Captain Williams won't change
Colourful Blues lock Ali Williams insists his new role as captain for the 2013 Super Rugby won’t change him as a player or a person.
The Super Rugby centurion was selected by new coach John Kirwan as skipper of the franchise as fellow All Black Keven Mealamu is taking a sabbatical and is only expected to return in March.
Williams is known as the class clown of the squads he is in but he insists he won’t change his playful ways.
"I don't think I'll change as a person, but in terms of my responsibilities as a person, yeah they've got to change," Williams said.
"There's one thing we embrace here and are going to embrace, you've got to be your own person. There's a reason why these guys are great athletes, because of their personality and I don't think we can hide that.
“But like me, it's just controlling it and bringing it out at the right time and there's a saying if you're having fun you're going to do it better, so it's what I want."
The 77-Test veteran boasts a wealth of experience but admits he has plenty to learn from a captaincy perspective, having last captained Auckland at age-grade level.
"It was always an ambition [to be captain], I didn't think I would be, but you lead in different ways I guess. I think the only thing that's changed is that I've got captain to my name to be honest.
"I've been around a bit, I've seen a lot of captains, I've been under a lot of great captains. The thing that I've done over the last few weeks is I've gone and asked and sourced information.
"I don't claim to know everything, I don't know half of it, but for me it's a great challenge and something that I can now strive to get better at and lead a team that I'm very passionate about."
