Traditionally there’s been, at best, a smattering of Australians in the English Championship. But like Eurovision, this year they were everywhere, and trying to become more than just a novelty.

Massimo Luongo became the first star of Ange’s generation to secure a lucrative Championship move, when he signed for Queens Park Rangers in 2015. But before long, the bald-headed beauty Aaron Mooy stole the spotlight at Huddersfield Town.

Jackson Irvine – starkly hirsute in comparison – was next to grab the headlines, with the midfielder receiving enormous praise this season for his contributions at Burton Albion. This season, Irvine and Mooy both took out their clubs’ Player of the Season awards; the first time multiple Australians have done so in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak captains Aston Villa, while Bailey Wright, Ryan Williams and Callum Elder all have roles for their respective Championship battlers. Excluding Jedinak, there isn’t a single Aussie in the league over 26-years-old.

On paper, this bodes well for the national team. But is the Championship where Australia’s brightest talent is best off, or are young Aussies – lured by the glimmer of the Premier League – taking the wrong path?

Young Australian footballers are often enticed by lucrative contracts. Trent Sainsbury is an eminent example, one of Australia’s most promising defenders, last year Sainsbury left a starting berth in the Eredivisie to play in the Chinese Super League (CSL) at only 24-years-old.

After a phenomenal 2015 Asian Cup performance, and two trophies with PEC Zwolle, Sainsbury chose financial security over furthering his European reputation.

While it’s true that Sainsbury’s career choices amounted to a previously unlikely loan-move to Inter Milan, whether this was based on Sainsbury’s merit or mere club ownership politics is unclear.

What’s obvious is that after three months in Milan the Australian defender only played 17 minutes for the Nerazzurri, meaning he effectively transitioned from playing regular football in the Netherlands to barely any for months.

But despite the effect this may have had on his potential, and that of the Socceroos, it’s hard to blame him.

Footballers live one horror injury away from an early retirement; such is the sad truth of professional sport. With the A-League unable to offer bumper pay packets to abate this concern – and large European contracts considerably harder to come by – chasing a quick payday in Asia makes sense to Australian footballers.

The Championship, however, can offer the best of both worlds.

As the seventh richest league in the world, and a division that vastly exceeds even the CSL in terms of actual revenue, the Championship is able to flaunt enticing contracts of it’s own.

But unlike China, the Championship is proven to possess the ruthless, competitive edge needed to develop superstars, and the international reputation to ensure they’ll get noticed.

For young players, league reputation is of the upmost importance. No matter how well Mustafa Amini or Awer Mabil play in the Danish Superliga, few prestigious European clubs will take them. League reputation often dictates that players in minor leagues must prove themselves continuously – at incrementally higher levels – before their big break.

Meanwhile, a young footballer’s chance of success diminishes with every transfer. There are just too many potential hurdles to trip over.

Whether it’s an impatient coach, a failure to settle in to their new location, a different tactical style or a badly timed drop in form, if anything goes wrong for a young footballer, it often results in a another transfer and another precious season wasted.

Despite the promise of regular football when moving to a smaller European league, for young Aussies there will always be a series of next steps on the road to footballing superstardom. Unfortunately for many, that last hurdle usually remains out of reach.

The Championship offers more than just financial security, and an increasing amount of young, talented Australians are recognising this.

Many Anglo-Saxon Aussies struggle to deal with the language barrier and cultural separation when moving overseas at a young age, factors which barely apply when moving to England, if at all.

While national similarities assist the settling process, they’re not why the Championship’s the league of choice for young Australians. On a level incomparable to any other second division on earth, the EFL boasts a collection of vastly experienced and talented footballers, coaches and role models.

Most notably, the Championship’s style favours an aptitude many Australians naturally possess. Robust physicality has always been a weapon in the Socceroos’ arsenal.

Many Australian footballers already have these attributes, but the Championship has a history of utilising them with English players to national success. It’s about time they shared some of that insight with the colonies.

There were many reasons why Australians were once successful in the EPL – at a time when Australian football was less glamorous – but it’s hard to underestimate the benefit of the Aussie mentality.

Australia’s enduring work rate, resilience and determination – in a motherland that knew all about our sporting prowess – led to a decade of Australian over-representation in England’s top flight.

It’s well-known Australians are at a disadvantage compared to Europeans and South Americans when it comes to flair on the rectangular pitch; so are the English and they try much harder than we do.

But physicality and determination are attributes we’ve always had in spades.

Unfortunately, work-rate and mentality is no longer enough to secure top-flight football. It’s doubtful a Danny Tiatto would make it these days, the Premier League landscape has changed, and globalism has forever altered the fabric of England’s first division.

But the culture still exists. All throughout the EFL, demand lingers for physical, hard workers. The Championship may be increasingly wealthy, but there’s still a role for an Australian’s combination of skill and resilience.

The Championship’s competitiveness brings out the best in young talent, but it doesn’t end there. England’s second division also offers the global exposure to achieve that next step: becoming the next Australian superstar.

Although it must be said, once in the Championship, expatriate Australians don’t necessarily need to fulfil their ambitions. If, rather than securing top flight glory, Aaron Mooy had lost the playoff and stayed in the second division, forging a highly-successful career in the process, would that have been so bad?

It’s a better fallback than any other second division has to offer.

The quality of the Championship’s development is observable from the former Championship footballers that return to the A-League.

Whether it be Perth Glory’s talented trio of Adam Taggart, Shane Lowry and Rhys Williams or players the ilk of Neil Kilkenny, Patrick Kisnorbo and David Carney, these footballers continue to build football in this country long after their Championship days are over.

Those Australians who don’t reach the prominence of the Premier League still build a reputation, and go on to forge solid careers, without the incessant for regular transfers.

After three to five year spells in the Championship Australians can return to the A-League, where their experience raises the standard of domestic competition. This in turn helps to develop more Championship-worthy young players, and the cycle perpetuates.

As the Premier League behemoth rolls on, the Championship is growing exponentially every season, feverously lapping up the dregs that fall from England’s first division.

Without entering into the ‘value’ of trickle down economics in football, as broadcast revenues continue to swell, England will eventually have two first divisions – a gross, obesely wealthy and extravagant Premier League, and a more humble, benign but equally talented Championship.

Aussie battlers might just suit the latter.