 When I was young in kindergarten I played rugby league at our school where I went to which was Santa Maria del Monte in Stratfield. The game was deemed a little bit rough there by the principal at the time and so I just enrolled at my local soccer club which was Stratfield Junior so I started at six and my father is from a Croatian background and they're quite passionate about their football so it was a sport that that he obviously enjoyed watching. When you were young you used to look forward to your to your Saturday morning games and by the same token back in those days whenever it was raining or whatever you would pray that your home phone wouldn't ring because that means you're getting a call that the games cancelled. I really enjoyed those Saturday mornings back then would only train maybe once a week but nothing Australia was a different country than you did most of your training with your with your friends you know in your street and going to the parks and playing around. When I say 14-15 that's when I say look by then you're old enough to know a little bit about the professions that are waiting for you after school you see what your interests are you see how good you are at a particular sport and probably around about that time say year eight year nine around that age then I thought of said you know look I'm start I'm making these state teams you know with with football and I was doing quite well in the national championships against the other states and I knew then that you know I want to be a footballer. My recollection was actually that when I got the phone call from Ron Smith to to leave school and to go there on a scholarship I remember it was a big discussion for my parents you know for their for their son to leave home at a relatively young age was a big decision but they knew that that was what I wanted to do and and again that was when things got a little bit serious you didn't have your your parents to to support you to look after you you had to you know clean things for yourself be on time for yourself find your way around for yourself you had to work off a small budget financial that was as a young kid so they were they were things that I think gave me good values I think your minimum wage was quite small but at the time Sydney Croatia where I was playing had like a big amount to win away from home and a smaller amount to win at home and my NSL debut was against a team called Preston at Conor reserve away from home and yeah we got up that day and I scored on debut in the following week to to receive a you know a few hundred dollars in the early 90s for a 17-year-old kid was was very big money it was great to score on debut and it was it was a memory that I won't forget but also the important part was I I grew up with with you know with Papa with with Colots there was a group of us that they went through the club as juniors and to all come through at the same or similar time was was very rewarding it was a Sydney Croatia all up until 20 was about 22 and then I went to Holland looking back now I think I went too late at 23 you know back in those days in Australia we only trained three times a week semi-professional so during the day many of us had either either jobs or didn't have extra training so it was difficult later on in Holland when I came there at the start I did really really well you know I'd always been the first 11 and I was playing comfortably but in the very first year I remember when December came and the and the snow came and the and the heavy pitch as my body couldn't handle the the loads there just be one injury to another and I couldn't get a sustained run but that's why I think I struggled to adapt to the conditions not the pace of the game or the training it's just that physically I wasn't strong enough to to deal with the demands and and then by the time you you were just your years ago and you're playing catch up but you know I think I played you know a good 50 games in in 50 60 games in Holland and the same in Croatia and I enjoyed the time played in the UEFA Cup with with my club Dieke in Croatia you know I came back to Australia at 27 I spent a good four years in Europe I came back a better player for sure I had a good offer from Sydney United and you know my my future wife was with me and I thought well I'll play in Australia sure work when we combine that income we could just start our lives together instead of being at mid-table clubs where where the opportunities were there to stay in you know no disrespect but you know countries like Belgium and Portugal mid-table clubs were places where I where I could have continued my European adventure but yeah I thought it was time to come home and I wanted to get braces as well it was just a little silly thing that I had in my head at the age of 27 I wanted to come home and and get braces or something always want to do and I'd only want to do it in Australia so yeah basically get married you know wife to work get braces starter it was just kind of like not footballing so much decision but like I said I was 27 and I wasn't at that that high high level and I thought it's it's time to come home to Australia well I was captain of the Sydney United team and and individually I was doing quite well but as a team we weren't so strong and and the club received back in those days a very very good offer they they received a transfer fee of 110,000 which was the record in at that time for for the domestic league and and basically the president said to me I'm now the club's accepted and and you go to Olympic because they've got a very good squad and and you may have a chance of winning something and it was very difficult for me to leave but at the same time was a good step in my career and and I had fantastic memories at at Olympic I lost one in Sydney and I before I went to Holland yeah came back when I was at Olympic we won the first one against Perth in Perth in in front of good 40,000 people I had a great team with me at Olympic and you know that that day you could have given the man of the match to Clint Bolton who had a great game in goals or until you reached at the back Jade North was great at centre back but it just happened to be that you know we won 1-0 and I scored a really nice goal and yeah maybe the people that awarded it gave it to the to the guy who scored I'm not so sure but you know all those individual wards whether top goal scorer or Johnny Warren player of the year or Joe Marsden the grand final they're all nice individual wards but you know you you'll never forget your teammates in the in the ones that you win the year after we we lost to Perth in Perth and we'll never in the game we lost 2-0 remember we conceded a goal from a set piece and we couldn't get back into the game which was a shame and then and then I played in one grand final with paramata power again against Perth and this one we lost in rain rainy conditions at a paramata stadium yeah and I remember the day after was my my 30th birthday and I went to go play in Malaysia with Pahang but we had a very good squad there at paramata power and it was it was a shame on the day that we didn't finish off as as as victorious champions on the on the last game that was ever played in the old in a cell I came for a generation where no questions asked Mark Vadouka was was a lot better than than me at the time but yeah I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks he probably could have got a few more caps be honest that's something that the disappoints me still looking back at it you know I'm I'm fortunate enough to I've played overseas I've won some things in Australia I have played for the soccer ruse I had a good time with the young soccer ruse I'm fortunate with with the way my career of course look back and maybe could have been you know a little bit better could have maybe made some different decisions at different times but you know that probably drives me now in my coaching career to be more successful in my coaching career than my my playing career so you turn it into a positive I scored the first hat trick which is all good and well and then when I had three goals to my name we actually received a penalty and my penalty taking the the last two or three years before that was was really really really good and I'm disappointed with that penalty I took that day because I I rushed it I was too overconfident I thought this is for fortunately enough for for the statistics I had already had the first hat trick in the a league but disappointed to this day that I I didn't score for that day because looking back now that extra goal easy to say I would have ended up level top golf scorer in the a league that year so it did hurt me back then and there's only 21 games that season in the very first a league season and and I miss quite a few with injury but I kept that soccer ball as a as a memento from that day and all the players signed it and and one day I came home and my young son was kicking with it in the backyard so yeah I was very very angry not more at him but then my wife you know that that kind of memory and so all the names and the little comments on the ball are all smudged and gone so I had visions of maybe putting it up somewhere but it's gone it's just a distant memory it's but it's only a ball I guess I wasn't laughing at the time I'll be honest but what do you do I went to Malaysia and I really just had one year of you know basically playing enjoying myself no pressure captain good bunch of boys and I was really happy with the decision I made after finishing Malaysia I took a I took a play coaching role at Sydney United that I didn't even know if I if I would enjoy coaching and we ended up winning the minor premiership you know from there I got a call from the Schleyen to to work with him with the young soccer ruse again that had probably to do with him being of Dutch background and me playing in in Holland he had some references about me from from mutual people that we knew and and then from there my opportunity to go to hard to work with van Schip was fantastic and then and then the opportunity to come back here has been fantastic to be back in your in your home city with the startup club to achieve what we had had in the first season in such a short space of time what was something that that we're all very proud of but also we've put ourselves in a situation where and there's there's we can definitely still do something this year as well and and we're all very focused in doing so I've known Papa for a long time we're very very close with one another we always have been and when he when he spoke to me about this war both very keen we between ourselves we we kind of thought well if we're going to give it give it a shot we we thought even though we're both young coaches that we both had similar ideas and and plans and and we thought coming to a startup club even though I knew what what work was ahead of us I mean coming to a starter club we could really you know sit sit down the platform the way we wanted wanted it to work and and it was just an opportunity where I really believed we could we could make it make it you know relatively successful so again to come to work with with Papa and to be in this region as well and to come home it was an opportunity that that had to be taken to to be part of the national team for me it's a step up being an assistant now to work you know with the Ange and his staff but also for me I've been four years now constantly an assistant in the A-League I think now to work with a different group of players but also opposition you know different styles of of play get to know different teams and and and and styles and and cultures and and just to learn more more about the game at a worldwide scale I think that's something that's very appealing for me and I think the change will do me good so the opportunity for the World Cup in the Asia Cup is is is massive but again for those other reasons that I've mentioned it's also very very enticing I'm if the wonder is but you know whenever possible I'll attend home games and and and watch watch very closely and and it's been fantastic for me but again with the platform that that's here and the organization I'm very confident that not only will finish off this season well but the structures that are in place will set for for you know a positive impact in the in the upcoming years