Have you met… Cadeyn Williams?

Having come through the TAC Cup with Murray Bushrangers before being drafted to Richmond in the 2012 Rookie Draft, 21-year-old Cadeyn Williams comes to Box Hill as one of more experienced players on the Hawks’ list.

Playing in the Seniors team in all four of Box Hill’s practice matches, Williams has made himself at home at Box Hill City Oval, providing another hardened to complement the Hawks’ young list.

Standing at 187-centimetres high and weighing in at 86 kilograms, Williams has settled in as an inside midfielder during the pre-season with stints up forward to good success.

“Marco (Bello) and the coaches haven’t yet sat me down specifically and outlined my role, but I’ve been playing as an inside midfielder during the pre-season and spending a little bit of time up forward so hopefully I can snag a goal or two,” Williams said.

Named in Saturday’s Grand Final rematch against Footscray, Williams feels that a strong pre-season developed in part by Fitness and Conditioning Coach Sean Murphy has left the team in great shape for Round 1.

“It’s been a long six months of hard work; all the boys have worked hard to get where we are at the moment.

“Murph worked us pretty hard when he could on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons and they were really solid sessions.

“We’re all excited to get back into the real stuff after four pretty successful hit outs.”

For Williams, having pre-season occur on three evenings a week is a foreign feeling after becoming acclimatised to pre-season being a full-time job.

“I’ve spent the previous two pre-seasons with Richmond which was a full-time program, so this pre-season is a bit of a changeup.

“Obviously it hasn’t been as full on, but I’ve found that helps with life-stuff such as work.”

With football no longer being a nine-to-five commitment, the extra time has allowed Williams to work full-time during the week.

“I’m working at a water chemical company at the moment as a water technician full-time.

“So I’ll start all my days there then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll head out and go to training.”

Though football is his passion, Williams has found being able to have football and work separate has provided a sense of balance that an AFL-listed player can’t enjoy.

“Being with Richmond and having that as a full-time job meant that it was always footy, footy, footy, but being with Box Hill provides a work-football balance that helps me take my mind off footy for a bit.

“It also works vice-versa as well, where footy can take my mind off the stress of work, which I find helpful after a hard-days work to be able to come to training and just kick the footy – it’s relaxing and allows me to take my mind off of everything.”

On electing to play with Box Hill in 2015, Williams pointed to the Hawks’ continue success over the last two seasons, including consecutive grand finals.

“It’s been a really successful club over the last few years so that was the first thing that jumped out at me (when deciding to join Box Hill) and they’ve had a couple of blokes get drafted over the last few years, so it’s a good place to continue to develop myself and play some good football.”

Playing with the Hawthorn-listed players and tapping into Hawthorn’s development network has also proved to be beneficial for Williams in progressing as a footballer.

“The Hawks boys coming back have been good, they’re not afraid to come up, have a chat and get to know you which is good since we only get to see them once a week.

“The good thing is that they’re coming back to continue to develop themselves the same as we are so it’s a really good environment.”

Though Williams has made a positive start to his Box Hill career, the young midfielder will judge the year as a success if he can continue to improve as the season unfolds.

“Individually, I just want to play the best football I can, whether that be in the seniors or in the development team and continue to become a better player.”

For the team, Williams sees no reason why the Hawks can’t meet the standard reached in the previous two seasons.

“From a team perspective, we’ve made grand finals the previous two years so I think a top-four finish to give us the best chance of making a third would be a successful season.”

Box Hill kick off its 2015 campaign at VU Whitten Oval on Saturday 18 April, with the game getting underway at 12:15pm.

For those unable to attend, Channel 7 will be broadcasting the game live into Victoria on their main channel from 12pm, while radio listeners can tune into 3WBC as they kick off another season covering the Box Hill Hawks.