Wil Powell's path to the Gold Coast senior team begun about a year ago when he was told to put together a video of his best under-18 highlights to send to club scouts.

The biggest bolter in last year's NAB AFL Draft was asked by his manager Colin Young halfway through the season if he could make his own tape.

So Powell went to Claremont, where he was playing in its under-18 colts side, and plugged in his USB.

He became a pro at Final Cut Pro, an application used to make videos, and was happy with how it came up. "It took up all of my time and I did it all," he told AFL.com.au this week. 

"It was fun, something to do. I enjoy watching edits but putting all the best parts into a little movie made me feel proud that it was going out to AFL clubs."

Powell didn't get his hopes up and continued to play for Claremont without winning selection for the West Australian team. But his tape had made waves, and soon the SUNS recruiting team was the first to arrive on his door for an interview. They had a request, too.

"I got told to keep it all 'hush hush'. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, only my family. Nobody else could know. So I didn’t tell anyone, I had to keep it secret from other clubs if they asked I'd had any meetings with anyone else," Powell said.

"I met with Melbourne, who told me the same thing to keep it 'hush hush'. I also spoke to Port Adelaide, Freo, Richmond, Carlton and Collingwood.

"I didn't expect to have one chat to an AFL club because I was only a little wiry skinny kid just playing my role and not doing anything out of the blue to get recognised. When I had my first chat it was like 'wow'."

The real 'wow' moment was yet to come but fast approaching.

Gold Coast came over twice more for home visits, and then two weeks before the draft he met with SUNS recruiter Mark Micallef at a café in Scarborough, where they talked about the club's values.

He got no guarantees, but had a strong feeling he would be joining the club.

"I thought it was going to be a reality that I was going to move down to the Gold Coast, so I started preparing for that. Mum and Dad were shining their boots to kick me out," said the enthusiastic 18-year-old.

The SUNS went through with it, selecting Powell with their first-round choice (No.19 overall).

It was the surprise of the draft given the teenager's lack of exposure in the elite junior programs, but they had a sense the Demons were keen with their three second-round picks so got in first. 

In Powell the SUNS saw a talented, courageous, high-jumping, hard-working player who kicked goals and was versatile.

He impressed with those traits as soon as he got to the club last off-season, and was prepared to stand in front of incoming players despite his light frame.

Powell has settled into Queensland living with SUNS teammate Peter Wright, and two weeks ago made his AFL debut against Collingwood.

He finished with a goal and 10 disposals, but backed it up with an impressive 15-disposal game in last week's loss to North Melbourne.

"I love it here. It's the same as Perth. I can't complain about the weather. I can't complain about the club, the facilities, the people. It's such an inviting environment. I couldn't think of anywhere else to be," he said.

"Mine's a different pathway than what you hear when you're usually touted as a first-round draft pick.

You usually hear about every little thing they are doing, but not being on any radar helped as well not having that pressure of performing week-in week-out."
 
Powell has put on eight kilograms since arriving at the SUNS but wants to add another three to be at 78 by the end of the season. There is a sense about Powell that he is still taking his wild ride all in, but he has firm ambitions about the player he wants to become.  

"My aim is to build a body big enough to withstand the midfield. I want to be a midfielder. Looking back for inspiration, a little bit like Nat Fyfe. He came in as a skinny kid," he said.

"I was watching videos on him and he came in raw and skinny and not knowing much and how he's built himself up to now where he dominates games in the midfield."