Brockie signs for second-tier Aust club
Former All Whites striker Jeremy Brockie has ended his five-year stint in South Africa and signed for a second-tier Australian club.
The 33-year-old has joined Victorian Premier League club Bentleigh Greens after trialling with the Newcastle Jets, one of his former A-league clubs.
Brockie left the Mamelodi Sundowns in mid-year and a potential return to South Africa was scuppered when his former club Supersport United cooled on initial interest in bringing him back to Pretoria.
The former Wellington Phoenix favourite won five trophies in five years in South Africa, but struggled for gametime at the Sundowns after his 2018 transfer from Supersport where he scored 54 goals and helped the club win three titles.
Mamelodi loaned him to Premier Soccer League rivals Maritzburg United in the 2019-20 season, but he was limited to just one goal in 12 appearances.
Brockie and his wife Jessica relocated their family to Townsville in north Queensland after leaving South Africa.
He had been hoping to get another A-league contract, but Bentleigh Greens – an ambitious club based in Cheltenham, a southeast Melbourne suburb – announced Brockie’s Christmas Day.
‘‘Brockie comes to Bentleigh on the back of a very successful stint in South Africa with Supersport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Maritzburg United,’’ the club said. ‘‘Brockie has also represented Wellington Phoenix, Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets and North Queensland Fury in the A-league.’’
Brockie, who was raised in Nelson, scored one goal in 50 appearances for the All Whites since making his international debut in 2006.
He earned his last cap Canada inmarch, 2018.
After making his A-league mark with the Newcastle Jets, Brockie scored 23 goals in 58 games for the Phoenix between 2012 and 2015. signing on against