DREAMS OF GOING PRO

Q AAt what point did you think that football was something you wanted to pursue?

I remember being nine or 10 years old when I realised I wanted to be a professional footballer, but it wasn’t until I was maybe 13 or 14 that it really sank in. That was when I started to really think I could do something in the game. My brothers and I had just moved to Brisbane with my old man, who was doing his PhD at the University of Queensland. All of a sudden I had all these opportunities and access to join clubs. After I got a taste of the club scene, I realised that I could actually achieve some of my goals.

How did you start your journey from club footballer to international representative?

AA friend of mine got me to trial for Lions FC and I joined the youth team when I was 15. A few years later I got an opportunity with (Central Coast Mariners coach) Mike Mulvey. He had just finished at the Queensland Academy of Sport and took over a club called Ipswich Knights in the state league. He was looking for talented young players and gave me my first-team opportunity. He signed me when I was 18 years old and in my final year at school. After playing with Ipswich for a while, that’s when PNG came calling. At the same time the QAS called. I had wanted to play for QAS because I knew that was the pathway to playing NSL, but playing for PNG was also a goal of mine.