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Tom Rogic is the poster boy for football in Australia

18th July, 2017
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Tommy Rogic is one of Australia's European success stories. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
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18th July, 2017
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As Tom Rogic netted yet another goal for Celtic last week in a Champions League Qualifying game, it further cemented his status as number one Socceroo in Europe.

Rogic is starting regularly for a successful club and providing meaningful contributions. The same cannot be said for fellow Australians in Europe at this stage.

If you look back to Australia’s golden era, there were dozens of Aussies plying their trades in Europe for established clubs. These days, Tom Rogic stands alone as the only Australian starting regularly for a club with genuine Champions League hopes. So how did we get here?

To answer this question, you have to compare the standard of domestic football for the times. Back in the late 1990s, the National Soccer League (NSL) was Australia’s highest level of football in the country.

As this competition was only considered to be a semi professional league, the overall level was well below the current A-League’s standard of play. As such, players would use the NSL purely to get a start as a youngster, and then move abroad when the opportunity presented itself.

Former Socceroo greats such as Mark Viduka (Melbourne Knights), Vince Grella (Canberra Cosmos) and Brett Holman (Parramatta Power) all began their careers in the NSL, but played no more than two seasons before heading abroad.

The standard of the NSL was not nearly good enough to hold their standard of play. This in itself is not all that different to the current model that A-League players use in getting a start locally and moving abroad.

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However there is one key difference which separates these two circumstances. When the going got tough, there was no league to come home to.

Back in the 1990s, players like Viduka, Grella and Holman had to bide their time at their selected clubs and work their way into the first team squad. Or alternatively, go out on loan at a smaller European club and work their way back into their own club’s calculations.

There was literally no other option for them. If they wanted to succeed, they had to make it in Europe. Because if they didn’t, the next guy would take his place and there would be no turning back.

The NSL simply was not an option for these players and as a result, their careers benefited from this harsh ultimatum.

Fast forward to today and players just aren’t forced into these ‘do or die’ ultimatums anymore. Players like Adam Taggart, Tommy Oar and Matt McKay, who all excelled in the A-League and found separate moves abroad.

Socceroos training with Tommy Oar

(AAP Image/Football Federation Australia)

However, when the going got tough, they were not forced to grind it out in reserve grade or be loaned out to lesser sides to develop their games. Instead, they all gradually made their ways back to the safety blanket of the A-League, much to the detriment of their development and the Socceroos.

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This represents the massive issue currently plaguing the Australian team. The conditions are just too easy at home and therefore, players are finding excuses to retreat at the first sign of failure. Instead, players should be embracing failure and be moulded by it.

This is where Tom Rogic has excelled, where his present day Australian teammates have failed. He bided his time in Celtic’s lower grades and worked his way into first team contention where he has now excelled.

Last season, as Celtic went undefeated and won ‘The Treble’, Rogic played in 37 games, scoring 12 goals including the 92nd minute match winner in the Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen F.C.

Further to this, Rogic’s club form is now translating onto the national stage having scored seven goals for the Socceroos in the past two years, including Australia’s first goal against Germany in the recent FIFA Confederation’s Cup.

As can be seen, there is currently a clear issue with the pathways many Australians are currently taking in their quest to wear the Green and Gold.

The NSL, even though not a fool proof model, was one which promoted consistent youth development, while the A-League was not a safety blanket to return to if success could not be found at first sight abroad.

Alternatively, the A-League, although a stronger model to the naked eye, has unfortunately promoted a sense of entitlement for current Socceroo hopefuls. As such, Tom Rogic’s current achievements should be applauded on two levels, as he has not only banished the current train of thought for most Aussies playing abroad. But he has gone a step beyond and established himself at a Premier Club and is never looking back.

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