Since March 28, Harrison Sawyer has scored four goals at a rate of one every 30 minutes. He is becoming a serious weapon for Macarthur Bulls.
Journeyman striker Harrison Sawyer is becoming a special A-Leagues story.
The six-foot-five number nine’s unique journey to the competition is being compared to Leicester City’s iconic Jamie Vardy after finally finding his place with Macarthur Bulls after a globe-trotting career that has taken him all over the world.
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Sawyer played youth football at Brisbane Roar before earning an Isuzu UTE A-League debut in 2017 with Newcastle Jets, going on to make five appearances before departing the club.
In the seven years that followed, the colossal centre-forward has played in five different countries – The Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Finland and back in Australia’s NPL – before sealing his return this season on the back of two NPL Victoria Golden Boot awards.
After cameos off the bench for the Bulls in four of the opening five rounds, Sawyer found himself out of the squad and struggling to find his feet.
However, the departures of Ariath Piol, Jed Drew and Valere Germain have presented an opportunity to lead the line and become the goal-scoring source that Macarthur have needed post the January transfer window.
In his last three matches, Sawyer has scored four goals – and his teammates now appear comfortable utilising his unique skillset.
“It’s a bit of a (Jamie) Vardy story,” A-Leagues great Archie Thompson said on A-Leagues Download.
“It’s good, that’s four goals in three games he’s scored.
“There was a time when a lot of people were questioning whether he had the attributes to be playing A-League football. The few chances he got, he didn’t take them.
“I think he’s been amazing; when they needed an impact, he came on.”
Premier League legend and former Melbourne City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen added: “If you’ve got the service and they have that… you’ve got Jakolis and other players who can get the ball in there.
“We’re so quick in football, we want everything to fit in this box, players need to play a certain way.
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“It has sort of gone away from that (traditional number nine). It is good that these players come out and you can find a way of utilising them to great effect.
“Nobody can mark him. You can see how clinical he is when he gets in those positions. You can see how good he is at timing it and heading it. Fair play to him. It is good to see that you can move from the NPL, make that step.
“It’s taken him a bit of time but it is good for everyone down there that yes, we can make it.”
Indeed, Macarthur and coach Mile Sterjovski now appear to have figured out how to get the most out of their centre-forward, who is blessed with brilliant aerial ability to go with his obvious height advantage.
Since Sawyer opened his account on March 28 with a double against Newcastle Jets, no Isuzu UTE A-League player has scored more goals than his four, level with Adrian Segecic, Archie Goodwin and Eli Adams.
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It’s also worth noting that his four goals have been scored in just 121 minutes of football – a goal every 30.3 minutes.
All four have come from his head. No other player has more than two.
“Our players now know how to use him,” Sterjovski said after that brace against the Jets.
“It’s been a while – we’ve worked on a few different things with him. I felt like tonight it really clicked for us in the second half, especially when he came off.”
The Bulls boss has been proved correct with Sawyer scoring in each game since.
If defences can’t figure out how to combat the enormous frame of Macarthur’s new centre-forward weapon, then there could be plenty more to follow.”
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