Second-year forward turned winger Wil Powell has revealed his secret recipe for building confidence in his football… mum’s recipes.
Powell’s entire family relocated from Western Australia to the Gold Coast last year and the 19-year-old says he’s reaping the benefits from some homemade cooking.
“Putting on more kilos has definitely gained me confidence,” Powell told SUNS Media.
“I’ve got Mum and Dad over here now living with me with the two sisters.
“Mum’s dinners fatten me up which is very helpful.
“But yeah I think just gaining the weight and the new coaching staff around here putting confidence into all the players has been a major key focus this year.”
Powell had a breakout performance in Round 1, graduating from the forward line into the midfield and playing in one of the coveted wing positions for most of the day.
He found plenty of the ball as well, racking up 23 touches and hauling in seven marks.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever had over 20 touches in any recorded game even through juniors,” Powell admitted.
“There was a lot of space, especially with the new 6-6-6 rule, the wingers especially you get so much space to run around in.
“I found in my game I had a few errors by foot which cost the team, but you work on them and hopefully they don’t come up again during the week or next week in the next game.”
Powell said he will still go forward on occasions this year, but has trained extensively during the pre-season in the midfield and worked hard to progress his running capabilities.
“I tend to sneak down forward when I can when Prezza (forwards coach Ash Prescott) wants me to get down there,” Powell said.
“But just through pre-season I’ve been working hard on my fitness and Stuey’s rewarded me with playing on the wing which is amazing because that’s where I played all my Colts footy for Claremont.
It was very competitive all pre-season.”
Powell said being selected in the Round 1 was a huge achievement, and the 19-year-old is looking to pick up where he left off this weekend in front of what he hopes will be a big home crowd at Metricon Stadium.
“The feeling running out there at Marvel Stadium was unreal,” he said.
“The Saints crowd when the Saints ran out, it was electrifying how loud they were and I can’t wait for that at Metricon Stadium this Sunday against Freo.
“It should be a very nice crowd this weekend with a lot of new faces running around for us boys.
“Hopefully we can do them proud and be on the other side of a one-point margin.”
