Leigh Williams Biography

Melbourne has added to its list of trade departures, cutting a swathe of players which include Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd, Jamie Bennell, Lucas Cook, Liam Jurrah and rookies Jai Sheahan, Leigh Williams and Kelvin Lawrence.

Young Demon Leigh Williams is recovering in hospital after suffering a viral infection of the brain.

Williams was rushed to hospital via ambulance after becoming seriously ill on Saturday evening and was admitted to the intensive care unit at Box Hill Hospital.

This is obviously deeply concerning for Leigh, his family and the club," Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney said.

"Our focus is to ensure Leigh's health continues to improve, as it has over the past 48 hours and that he makes a full recovery. Clearly returning to football is secondary to Leigh's health and we certainly won't be rushing anything in that regard."