AS THE dust settled on the Phoenix season after Friday night’s loss to Melbourne, a thought jumped into my mind. We’ve seen the last of Shane Smeltz.

The single most outstanding player in the club’s short history is no longer a Phoenix player.

It wasn’t as though Smeltz arrived two years ago in red-hot form or with a huge reputation. He’d been kicking around in the lower leagues of England with very little success, most recently for Halifax Town where he scored just two goals in 18 appearances.

His lifeline was the double he collected in the All Whites’ 2-2 draw with Wales in May of 2007. Two weeks later, Ricki Herbert brought him to Wellington but even then, foundation skipper Ross Aloisi admitted he had reservations over Smeltz’s ability to foot it with A-League defences.

It didn’t take long to eradicate those doubts. Smeltz scored twice in his first ever Phoenix home match (a pre-season win over Sydney FC) and proceeded to sweep all before him as the finest goalscorer in the A-League over the past two seasons with the possible exception of Joel Griffiths.

In many ways, Smeltz needed Phoenix as much as the club needed him; the A-League provided a platform for him to regain confidence and showcase his abilities week after week. Make no mistake about it – his time at Phoenix resurrected Smeltz’s career.

Statistics can be manipulated in many ways, but there can be no argument over Smeltz’s numbers for the Phoenix. He is the joint all-time leading appearance maker for the club with 39 games over two seasons, starting every one of those matches and being substituted just three times.

But it’s the goals column where his contribution is so overwhelming; of the 48 goals Phoenix have scored, Smeltz has 21 of them. The next highest contributor is Daniel with four.

In its most basic form, here are the facts – Smeltz has scored five times more goals than the next highest Phoenix goal-scorer and is close to having amassed as many as all of his team-mates combined over two seasons. Gonna miss him much?

It became apparent during this season that Smeltz wasn’t going to stay in Wellington. The longer time went on without a confirmation of a new contract, the more obvious it was that he wasn’t going to stay.

Despite assurances from the club to fans that they were willing to pay any amount of money to keep him, the news we all expected came early in November. Shane Smeltz had signed with Gold Coast.

I don’t think too many Phoenix fans begrudge Smeltz’s decision to leave. We all know the nature of professional sport and the likelihood that even though we’ll support a team for life, the same players won’t always be there to cheer. Smeltz will get a wonderful reception when he returns to the Ring of Fire in Gold Coast colours next season.

To finish, here are my five favourite Shane Smeltz Phoenix goals…

Season one, round sixteen v Perth, Westpac Stadium
Smeltz’s longest Phoenix goal drought was four matches in November 2007, which ended with a double against Perth. The second came when Vince Lia won possession on the left flank and volleyed a cross into the area; Smeltz rose on the penalty spot and headed powerfully into the bottom corner, giving Tando Velaphi no chance.

Season one, round seventeen v Queensland, Westpac Stadium
With Phoenix 1-0 down, Smeltz received the ball wide on the left and entered the penalty area on the angle with a number of possible options. The one he chose was a curling right-footed shot into the top corner, leaving Liam Reddy clutching thin air.

Season one, round one v Melbourne, Westpac Stadium
It wasn’t so much the manner in which he scored this goal, but what it meant. In Phoenix’s very first A-League match, a cross to the far post from Tony Lochhead was met by Smeltz who looped his header over Theoklitos and cued scenes of utter ecstasy among the nearly fifteen thousand people in attendance. It grabbed Phoenix a 2-2 draw from 2-0 down and announced their arrival in the A-League.

Season two, round nineteen v Newcastle, Westpac Stadium
Smeltz latched onto a long clearance, battled with his defender to win possession, and set off goalwards. Just as it looked as though he’d rifle in a shot, he executed a sublime lob over the advancing Ante Covic to put Phoenix 2-0 up. Beautiful.

Season two, round thirteen v Melbourne, Westpac Stadium
This was the finest Phoenix goal ever, by any player. Smeltz received the ball with his back to goal, forty yards out, used a clever first touch to skip away from Michael Thwaite, carried the ball forward towards the edge of the area before curling an unstoppable right-footed shot past Michael Theoklitos and into the top corner. Complete and utter class.

Farewell Smeltzy. Thanks for the memories.