North Queensland Fury FC’s marquee man Robbie Fowler says he’ll judge his first season in the Hyundai A-League on the success of his team rather than the number of goals he accumulates.
Speaking at the official launch of the 2009/10 season in Sydney on Monday, the former England striker declared himself physically and mentally ready for Saturday’s historic clash against Sydney FC in Townsville.
But while the spotlight is sure to remain firmly focused on the former Liverpool star, he made it clear he is far more interested in bringing instant success to his fledgling club than adding to his own legend.
“I just want to do as well as what I can and if we’re successful as a team then great,” Fowler said.
“If I’m successful as an individual then that’s great as well but as long as the team does well I’ll settle for that.”
While content to be a team player, the fourth most prolific scorer in the history of the English Premier League admits he still has a hunger for goals.
But the softly spoken 34-year-old refused to heap added pressure on himself by predicting the number of times he will find the back of the net.
“If you set yourself targets and you don’t reach them then you’ve failed,” he said.
“I want to obviously do as well as I can and I obviously want to score as many goals as I can but I will never set myself targets.”
“It’s not because I’ve come to a new league, all through my career I’ve never done it.”
Asked if he is expecting extra attention from rival clubs desperate to get one over on him, Fowler conceded he doesn’t know what to expect.
“To be honest I’ve not got a clue, I don’t know how people see me,” he said.
“All I can do is just go out and try and play my game and if it means more people on me then that leaves a little bit of space for others to capitalise so we’ll just see what happens,” he said.
The father of four insists he has already adapted to the Townsville heat and says he’s in the best physical shape he’s been in for several years.
“I’ve not played as many games as I would have liked pre-season but obviously, it’s not great for me but I feel good at the minute and obviously the season starts soon and I’m feeling as good as what I have done for a long time,” he said.
But despite his confidence, Fowler is under no illusions ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Sky Blues.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” he said.
“Every game’s going to be tough because obviously we’re a new team, we’ve got 23 new players in the squad regardless of whether we’re playing Sydney or anyone else so all the games are going to be tough.”
“In saying that it’s a great start to a new league for us playing one of the glamour clubs, and it’ll be a big test because we played them not so long ago in a friendly and didn’t do too well.”
