Footballer Sam Powell-Pepper is one to watch.d406282
Camera IconFootballer Sam Powell-Pepper is one to watch.d406282 Credit: Supplied/Martin Kennealey

Powell-Pepper spices things up

Staff ReporterSouthern Gazette

The 15-year-old, who plays for Mt Hawthorn Cardinals and Wesley College, has the attention of scouts looking to unearth the next talent.

This year, after growing about 30cm, he played in the WA State Schoolboys football team, which lost the grand final in Darwin by 10 points to South Australia.

He was named best and fairest WA player in that competition.

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Sam said it was at that competition he caught the eye of selectors.

Earlier this year, he was also selected for the Flying Boomerangs team that competed in the under 16 National Championships in Sydney. He will travel with the team to New Zealand at the end of the year.

He was also the captain of the WA 15s Kickstart Indigenous Championships, which won the competition.

And in March he was selected to represent East Perth in the Nicky Winmar Cup, after being singled out as a future talent by his Mt Hawthorn Junior Football Club coach Steve Burke.

Sam said his game benefitted after growing and moving to centre halfback after spending his early playing days as a small forward.

He knows he still has a long way to go before he has the opportunity to be selected for an AFL club, with a Victorian team his preference, but he is hopeful he can continue being selected for representative teams.

‘It is really good to get the opportunity to represent either my State or Australia,’ he said.

‘I want to get selected for the 16s and 18s teams in the future.’

Sam has only just started playing games for Wesley College after transferring to the school from Mt Lawley Senior High School with the aid of an Australia Indigenous Education Foundation scholarship.

But while studying, Sam continues to play for his local club, with his team making the finals, his school and also his representative sides.