Trainer and former AFL player Wayne Carroll is hoping Corowa-bound debutant Kenny’s Swans can kick a goal on Monday in memory of one of the Sydney club’s most beloved figures.
Carroll, known as ‘Christmas’ in his days in the old VFL, was an original member of the Sydney Swans back in the Geoffrey Edelsten era.
He, like most of the Swans’ first roster, were new to Sydney but found a guiding pair of hands from a husband and wife duo that would become lifelong friends.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
“Kenny and Yvonne Williams really looked after the majority of the players and when I say looked after, they made them feel at home, invited them around to their place for tea and really became part of the Swans from day one,” Carroll said.
“Every since our days in Sydney, myself and my wife Cherie, we have always kept in contact with Kenny and Yvonne.
Kenny Williams holds aloft the 2012 AFL premiership cup as he celebrates the Swans’ 2012 grand final victory over Hawthorn.
“Obviously Kenny passed away a couple of years ago now but I still talk to Yvonne every month.
“When I first got the name (Kenny’s Swans) for this horse and I told Yvonne, she started crying on the phone and was that emotional.”
Kenny Williams with Swans players Tadhg Kenelly (left) in 2006 and Andrew Dunkley in 1996.
Anyone who has ever seen a Swans goal kicked would recognise Kenny and Yvonne.
She would be the one sitting next to a grey-haired, beaming Kenny leaning over the fence down under the Bradman stand.
Yvonne Williams sits at the Sydney Cricket Ground where two red and white seats were unveiled as a tribute to Sydney Swans club stalwart Kenny Williams, who passed away in November 2022 at the age of 93. Picture: Phil Hillyard
While a fixture at the SCG, Kenny was no stranger to a racetrack.
“As a young bloke when he was in Melbourne, Kenny used to work on the wharves, but when he came to Sydney he worked as a stablehand for Fil Allotta, the trainer, and Kenny used to look after Baguette and Cabochon,” Caroll says.
(Only fitting, really, given those two horses’ colours were red and white).
Kenny’s Swans is guaranteed a huge cheer squad himself on Monday. The son of Magnus is owned by a whole interchange-sized number of Carroll family members with Yvonne herself and all of the Williams descendants watching on.
Wayne Carroll (right) during his playing days with South Melbourne before the club’s move to Sydney.
So is Carroll expecting a mark or a behind on Monday from Kenny’s Swans when he steps out onto the track for the Waldrons Corowa IGA Maiden Plate (900m) at 4.20pm?
“Look, I think he can win,” said his trainer and 1984 VFL Mark of the Year award winner.
“But you know, I never have my horses super wound-up first-up, especially a young one.
“But he’s fit and well and I am happy for him to go to the races and he’ll run really well.”
Wherever he runs on Tuesday, he’ll no doubt ‘Honour The Name’ of a true Blood.