Where do you prefer to play?
Centre-midfield or centre-back. I know I'll come away with the national team and play right-back, and I think that is purely down to just getting experience and the manager sees me as a right-back. But as I say, as long as I'm playing, I'm happy!

What's it like being that sort of versatile player? It can frustrate some players who struggle to be able to make one position their own.
That's true. It works for some people, it doesn't work for some people, but I'm just enjoying football - centre-midfield, centre-back - there's not too much difference.

Promotion is obviously the number one aim next season, how likely do you think it's going to be? Mowbray's talking about getting rid of some of the higher earning players. Can you still get promoted if you lose some of those stars?
Definitely. If we get rid of some higher earners, we can bring in three or four more which gives us strength and depth. He [Mowbray] needs to put his stamp on things. He's done well so far with the squad he was given, he lifted us from the bottom four to finishing top half. All this squad wanted to do was to finish strong but I think next season we'll have a real push for it.

Onto the Socceroos, what's the feeling in the camp at the moment? A lot is changing with a new set of players like yourself coming through.
It's good, the squad has changed so much and it's great to see a lot of the young boys play. There are four or five of us that are the same age now, and played against each other along the line when we were younger, so it's nice to have a few young boys in to be given a chance now. We proved a lot during the recent games against New Zealand and Serbia.

And Holger, how have you been getting along with him?
The nicest guy - a really nice guy! A good bloke who wants us to play good football. Confidence, he gives us confidence. He's a good motivator, he's a really good manager and I have enjoyed working under him.

What's his man-management style? Does he speak to you individually?
He's good like that. He keeps a lot to himself too. For example, on match days he likes to name his team on the day which ensures that everyone needs to be ready. Sometimes when you get told earlier that you're not playing then you tend to do things differently. Telling us on match days keeps everyone aware and doing everything right ready for the game.

He seems to have an air of 'been there, done that' after being in the game for so long. Does that rub off on the players? He seems very confident?
Definitely. You need a manager that shows confidence. If the manager is not confident then the players won't be either. That is good man-management.

We have talked about your different roles at Middlesbrough, is it a similar situation with the Socceroos too?
It is the same in the sense that I will play wherever the manager wants to play me. I would love to call a place my own in the Socceroos but I know I'm not quite there yet, so I'll keep working hard for my club and hopefully I can make one of those spots my own.

It's a long 2014 World Cup qualification process, during which you will be flying to and from Asia. How is your club side going to feel about that tough schedule?
The flights are probably the least of my problems. We get business flights everywhere, and playing-wise they have got unbelievable staff here. Our physio, Les Gelis, looks after me a lot, he looked after Harry Kewell with his groin as well, so I'm more than happy to work with him. I want to do every session and I want to let the manager know that I'm ready.   

Rhys is wearing a Nike Persistent Infringement tee (RRP $40) and a Nike Fused Windrunner ($180). For Nike stockist information, ring 1300 656 453.

This article appeared in the September 2011 issue of Australian FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.

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