Once Tim Hamill came to the job of head coach following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — taking over from Elvis Fatovic — he named long-term internationals Blake Edwards (30) and Nathan Power (30 on February 13) to the dual captaincy position and it’s something that has helped bolster the team.

Photos courtesy of Water Polo Australia Ltd

Edwards (above) said: “They recognised both Nathan and I had different styles of leadership. Either style complemented each other rather than clash.”

Both had qualities that could add value to the team. “The close stage in our careers and our professional lives outside the pool help support each other and share the load.”

Edwards said the staff modelled the decision on the Sydney Swans (Australian Football League team) leadership group as opposed to a sole captain.

What does that mean on game day? Who gets to stand at the head of the team besides the referees in the presentation?

“We usually alternate who stands in the line-up, but we don’t do it game by game,” Edwards said.

Power (above) said: “It’s something unusual in water polo; it’s something pretty common in other sports. Well-known Australian sporting group (Sydney) Swans started it in the mid-2000s with incredible benefits; certain areas each excels at when it comes to leadership.

“Especially as someone like Blake and I work together. We rotate who’s captain in name on game day, who stands front of the line, but we’re leading the team together at all times.

“We have that trust in each other to talk up; we back them 100 per cent. We have that confidence in each other. It’s a very dynamic and fluid thing,” Power said.

“We both lead in our individual style and do it cohesively,” Edwards echoed.

While both players have had extensive water polo careers outside Australia, they have returned home to focus on next year’s Paris Olympic Games and to that end will play the Australian national league for their respective clubs — Drummoyne Devils for Edwards and UNSW Wests Magpies for Power — and hold down full-time jobs on top of their water polo.

Edwards is a self-employed mortgage broker and admits to working late during tours, keeping his clients happy while Power is a risk assessor with KPMG. Both live and work in Sydney.

“I run my own small business as a mortgage broker. How do I juggle it? Not much free time. Lot of early mornings and late nights. I work seven days a week, do half days to stay on top of any time missed. I work remotely. I have the benefit of working from home. I use that time to stay on top of my workload,” Edwards said.

“During the world champs (in Budapest last year), I was up at 5am to catch phone calls. My business is growing a bit more and I now get admin support.”

Power said: “Blake and I have careers outside water polo. It’s so good when you are a bit fatigued with the job, putting in long hours, we can help each other in leading the team.

“I’m a risk consultant at KPMG, advising different corporates, financial institutions on a wide range of topics, assessing their risk environment,” Power said.

The two-metre-tall centre forward has had playing stints at Primorje Rijeka in Croatia 2016-2017, three years at Jadran Split 2017-21 and a year with CN Barcelona.

He said the experience was “awesome”. “I was very fortunate to be on teams competing at the top of their league, playing in the Champions League and Euro Cup; very fortunate to have great team-mates to work with. It’s normal for Europeans (to play this level), but not normal for Australians.”

Edwards has had an “unsettled” international career, coming through the NCAA set-up in the United States with the University of Southern California for three years after gaining his international debut against Canada in 2009 as a teenager. He fell out of the squad in 2012, made the squad for the 2014 World Cup in Kazakhstan and missed the cut for Rio 2016.

He took a year off for injury and returned to the scene in 2018, not missing a match since, racking up more than 100 internationals.

He played for Montenegrin club Budva for a season alongside Aussie team-mate Aidan Roach and a feast of fellow internationals, including Montenegrin goalkeeper Dejan Lazovic and French captain Ugo Crousillat, someone he may come up against in Paris next year.

While at the height of their careers and a 2018 World Cup silver medal and one Olympic Games each, both athletes trust their bodies will withstand two World Aquatics World Championships before returning to the Olympic cauldron later next year.