Fire in the belly
Ever since Alex Smith (above) left Far North Queensland he has questioned what possesses him to keep torturing himself on the football field. Every kick, every training session, every goal — even the two he scored for Sunshine Coast Fire on some old teammates on Saturday — seems a chore for the 32-year-old. The attitude is synonymous with a player on the brink of retirement.
EVER since Alex Smith left Far North Queensland he has questioned what possesses him to keep torturing himself on the football field.
Every kick, every training session, every goal – even the two he scored for Sunshine Coast Fire on some old teammates on Saturday – seems a chore for the 32-year-old.
The attitude is synonymous with a player on the brink of retirement.
The truth is, the ex-FNQ Heat skipper has been there for three years.
“I was about a month away from retiring for good (in 2015). I think it was the January transfer window for the ALeague and I said: ‘If I don’t get anything, that will be it for me,’” Smith said.
“Then I got a phone call from an old friend, Gary Phillips, who got a coaching gig over (in Malaysia) and brought me over and I had two pretty good years over there and now I’m back on Australian soil.
“I was in Malaysia for two years, two different clubs. That was an experience in itself.
“I’ve got a few stories, well more than a few stories, that will go in the book one day.
“It was a crazy place but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I look back on it with fond memories.
“I was hoping to retire about six months ago but sort of got swindled into playing another year, so we’ll see how we go.”
What keeps him coming back? He’s got no idea.
“I honestly don’t know. I ask myself that every training, even after every game,” he said.
“You score a couple, you win the game, but even now I’m: ‘Oh, what’s the point?’
“I really want to get into the coaching side of things, because that’s where I can help people. If it means me focusing a bit more on that and a bit less on playing, that’s what I have to do.”
A final crack at the ALeague, having previously played two seasons at Wellington Phoenix, may have passed him by, but he’s determined to put others on the pathway.
After all, someone at the Fire needs to step up so he can finally pull the pin.
“Obviously we want to win, finish in the top four and all that sort of stuff, but if I get one kid into the A-League I will consider everything we’ve done a success,” Smith said.
“There’s not enough of that in the NPL.
“A lot of people are just out to win and spend a lot of money and all this sort of stuff, but that’s genuinely what my biggest concern is – no one goes from the NPL to the ALeague, so hopefully we can get someone who has enough talent and enough drive and enough luck to get there.”