FRIENDS AND FOES

Q

Are there any teammates you’ve remained in close contact with in retirement? A

There’s plenty, that’s one of the great things about playing football. Even when I left Australia I had two years in Asia, in Malaysia and Indonesia, and I’ve got some really good friends and contacts made from that. But (I stay in touch with) guys from my national team. I keep in regular contact with Andrew Durante, who I played with at Wellington and in the national team. There’s guys like Glen Moss, another Gold Coast boy who I went to school with and played in the national team with. Even Thwaitey, I speak to him fairly regularly, which is nice. There’s probably too many to name, it’s hard to keep in touch with everyone but I think the football community is like that. Whenever you bump into someone it’s as if you haven’t been away. Q

What about opponents you lined up against – there must’ve been some tough ones. A

I was fortunate enough to play against some really classy opponents around the world and some of the best teams. I played against France in 2003, which was an unbelievable thing, and then played against Spain in 2009 and 2010. They were great teams and individual players. Then you look at duels even here in the A-League, playing against the likes of Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore. You knew what you were in for. That was in the Gold Coast days and obviously I was a focal point up front. It was a really good challenge and you had to stand up to it.