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.
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.
(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.
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.
Craig
Guest
This is actually the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Just cause you can't take in several things at once, doesn't mean others can't. I watch every sport and every motor vehicle race I can. Doesn't mean I don't know anything about all of them.
Nemesis
Guest
It's not a Man United argument. It's cold hard FACT. You're hypothesis about what might, or might not, happen if a team from 2016 played a team from 1993 in a mythical venue at a mythical date is of zero interest to me. The FACT remains that in 1992/93 the top league in England had insignificant number of players from outside UK & Ireland. It had insignificant number of players who were not white skin. So, the player pool, and potential player pool, was not as diverse as it is today. The competition for a contract in the top league if England is much more intense today than in 1992/93. This is not some far-fetched hypothesis. It is basic common sense.
Swanny
Guest
Your man utd argument is getting old nemesis That Man U squad full of English players would demolish the current man utd squad
Realfootball
Guest
One strong season, injury free, and he'll move, I reckon. Hope it's not the EPL. Can see him doing well in Spain.
Nemesis
Guest
This is competitive match in the world's most prestigious club competition. What's your problem? If Rogic didn't score, would that be a better story for you?
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Celtic beating up on a semi-professional outfit, now there's a feel-good story.
Nemesis
Guest
Tom Rogic scoring for fun in the Uefa Champions League qualifiers as Celtic cruises into the next round of qualifiers. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/07/20/rogic-target-again-celtic-advance-ucl
Chris
Guest
No Nem when Australia play poorly its not because we weren't trying its because we are cr*p.
Nemesis
Guest
"Compare that with their tempo in the final against Gerrmany" So, let's be clear. The next time Australia plays poorly against any nation, it's not because the opponent provided Australia with a tough, competitive match. The reason is Australia is not really trying. Ok. Now I understand the mind of the keyboard coach.
Markfromcroydon
Guest
There are some players that seem to move differently than the majority and that look special and are a joy to watch. Big Tam is one of them. He's a strong player in a good team that will be aiming to win trophies. That's good enough for me. Ps. Hail, hail.
Chris
Guest
Yes heaven forbid that it may have been Australia that made Chile play "ordinary". There are a group of people that never give our team the credit where credit is due. Its always because the other team weren't at their best. Blah blah blah
Ruudolfson
Guest
He will also be a great poster boy for encouraging more kids to play futsal also :)))
marcel
Guest
How did we get here?.... I think in the last 10 years Premier League clubs have found ways to construct teams that don't necessarily require players to be fluent in English. They now draw from a far greater pool of players...and our own boys have lost the slight advantage they might have had in the past.
Rasty
Guest
Steveo. That is without question the worst reason to stop playing games that you like. Because everyone else is playing soccer. Grow a set.
pacman
Guest
Not a case of who was missing, but the tempo at which Chile played against us. Compare that with their tempo in the final against Gerrmany. Let's be honest for once, it was a case of chalk and cheese.
northerner
Guest
If you love football, play football. But if you love AFL, tennis, swimming, cycling, rowing, hockey or basketball, you should play it. That Australia has a multi-faceted sports scene is actually a good thing, you know. Maybe that means that Aus will not conquer the world in any particular sport, but it means it's going to have a lot of kids doing sports. How is that bad? It's not the job of kids to work out what's best for Australian football, and it's not the job of Australian football to tell kids they should give up another sport because by playing it they're reducing the pool of potential good footballers. So what if Aus hovers around the 30s or 40s in world football rankings? That seems to be about right to me for the population of the country. What's far more important is that people have the chance to participate in sports they enjoy. And if that happens to be Aussie Rules or surfing or lawn bowls, so be it.
Evan Askew
Guest
I would go as far as to say that if Scottish league was merged with the English league system that Celtic in time, would rise to near the top, given that they have the world support comparable to clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and arsenal.
Evan Askew
Guest
You have to break down Kruses time at lederhosen into two parts. Before the acl injury in 2013 and after. At the time of his acl injury he had 20 appearances with 3 goals at the halfway point in his first season. For an attacking midfielder it is not bad. One wonders where his career would be sitting if he hadn't got that injury. The thing I notice about kruses play with the Socceroos is moments of quality interspersed with disappointing breakdowns in play due in my opinion, to lack of match fitness and confidence.
Stevo
Guest
I played AFL and Rugby growing up. Was one of those who condemned football early days. And then I woke and admitted that I was wrong. Football is clearly the most followed and played world sport and people playing too many different sports in this country actually distracts from the possible talent pool and level we could reach in the world stage!
Stevo
Guest
Yeboah....has broken into 1st team calculations for Borussia Mönchengladbach. One of the top teams in Germany....how he isn't ahead of McClaren...A League and now only just now in div 2. There is your next one Ange!!!!