Jordan Courtney-Perkins has described his season at Sydney FC as one of the most frustrating of his career as he looks to go from bench warmer to grand-final winner.
The 23-year-old centreback - once touted as a rising star of Australian football when he netted a move to Poland as a teenager - was barely picked by former Sydney boss Ufuk Talay.
Courtney-Perkins played just 83 minutes across the opening 22 rounds of Sydney's spluttering season before Talay's exit.
But the arrival of Patrick Kisnorbo as manager six weeks ago has given the Queenslander a new lease of life.
Courtney-Perkins has started and seen out full matches at centreback in each of Kisnorbo's six games in charge of the Sky Blues on their run to Saturday's grand final against Auckland.
