him on with one good arm lol!
Wilbur didn't come back for the whole 2nd quarter (making me panic)but then I saw him come back from the changerooms, and hang around the boundary line, which made me feel a bit better lol!
So then he came back - YAY - and didn't do too much, but his opponent didn't do much either, so that's kinda the point of being a defender lol. THEN he took the best mark ever!!!!!!! Fully throwing himself on the ground in desperation to grab it - resulting in passing it to Schoey who kicked a goal (yay for the milestone gamers lol!)
ANd after the game - awwwww so cute! LOL! I swear those boys are way too touchy feely...they're whole "manly hugging and patting" thing often looks more like "cuddling" to me...it's a little bit worrying...seriously thought Wakes and Wilbur were a couple..lol! BUt YAY coz they carried the boys off - and then WIlbur (this time with Schoey) sang the club song in the middle again - lol he's gonna be so over doing that soon! LOL!
THEN I came home and watched the game again (lol yep, obsessed) and the cameras were stalking WIlbur in the rooms last night - just this long, continuous shot of him wandering around, chatting to people, eating pizza....was really weird actually, coz he wasn't doing anything overly interesting...but the cameras obviously thought so lol! LOVED the fact that Meady (absolute legend) was in the rooms to see WIlbur -so cute!! (Coz they were teammates at both the Maggies and the Power for like the past 8-9 years)
Wilburs arm didn't look really great - all iced up, but he was interviewed and said he was ok (but he kinda lies...he played with a punctured lung once, coz doctors thought it was just a cracked lung...he didn't mention that the rib had poked itself into his lung lol) - and I LOVED they way he blessed himself, while talking to Schoey - with a piece of pizza in hand..yep that's how catholics usually do it...looked so wrong lol!
I did see that long footage of him after the game. I luv that just "nothing" stuff they show from the rooms.
oh i was going to msg you to say he was just getting it look at in the rooms and that it was ok, but he was just resting, cos they were talking about it on the tv and kept going back to him, but i thought by then you would know, plus i'd be interrupting your game ... maybe would have de-stressed you a bit.
but yay that he got through and has finally done it.
It was soooo funny at footy - the ppl around us have started bringing kids, and the boys I babysit came too...and coz they're little and only just getting into footy, NONE of them had a clue who Michael Wilson was...I was outraged, but I guess he hadn't played for 2 yrs. THey know now though!
Wilbur was on radio last night, taking calls..awww he's so nice lol!
He and his wife are expecting baby number 2...awww! All the boys are becoming dads these days...as Wilbur put it, "theres babies popping out right, left and centre at the club." LOL!
And Wilbur hates cats - mentioned wanting to kick them, then realised that wasn't very nice...but better than the radio guys suggesting he's really nasty to his wife and son when he gets home after a crap game...lmao what kind of question is that? Like saying "are u an arsehole?" Wilbur thought they were both mad I think...it was all odd lol!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR my Port Maggies are definitely outta finals contention again this year...so shattered. We were 4 goals up at one point last night and looking good but then bloody awful horrid Norwood kicked our arses in the 3rd quarter...not happy.
Wilbur played tho!!! WOO HOO! Wilbur played a whole game, was excellent and kicked a goal - he HAS to be back for the Power soon! YAY! YAY! That was my one highlight for the evening! I love watching the Wilson brothers play together!
But grrrrrr coz I had a kinda sore throat last night...which has turned into a REALLY sore throat, runny nose and wheezing...which can't be good....
LMAO Mum just came in to get a pen and noticed that this was called the Michael Wilson Appreciation Thread so now she's teasing me...and laughing her arse off....not funny!
LOL oh I do loves your mum Bec!!!!! She's a legend!
So the Port Maggies are the... ummm... well I don't know what the word is. But they're not the one that plays nationally. Oooooooo are they in the SANFL??? (i'm gonna feel way brainy if that's right! LOL!)
Just reading about Wilbur probs/possibly playing this weekend against my boys ... and that'd just be right! He plays aginst us, over there, when I ain't going.
Pfft.
Bri, you've TOTALLY got a point with the whole N thing.
I remember when I was trying to work out what SANFL stood for by myself, and I guessed the SA and FL and I thought 'hmmm... N.... National?? nooo, that'd make no sense....' so I asked and it was! LOL!
I'm pretty sure Wilbur will get a game this week. It's probs between him and Kingers but since Kingers hasn't had a run in the SANFL yet I'd imagine WIlbur will be first pick - coz he was great on Friday night. YAY!
Shattered about Salopek though, poor little bugger. And Matty...poor matty.
"Michael Wilson and Stuart Cochrane are back to help bolster a depleted Power line-up that will take on Carlton on Sunday at AAMI Stadium."
(Just to clarify - YAYING for Wilbur NOT bloody Cochrane...)
AWWWWW....
"For Wilson, there could be some extra significance to being called up this week as it will give him the chance to wear the Power’s heritage guernsey.
“I played a lot of games with the Magpies – 40 odd games and won two premierships and as a kid growing up that’s where I wanted to play my footy (but) then the AFL popped up,” Wilson told PortAdelaideFC.com.au three weeks ago. “I think it’s pretty special (to wear the old guernsey), just fingers crossed the injuries are OK and I get to play in it.”
You could yay for my boi being back in finally. Probs the last time you will get to see him play Bec (if he does get his run), so please enjoy it and do be nice to him.
Trust it happening in another bloody state when I am not going. pfftt .... but major yays for him.
On the other hand, if one of your meanies to much as lays a hand on one ofr my bois to be mean to them, espec. one of the young ones, i'll be over there in a dash to bash him up.
not got to watch my AFL today - will watch it ASAP tomorrow. yay!
when does footy season START?? March-ish?? Coz i GOTTA be in Aus during footy season. I mean..... can u IMAGINE the hell if I wasnt??? I'd be caught up in cricket-cricket-cricket all the time!! YEEKS!!
AANNNNND - bec!!!!! What's happened to 17-yr-old boy??? You can't just email me stuff about footy boys and therefore make me want to watch them play and then be all like 'awwwwwwwwww poor them' - THATS NOT ON!!! What's he done??? Is he hurt?? Dammit.
Lou, poor little Salopek hurt his shoulder and is out for the rest of the season...awwww. He's going to be such a good player though. I call him Pekka but Bri seems to think that's dumb...lol! Or Newbie...
As for footy season, the actual season starts in late, late March and finishes on the last Saturday in September.
Oooooooooooo....... I hate it when my teams play each other, I dunno who I want to win!!!!
So I'm gonna go with wanting a draw. And then if not, I'll be happy for the team that wins as well as being equally sad for the team that loses. That's fair right???
oh yep, sorry, I forgot I'd asked that before and then I saw my Q and your answer and so I was gonna come back here and be like 'oops' then (in all the Join Me excitement) I completely forgot.
But okies, I got it now. It's engrained on my forehead. (LOL - wtf am i on about?)
YAY for Wilbur getting through a whole game, injury free and wearing the good old black and white! (LOL Tredders was going on and on about how excited the lifelong Port boys were about wearing the guernsey today!)
And awwww coz little Noah is the cutest bub ever! I took Dan, little boy I took to footy, over to get a photo with Wilbur and little Noah was chatting away in baby talk to us...happiest little baby ever lol! Wilbur and his wife were like "we never have any idea what he's going on about" LOL!
Awww have I ever mentioned that I like Wilbur? LOL
Wilson wildcard in Port pack
By ANDREW CAPEL
21aug03
BYRON Pickett has been labelled Port Adelaide's X-factor – its finals wildcard.
His explosiveness and gamebreaking ability could be the difference between this Power side and the one which has stumbled in its past two finals campaigns.
But there is another player at Alberton who figures to make a difference in September – rugged defender Michael Wilson.
Rated as one of Port's top five players by coach Mark Williams, Wilson has missed the club's past two finals series because of consecutive knee reconstructions.
This year he is raring to go.
"I've always wanted to be ready for the finals . . . just to have the chance of being fit for them," Wilson said. "At the moment I am, and I'm pretty happy about it too."
Wilson, who has played 10 games in an injury-interrupted comeback season, produced arguably his best performance of the year against Melbourne last Saturday.
In a timely reminder of his quality and toughness, Wilson managed 18 possessions and took eight marks across half-back.
But his courage, strength and ability to lay a strong tackle were just as impressive, prompting Williams to again speak of his importance to the Power side.
"His attack on the ball is second to none – and that's what you need," Williams said with an eye to the finals.
"He always plays that way and he always will play that way and that's why we love him." Wilson, 26, says he is feeling fitter with every passing week, describing his training program as "progressive".
"I'm doing a lot more work on the track, I'm getting fitter and feeling better. Everything's moving well for me," he said.
"On the weekend, I had more time on the ground and I was pretty happy with it.
"But I've learnt that anything can happen in football.
"I've still got a couple of games to get through but hopefully I'll be there in the end."
While Wilson's comeback season has not exactly gone to plan because of several hamstring strains, he described them as only minor setbacks.
"Anything outside of my knee injury is a piece of cake, I think," he said.
"You get disappointed getting a couple of injuries here and there and you want to keep playing.
"But as long as you're not sitting a full 12 months out you've got nothing to complain about, I don't think."
As for his hardness and significance to the side, Wilson downplayed it in typically modest fashion.
"We've got a lot of players who do the hard stuff – Dimma (Damien Hardwick), Choppy (Byron Pickett), Josh Carr, there's a lot of players in there who are really working hard," he said.
"And it's not going to come down to one player to win a game or a final in the next few weeks anyway, it's going to need a team effort."
lol - cos i went to port training at the g the other day~! Wanted to get peter burgouyne (SPL!?!?!) to sign my calendar - and despite my mind always thinkin to Bec's whole "TR" thing, hes actually really really nice! lol!! (and Bri - houla's signed too...) I have 5 of the 13 now!
Well Lou, TR thing ain't very nice...but a few years ago, Peter was involved in an alleged rape - well he was one of a few players supposedly involved...and when it went to trial there was no conviction, apparently the girl took a cash settlement, so no one really knows what happened....I'm kinda of the opinion these days that I can't imagine he DID do it, and he's now got 2 children with his gf who he's been with for years...and who is lovely, and who I think would have left him if it was all true...but yeah, for awhile I referred to him as The Rapist (when I'd decided he was scum of the earth...) but u can't really say that at the footy so it was shortened to TR....and now he's just Burgs or Pete again, as I've decided I think he was innocent...but who knows...
I hate it when things like that happen and you just don't know
One of our nufc players was ummmmmm... I'm trying to think of the right word.. aha!! Accused. Yeah, he was accused of rape by a 16yr old girl, but nothing happened (he wasn't even taken to court or whatever) and I think the story is that the girl had just made it up. Either way, luckily for Ollie no-one believes that he was guilty so we still love him
And my boy is up for some race-related charges which I hate because I don't believe he is racist, not at all (he was absolutely ADORABLE with this ill kid a little while ago - who just happened to be Asian. If he was a racist I seriously doubt he'd have been so fanastic with the kid. Luckily Indie's dad stuck up for Mell and pointed this out (Indie - the kid - died a few months ago).
Then again calling someone a "paki c*nt" *isn't* the most wonderful choice of phraseology in the world............ sigh
I hate football. It just breaks my heart all the time.
I love your footy though!!! I seriously don't like that bloody crow Wayne Carey though - he looks positively evil and I just wanna shoot him every time he comes on TV. Grrrrrrrrr at him.
OMG YAY THAT U DONT LIKE CAREY!!!!! It's soooo pathetic over here...when he cheated on his wife last year with his teammates wife, bloody Adelaideans on the radio were so morally outraged about it - went on and on (not that I'm condoning it..he's a dick) but they were loving it because it's kinda always been a fun passtime to bag Carey coz that's what u do to champs lol (I don't get that either..) but anyway, the SECOND HE JOINED THE CROWS they all became major Carey lovers...and the same stupid ppl who rang up bagging him months earlier, were now ringing up going "well it's no ones business what he does in his private life" etc..soooo hypocritical! I swear u must have to do an exam on hypocracy to become a Crows member! Then earlier this year when he was "allegedly" throwing a party with young girls in a spa etc...everyone was like "ohhh those girls are so lying" and the whole issue was underplayed - but I know for a fact that it was true..he was coming onto these girls - but now that he's a Crow, no one wants to know...omg it sucks!
We had a dirty rotten cheater -our full forward who I loved, was apparently shagging Gav's then fiancee...(now wife) lol...but who knows the truth there either...good old footy club cover ups!
As for the Peter issue...he was an "accomplice" whatever that means to another player who I have no doubts probably was guilty....but yeah, I guess u never know. My cousin was kinda friends with the one who I think was guilty but he'd never ask him (lol I have no idea why not.....!)
I'm glad that my irrational hatred pleases you lol!!
so who was he with before the crows???
I just... urgh.... seriously don't like the look of him. There's some sort of evil glint in his eye, and he always seems to be smirking at everyone else's expense. Pfffffff.
Wayne Carey was an absolute champion for the Kangaroos (ppl still hated him - coz ppl always hate champs for some reason) but after it was revealed he'd had an affair with a teammates wife - the shite hit the fan, and Carey had to leave. He took some time off, but then the Crows got him - which is when Adelaide became Hypocrite Capital Of The World.
Anthony Stevens (his poor teammate) is the only person who came outta the whole thing with any dignity - Carey's a pig, Stevens' wife a tart and I DID feel sorry for Carey's wife, but then she sold her story to a magazine, so that kinda lost any respect I had for her!
YAY for a brilliant game by Wilbur last night! His goal was soooooo good (watch out for it Lou!) and I love that Choco is letting him play on the ball (a tactic he doesn't use unless he wants someone in there tackling anything they can grab lol) - so good to see Wilbur getting back to his best.
So happy - the new Port mag has an interview with Wilbur - YAYVILLE!
So cute, he has 2 rules for his children - boys can't play football (well they can play SANFL or socially but not AFL) because it's too hard, too draining and not many ppl make it; and any daughters he may have are not allowed to marry footballers! LOL! (Schoey has the same rule for his little sister!)
There's one question - "What is something we don't know about you?" to which he replied, "I don't think there is anything lol!"
Carey was always a pig. He assulted some chick at a nite club (whos mum works with my mum...or worked with) and he was so big headed all nite goin "IM WAYNE CAREY, YOU SHOULD WANT ME" and so Ive always HATED him. Loved it when he left the roos, cos it meant i could like that team! lol! And ive always loved Stvo - hes a star. Some of the stuff the north boys say about carey now is hilarious. Drew for one is forever bagging him!! And thats just 1/2 the shite carey did....never could stand the guy. Didnt think he was AS good as everyone said either. Yeah, he was a good player, just think he was overrated....he certainly wasnt the best the game has ever seen.
And Bri - i got Ryans after i think it was the hawks game. I just ran across after the game and stood outside the rooms.... so its not another game I was at without telling you like i know you was thinking! lol!!
Yeah, Carey's always been an egotistical, cheating pig - he did the same "I'm Wayne Carey" bull to my mate at a night club, but she's english so she was like "that's nice Wayne" - wasn't til Monday at Uni that I told her he was a footballer and she was like
"no wonder he looked shattered when I couldn't give a toss!" LOL! Go Maddi!
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(BUT I DID RECORD AND THEREFORE WATCH!! HUZZAH!!!!)
