Young Guns – Blake Powell

As the Sydney FC players recharge their batteries for what is expected to be an incredibly tough pre season, we speak with the Young Guns who emerged as future mainstays of the Sky Blues outfit for 2013/14 and beyond. This week we speak to striker Blake Powell.

As the Sydney FC players recharge their batteries for what is expected to be an incredibly tough pre season, we speak with the Young Guns who emerged as future mainstays of the Sky Blues outfit for 2013/14 and beyond. This week we speak to striker Blake Powell.

Not many people can say they made their A-League debut in front of 35,000 people. Even fewer can say they scored a goal on the special occasion and we-d bet no one can say they shared the scorecard with Alessandro Del Piero to boot. Blake Powell can!

Powell was one of the final pieces in the 2012/13 Sydney FC jigsaw, signing late after spending time in the Sky Blues Youth Team and 2011 ACL squad with stints at Sutherland and Bonnyrigg in the NSW Premier League either side.

But coming into the 2012/13 season Powell arrived late and, even by his own admission, did so with Alessandro Del Piero, Yairo Yau, Kruno Lovrek, Joel Chianese, Dimi Petratos and Mitch Mallia ahead of him in the pecking order. Hard work, and some luck with injuries, saw his exuberance rewarded with a place on the bench for the round two clash with Newcastle. He marked the match with a goal and went on to score three times in 17 appearances.

After two straight years of football without a break, Powell answered five key questions before enjoying some well-earned R and R.

What was your highlight for the 2012/13 season?
One highlight that stood out was my debut goal. The first game I played I got on the scoresheet with Del Piero and Emile Heskey, which was pretty big.

Is there a lowlight?
The lowlight that I can think of is the game against the Central Coast where it ended up 7-2. It wasn-t much fun coming on at half time and copping that many goals against us.

What was your personal highlight for the season?
That fact that I got more experience. I can take that into next year and know what to expect.

What are you looking forward to about pre season?
I-m looking forward to a lot of running. That will be fun. I-m sure Anthony Crea is going to put on some good sessions.

Which team mate stood out for you in 2012/13?
For me the big one was Rhyan Grant. I think he stood out more than everyone and I think Vedran (Janjetovic) had a great season as well.