ONE of the most-skilled players to ever play the game has an active role at Ikon Park this pre-season.

No stranger to the Navy Blue, Greg Williams will once again mentor Carlton’s youngsters, continuing from the part-time role he began in season 2019.

As someone who prided himself on skill execution and practice making perfect, Williams will work closely with Luke Power and Daniel O’Keefe in the development practice.

For ‘Diesel’, skills - quite simply - are a non-negotiable in football.

“My main thing is the basics: technique, handball, ball handling, kicking, all those sorts of things,” Williams told Carlton Media.

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Pumped to be on board for 2020. Big year for the Blues. Best skills in the competition here we come. @carlton_fc

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“Practice is still king, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Brownlow Medallist or a new draftee.

“It takes a lot of work to get the perfect technique. You need to have a technique where you have confidence in every facet of the game.”

Despite the positive way in which Carlton finished the year, Williams said neither he or the players were resting on their laurels this pre-season.

He said the Club would continue to invest and develop its younger players to realise their full potential in season 2020 and beyond.

“There’s potential to do a lot of things, but as far as I’m concerned we’re third last. We’ve got to win early games and build our confidence,” he said.

“There’s a lot of talent there, there’s no doubt about it, and there are some serious young players.

“When I’m talking to them, they’re 19 and 20: I started when I was 20. They’re not very old and they’re expected to be stars straight away.”

Highlighting Sam Walsh and Paddy Dow as two young midfielders he was enjoying working with, Williams couldn’t help but be happy to be back at the place he called home for so many years.

With skills development “a career thing”, Williams’ glittering career of the work put in on the training track translating to game day.

“I really enjoy Carlton. I love coming here and I really enjoy working with he younger players,” he said.

“The way you practice and put pressure on yourself and your technique, you’ve got to be able to do things flat-out.

“We’re working on all of those things. They’re on the right track.”