Yarrawonga goalkicking ace Leigh Williams claims the Doug Strang medal

The Pigeon's boom recruit booted 67-goals from 11-matches to trump former AFL players and Wangaratta star duo Callum Moore (63) and Ben Reid (52) for the honour.

Williams missed the opening month of the season with a broken finger before missing another three matches late in the year with a fractured bone in his back.

He averaged more than six-goals a match and arguably could have easily reached the magical 100-goal milestone except for injury.

"The goalkicking wasn't something that I was thinking about during the year, I was more worried about getting back out on the ground," Williams said.

"Missing two large chunks of the season with injury, I was just more focussed on getting back as quick as I could.

"I was a bit disappointed with how straight I was kicking when I returned from my back injury but it was a lot better last weekend.

"Against North Albury, Corowa-Rutherglen and Albury I didn't really kick straight.

"But apart from those three matches, I've been fairly happy with my conversion rate."

Williams arrived at the J.C. Lowe Oval this season with a big reputation after carving an enviable record as a prolific goalkicker with Norwood in the Eastern Football league.

The one-time Melbourne AFL rookie blasted 583 goals over a 10-year period, prior to COVID.

He was a four-time winner of the EFL goalkicking and played in a premiership at Norwood in 2014.

The sharp-shooter booted 15 goals against North Albury in round seven to snare the biggest bag of his career so far.

Williams said he had been impressed by the standard of the Ovens and Murray league.

"I've been impressed by the standard and had heard previously that the O&M has a reputation as one of the best competitions in country football," he said.

"It's a proud competition and it was certainly an honour to be able to play interleague earlier this year.

"The top-end talent in the competition is of a high standard with a lot of former AFL players running around in the league.

"So there is a fair bit of class there as well as guys coming back from the VFL because there seems to be a lot of players getting out of Melbourne into the country leagues.

"I think the top couple of sides in the O&M would beat those top Metro sides in Melbourne at the moment."

Undoubtedly Williams' job this season has been made a lot easier with the Pigeons boasting a star-studded midfield comprising former AFL players Michael Gibbons and coach Mark Whiley.

They also have players the calibre of Willie and Harry Wheeler alongside Nick Fothergill running around in the midfield.

So who does Williams rate the best in regards to delivery?

"Obviously they are all classy midfielders and pretty good at what they do," he said.

"But if I was forced to pick one it would be Willie Wheeler who is my favourite when he is coming out of the middle.

"My eyes light up most when he gets it for sure."

The Pigeons will renew their fierce rivalry with Albury on Saturday when they meet in the qualifying final at WJ Findlay Oval.

Albury beat Yarrawonga in a five-point thriller in round eight at the sportsground.

Before the Pigeons reversed the result in their most recent meeting by eight points in round 17.

Interestingly, the Tigers' best defender, Lucas Conlan, has restricted Williams to four and three goals and his two lowest bags of the season so far.

"Albury seem to match-up well against us and they have been two tight encounters during the home and away season," Williams said.

"They are a similar sort of side to us and rely on that quick ball movement to hurt the opposition.

"Albury have obviously been a powerhouse of the competition for more than a decade and once again will take a power of beating in September.

"We won't be treating them lightly, that's for sure.

"Personally I expect to be playing against Lucas Conlan who I rate highly as a defender.

"I rate him as the best fullback in the competition and the hardest opponent that I've come against so far.

"Lucas is good at what he does and is certainly hard to beat in one-on-one contests.

"No doubt it will be another tough day at the office for me again on Saturday but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

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Williams said he is close to regaining his match-fitness after stringing together the past four matches.

"The last two weeks I've felt I've been back to where I need to be in regards to match-fitness," he said.

"Obviously I'm not exactly where I want to be after coming back from injury.

"But I would like to think I can go to another level during the finals series.

"Being that bit older now, I'm a lot smarter now when it comes to training and know how to get my body right."

The Pigeons will be hungry for success during September after having won their most recent flag almost a decade ago in 2013.

Williams has also been starved of recent success.

"I've only won the one flag with Norwood in 2014 which feels like a long time ago now," he said.

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