My move to Europe in 2001 ended up being the most challenging period of my professional career.
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I first trialled with Anderlecht which was one of the biggest clubs in Belgium.
I stayed a week and got food poisoning, but those early training sessions I had, they were really happy with me, so they flew me back straight after the Confederations Cup in Japan.
A day later I was playing in a trial game to get a contract with Anderlecht.
I wasn’t performing at my best because of fatigue, but I was fortunate enough to get another opportunity because a lot of coaches come to watch those big matches when its Anderlecht.
A coach was there and he brought me into Lierse, where I stayed for four years.
I worked under three different coaches while I was there.
The second coach that I had in Belgium was Emilio Ferrera and we never had a great relationship.
He was very ‘my way or the highway’ and I totally agree that they’re the boss at the end of the day, but I think there has got to be a little bit of leeway here and there.
I came back from an injury and I played in a game that we lost 2-1.
I was a little bit naive of how Europe worked and the mentality, so the next day I was inside joking with the guys.
I hated losing, but I didn’t think it was the be all and end all and he saw me laughing and put me in the third team for six months.
It was probably the toughest period of my football career and it really almost broke me.
I was training with under 14s in Belgium in the middle of winter and I was under contract, so there was no way I could get out because no-one was really going to take you from where you were if you weren’t playing.
But this is how funny football can be sometimes, the club had just sold a couple of strikers and they were down near the bottom looking at relegation.
Emilio brought me back in and I helped with some goals and the way I played to pull them out of relegation.
That really taught me a lot about the character you’ve got to have and made me a stronger player.
I then came back to Australia through Ernie Merrick at Melbourne Victory.
I thought it was two steps backwards, but it was two steps backwards to take about 20 million steps forward.
I wouldn’t have had the success if it wasn’t for Victory, Ernie Merrick and the whole organisation.
It also gave me a little stint back in Europe with PSV with Guus Hiddink, who I think was one of the best managers I ever had.
It was the way he managed players and finding out how you talk to certain players to get the best out of them.
I see a bright future with (James) Coutts also, because he has a love for the game and he wants to grow the game and see Murray United become a very big club.
I think that’s what makes a really good coach and I think the coach that I want to be is someone that’s honest.