Harrison Sawyer opens up on South Melbourne captaincy and ambitions for 2024

South Melbourne captain Harrison Sawyer discusses his team’s imposing physicality and his ambition and leadership for NPL Victoria 2024.

Harrison Sawyer scores for South Melbourne. Luke Radziminski

South Melbourne captain Harrison Sawyer joked his team could take on a rugby union side.

Boasting some of the tallest and physically imposing players in NPL Victoria it’s not hard to see why.

With the likes of Sawyer and Gold Medallist Jake Marshall both 190cm-plus, set pieces will be key to South’s premiership hopes this season.

Add in Andy Brennan, Ross Archibald, Josh Wallen and Marco Jankovic and the challenge for opposition defences is complex.

A set piece delivered the match-winning goal in the Round 1 original derby win over Melbourne Knights last week.

Harrison Sawyer scores for South Melbourne. Luke Radziminski

Sawyer very nearly scored from a corner before capitalising on the resulting Max Mikkola long-throw.

Speaking after the match, Sawyer said set moves would be a key part in South’s gameplan.

“We are (tall), I think we could give some rugby union league a go – no, they’d probably smash us,” he said.

“For this league, yeah, we are pretty big so we’re going to be dangerous on set plays.

“The first one hit the post with a header and then the second one went in, so pretty glad to score in the first 10 minutes.”

Sawyer returns to South this season after a year overseas, first with Jamshedpur in India and then Finnish club VPS.

He won the NPL Victoria Golden Boot in 2022, helping Hellas claim the premiership but left before the club’s finals campaign and missed the grand final.

Bestowed the captaincy in the pre-season, Sawyer only has one thing on his mind.

“I just want to win,” he said.

“I want to come first, I don’t want to come second, third, fourth, I just want to win. I want to win the league and the grand final.

“The club’s going in the right direction and we’ve got a lot of new players with a lot of quality.

“It’s exciting to be at a club like South Melbourne with the prospect of the National Second Division, I’m really hopeful about this season.”

The towering striker takes the armband from long-time skipper and club great Brad Norton.

“It means a lot taking over from a player like Brad Norton,” Sawyer said.

“He’s been at the club for 12 years and been captain for six or seven and it’s a massive club, so I can’t say how privileged I am, it’s a huge honour.”

South kicked off its 2024 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Knights at Lakeside Stadium.

The club will look to make it two wins when it travels to CB Smith Reserve to face Moreland City on Saturday.

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Despite a limited pre-season, Sawyer played through the first 90 minutes of the season and noticed one big difference from his time overseas.

“I didn’t get a whole lot of minutes in the pre-season so I’m still finding my feet,” he said.

“The game is very physical here, it’s a different intensity.

“In the NPL a lot of players get paid per game so it’s very competitive in the matches and during the week it’s less of a professional environment.

“Then come match day it’s all or nothing.”