Have the Socceroos missed out on talent over the years because of other football codes?

There are a few of us on The Roar (myself and Rowdy) who think that Australia’s soccer fortunes over the years may have been improved if the code had attracted some of the talented players from other popular football codes (Australian rules, rugby league and rugby union) in the country.

Sure, we know that excellence in one sport does not mean excellence in another, and respect those who did reach the highest level in each code.

We know that the days of the all-rounder who could play well in many sports has largely dissipated through the need to specialise in this increasingly professional era of sport.

With such different games, it is hardly surprising that few stars of any football code have excelled in another, apart from the many rugby players given that both its codes have many similarities.

In 1964, a VFL All-Stars team were beaten 8-0 by Slavia Melbourne at Olympic Park before 25,000 spectators, at a time when the soccer boom of the early 1960s led the VFL legend Jack Dyer (Captain Blood) challenged Slavia-Port Melbourne to match to raise money for the Victorian Society for Crippled Children and Adults.

Dyer, who had been a guest of the Victorian Soccer Federation at the final of the 1964 Dockerty Cup, won by Slavia, repaid his hosts’ generosity by writing a subsequent Truth column on 10 October, “I went, I saw and I was sickened. Soccer . . . It really is a girls’ game – but only for big girls”.

While it was reported that the Melbourne star Ron Barassi took every opportunity to rough up the soccer opposition, with his woeful technique leading him to receive an injury that he reported years later as forcing him to retire, it was also noted that both teams established a heathy respect for each other through the specific skill of each and as people.

Quite simply, what makes a champion in one code, despite the article’s discussion topic, could also mean that the same player (Barassi) may not be that good in another.

It may well be that Australian soccer teams may have remained largely unchanged, even if many Australians from other codes had played soccer.

Equally, Australian soccer legends, such as Harry Kewell and Craig Johnstone, may have been much better suited to soccer than other football codes.

A look at Wikipedia highlights how few players moving from one code to another have succeeded, especially when switching to soccer.

However, the same Wikipedia page does show that a few players have made a successful transfer from Gaelic football (most similar to Australian rules) to play at the highest level of soccer, albeit they may have been playing both sports from a young age, perhaps a reason why our youngsters need not specialise so young.

Most famous is Kevin Moran, who won an All-Ireland Championship winner with Dublin, before going on (1978 to 1994) to play 231 games for Manchester United, 147 for Blackburn Rovers, and 71 for the Republic of Ireland.

The example of Moran cannot rule out the possibility that many talented Australian footballers, particularly those who played both Australian rules and soccer at a young age, may have succeeded if they had focused on soccer.

Of past players, I think of Peter Daicos, the star Collingwood forward, may have succeeded in soccer on the basis he was highly skilled, had a low centre of gravity which is good for initial speed bursts and changing direction, and had a passion for competition.

Gary Abletts, both senior and junior, also possessed great skills, along with their physical and fitness attributes.

One could imagine Gary Ablett senior, even a less powerful version, turning quickly or jumping high to thump home a goal.

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

There are other AFL players that may have succeeded: Andrew McLeod, Michael Aish, Ben Cousins, Rory Sloane, Daniel Kerr (brother of Australia’s female soccer star Sam Kerr), and a few with the Rioli surname.

Of the rugby league players, some include Andrew Johns, Billy Slater, Darren Lockyer, Brett Kimmorley, and Hasem el Masri.

The Socceroos may have also included rugby union stars like Stephen Larkham, Tim Horan, David Campese and George Gregan.

Indeed, there is a reasonable possibility that the Socceroos, with Australia having so many football codes, may have been denied some key players from other codes, a reality which does not confront many soccer-mad countries which only have one major football code.

Adam Goodes, who took up local park soccer after retiring from the AFL in 2015 as a part of the Waverley Old Boys FC over-35 side as a forward, indicates that soccer was a sport he always loved with a longstanding admiration for Manchester United and Lionel Messi.

Goodes only stopped playing soccer as a kid because the small country town in Victoria his family moved to did not have a soccer club.

More recently, Zac Smith, the 206cm ruckman who retired in 2021 after playing 124 AFL games over 11 seasons for Gold Coast and Geelong, indicated he was a soccer player who was ‘pestered’ into an AFL career by his high school teacher because of his height.

Smith had represented Queensland in soccer at the junior level.

In terms of goal keepers, there has been many tall AFL players who could have made excellent examples due to their athleticism, ability to read the play, and jumping ability.

For example, the 198cm Jack Riewoldt moves extremely well for a tall guy, and did play soccer as a youngster, winning a best and fairest award in an under-10s competition back in Tasmania.

(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

In terms of strikers, AFL stars such as Christian Petracca may have the necessary explosive speed, size and kicking ability, assuming they could apply such attributes successfully to the round ball game.

I can also picture a young Patrick Dangerfield, with his speed, power and agility, exploding through the middle or on the wing for the Socceroos.

It is also hard to imagine that the young Daicos boys, both extremely skilful, mobile and with pretty good spatial awareness, could not have become excellent soccer players.

There are many AFL freaks (like Toby Greene) who have the skills and athleticism that suggest they could have played soccer at a high level.

With the AFL having so many medium-sized Indigenous players, possessing good speed, mobility and skill, there is also a very good chance that many more could have joined Archie Thompsons (54 games for Australia) as Socceroo players.

And the way Port Adelaide’s AFL star Aliir Aliir (194cm) reads the play, along with his tremendous athleticism, who is to say that he – and other Australians of African backgrounds who have chosen AFL- could not have achieved similar success as soccer players.

So what do Roarers think? Which players do you feel may have made top class soccer players?

But more importantly, do you think the Socceroos have missed out on great players over the years due to Australia having so many popular football codes?