Young defender Wil Powell says it was confidence in himself that spurred the 21-year-old to one of the finest performances of his young career against the Cats on Saturday.

Powell was voted by the fans as the Austworld Player of the Round following the clash in Geelong from which he finished with 20 disposals, 10 contested possessions and a game-high three contested marks.

Powell says Senior Coach Stuart Dew was proud of the SUNS’ fight and endeavour following a disappointing performance against the Lions a week earlier.

“He came up to us after the game on the ground, stopped us all and said if you play with that much heart and we back it up week after week we’re going to get the results,” Powell said.

“I think he was proud of ourselves and how we played that game of footy, especially coming off a bad loss the week before.

“(Against the Lions) We lost our identity. This week, we’re clawing our way back to finding that identity and when we do, we’ll be a hard team to beat.”

Powell was instrumental across the backline for the SUNS, winning plenty of contested ball and launching his side forward.

“It was having more confidence in myself, backing myself to do things my teammates know I can do,” Powell added.

The SUNS’ next task is a Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash against Hawthorn at Darwin’s TIO Stadium on Saturday night.

While the SUNS will be more acclimatised to the warmer conditions, Powell believes it’s his side’s hunger and fight that will get them over the line.

“If we bring that heart to the contest and that willingness to win, the weight of numbers will get the job done.”