WITH TWO A-League crowns, the largest crowds in the country, and arguably the most professional set up in the land, Melbourne Victory are the benchmark for all other Australian clubs.

For mine, Lord, Cole, Merrick & co. enhanced this fact last week when they signed Thai international Surat Sukha, not to be confused with Suree Sukha (Surat's brother), on a two-year deal.

However one would have to be mad to believe the Chonburi FC defender was signed on ability alone. Instead, it's possible the suits at docklands have their eyes on a bigger prize - to become the A-League club of choice for fans in South East Asia.   

Long have the opportunities of the ASEAN* region been professed by commentators wiser than I, yet up until now no A-League club has fully explored this avenue.

Adelaide United and Sydney FC are said to have looked at Thai and Indonesian internationals Datsakorn Thonglao and Erol Iba respectively, but Sukha's arrival marks the first time this region has been taken advantage of.

As a Newcastle Jets supporter, I'd love to see my club stake their claim in this market.

Whilst Melbourne's Sukha play may have already endeared the Victorians in some small way to much of the football fanatical Thai public for the foreseeable future, what's stopping us targeting players from other emerging ASEAN football nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam?

Following the 2007 AFC Asian Cup and the Socceroos 0-0 draw with Indonesia in Jakarta earlier this year, most Australian football fans would be aware of players such as Bambang Pamungkas, Budi Sudarsono and Firman Utina. Household names in their homelands and all in their twenties, with the right marketing campaign in Indonesia, the likes of this trio could bring substantial dividends both on and off the pitch.

So too could names such as 23-year-old Le Cong Vinh and 22-year-old Phan Thanh Binh - two of Vietnam's brightest young talents. The former has already equalled the record for Vietnamese Footballer of the Year, having won the title three times, whilst the latter has netted 16 goals in 24 appearances for the Vietnamese national team.

Whilst it would cost no small amount to snare a bona fide ASEAN star, at the very least it has to be recognised that the risk to potential reward ratio of these players is no greater than was ever acquired when we signed Mario Jardel, or relative unknowns such as Jorge Drovandi or Edmundo Zura. Indeed, the right player at the right price, even if not at the first attempt may be a step in the right direction.

Remembering locality, and thus accessibility, as we'll as the sheer numbers we could market to, the possibilities seem endless. It'd take investment, risk, and acknowledgement we are no top four EPL side, but if we never shoot for the stars, we quite simply will never get there.

Call me crazy, but I'm thinking preseason tours, billboards, a potential TV deal (even with a small network) to show our games in the respective player's country, our website translated into the language of the masses, and perhaps club alliances.  

With A-League clubs operating at a loss, has there ever been a better time to explore the undeniable football and commercial opportunities on our door step?

*ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations

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Newcastle Jets v Ulsan Hyundai Horang-I (Wednesday May 20, 2009 / Ulsan Munsu Stadium)

Possible Lineups:

 Newcastle Jets: B. Kennedy, T. Elrich, L. Milicevic, N. Topor-Stanley, A. D'Apuzzo, B. Kantarovski, J. Wheelhouse, M. Thompson, J. Hoffman, S. Petrovski, F. Vignaroli

Ulsan Hyundai-Horang-i: Kim Young-Kwan, Yoo Kyoung-Youl, Lee Dong-Won, Kim Shin-Wook, Lim Jong-Eun, Hyun Young-Min, Slavco Georgievski, Oh Jang-Eun, Almir, Choo Jin-Soo, Luizinho

Kick off: 8.30pm AEDT. LIVE on Fox Sports 3 & 1233 ABC Newcastle

Prediction: History created courtesy of a draw - Jets to move through to the round of 16