Last season in round seven, Reds manager Aurelio Vidmar thrust a newly signed raw talent onto the field in a desperate attempt to spark something against the Melbourne Victory. That night Matthew Leckie showed enough to warrant being given another shot the next week against North Queensland. Coming on late, he scored his first A-League goal.
And he never looked back. What was a stop gap solution for Vidmar became a permanent fixture in the lineup. His youthful enthusiasm was a bright light in what would become a long and dark tunnel for the Reds last season. He made rookie mistakes but he never stopped trying and the Adelaide faithful grew fond of him very quickly.
In his first Asian Champions League game he scored an extraordinary if not bizarre goal against the current ACL champions Pohang Steelers. His star was on the rise. Now with a new manager, some new friends up front to help him in Van Dijk and Flores and the confidence that only experience brings, he is putting away chances that last season were going to waste.
The talk around the traps now is he will soon be off to the riches of Europe. This is akin to a fortune teller predicting that today you will wake up, do a bunch of stuff and then go back to sleep. It is not a matter of IF he will go but where and when.
However strong the lure of European football may be, we must remember that just one year ago he was playing for Bulleen in the VPL. He needs to gain more experience at a decent level before embarking on his future exploits.
Imagine if you will a young scientist, studying Rocketry at university (do they study Rocketry at uni? Whatever, it's my story) and midway through the first year of a four year course he thinks he has learned enough and applies to NASA for an internship. He might get a go, he might not but the chances are he will be right at the bottom of the pile and it will be a tough climb to the top.
Now imagine he finished his schooling, had all the right credentials and now applies. His work over the past few years will determine just exactly where he belongs and he will not be judged on potential alone. It's a weird example, I know but bare with me.
What I'm trying to say is that his options right at this minute are limited and if he was to be recruited to a Turkish, Greek or heaven forbid, Romanian team, he would be at the mercy of clubs that have a history of pushing their own local talent ahead of young foreigners.
It has done players such as Bruce Djite no good to be given 5 minutes here and 15 minutes there in which to show what they can do. They don't get the match experience they crave and ultimately their games do not improve at a rate they probably should have.
It is not just about going too early, it definitely has to do with location, location, location. Aussie players who have gone to leagues in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the like seem to have had a better opportunity to grow as footballers and been nurtured towards their full potential.
So, in conclusion, I sincerely hope (and this is with a huge dollop of selfishness) that Matthew decides to stay until at least the end of his contract, gain all the valuable experience he can and then find a club in a decent league that will further his career instead of stifling it.
Until then, keep putting the ball in the back of the net at Hindmarsh mate.
