Of course AZ was not your first foray into Europe, with a move to Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade in 2011 proving short-lived. In hindsight do you regret this move or was the prospect of joining a club with such a rich history too good to refuse?
I have no regrets about my move to Red Star Belgrade because I fulfilled a boyhood dream to play for that club. It’s a club my dad grew up supporting, then I grew up supporting them so it was a very special moment when I scored on my debut at The Marakana. Things didn’t turn out the way I hoped due to the club been in big financial problems but I became a stronger person mentally from that experience. Every bad experience is a good experience because you can always learn from it.
At Red Star, you were coached by former club hero and Real Madrid and Barcelona midfielder Robert Prosinecki. What was it like working under the legendary Croatian technician?
Robert Prosinecki was a major factor as to why I went to Red Star as he personally called me – he told me that he wanted me at the club and that it’d be a great season if I came. Unfortunately I couldn’t play for the first two months when I arrived in Belgrade due to the club not being able to pay the first instalment of my transfer fee from Melbourne Heart. Prosinecki resigned two days before I finally got my clearance to play, so I really didn’t have luck there. But those two months with him were great as he was was such an amazing player and a fantastic coach with it being a real shame he left before I could even start playing official games for the club.
You made your Socceroos debut in 2012 but have not featured since then, do you feel that the move to Zwolle can regenerated your national team aspirations and put you into Ange Postecoglou’s plans?
I will be honest in saying that my priority is PEC Zwolle at the moment as I’m enjoying my football now and hoping to get as much game time as I can till the end of season. It’s always a privilege to play for Australia and it’s been a long time since I was last involved with the Socceroos so if I am playing and doing well in the Eredivisie, I hope I can be involved with the national team again.
Have you kept track of the A-League since moving to the Netherlands? If so, what do you think of the rebranded Melbourne City’s progress under your old mentor John van ‘t Schip this season?
Yes I still follow the A-League very closely. I live stream games when I can and it’s nice to see the league growing. I enjoy watching my old club when they play away from home because then they wear the original Red and White stripes. Although it’s also been great with the new owners coming in. I was at the club from day one when we had six players contracted and now you see where the club is, flying business class to Manchester and Abu Dhabi for pre-season camps and not Shepperton and Morwell anymore. Having state of the art training pitches and facilities now is unbelievable and great for the club and the players. It’s a club that’s always in my heart and I’ll always follow them.
Finally, many Australian footballers have recently been lured away from the country and signed for clubs not in Europe but East Asia and the Middle East with the larger wages been a key factor to their decision-making. How much better for one’s development do you believe playing in Europe, especially in a country like the Netherlands is for career progression?
Look you can’t fault someone for going for the money to Asia. At the end of the day, you don’t play football forever so you have to make the most of it. But if you want a long successful career then you have to be in Europe for that and if you are successful in Europe then you can always go to Asia and cash in I guess. Every player has his own career and you never know what can happen in your football life and where you could end up.