Straight up… what do you think of Queensland Roar’s attackers?
Well, I’ve played with Ante [Milicic] before and I certainly rate him as one of the best strikers in the league, and the other boys can obviously cause a lot of problems. Reinaldo and Simon Lynch… they certainly got off to a good start. They’ve slowed down a little bit but I rate them highly.

We saw in the World Cup that a lot of goalkeepers said they studied strikers, and the way they took penalties. Do you do the same?
I wouldn’t say I study them but I certainly take notice when I see them on TV. A good penalty taker can hit them in both directions so you can’t predict that it’s going to go the same way all the time. It’s certainly something on the day that comes down to a gut feeling more than anything and you just go with it.

You’re rated very highly by all the goalkeepers in the Hyundai A-League. How do you rate Queensland’s man, Liam Reddy?
I rate Tom [Willis] and Liam. The country is producing a fair few good young ’keepers at the moment and they’re certainly two of them. I can see that they’re in an awkward position of having to play a certain amount of games and then be on the bench for a certain amount. That’s not a situation that I’ve ever really been in. I haven’t talked to them personally but they seem to be handling the pressure okay once they’re on the field and playing. I think they’re excellent in all areas.

What’s the main ingredient of a good ’keeper?
It’s a combination of a lot of things. Initially you’ve got to have natural ability and athleticism and then you’ve got to have the right temperament. You’ve got to be brave, and a good leader, a good talker and experience definitely helps. It’s shown in the past that as you get older, you just get better and better. Once you gain a certain level of experience you just get a lot more consistent.



Did you watch a lot of ’keepers on TV growing up?
Not really. I grew up in Bundaberg, a country town, so I was a bit isolated from all the leagues around the world. Even the Australian league… I never got to see much of it. But at the end of the day, I give credit to anyone that wants to be a ’keeper, it’s a tough position and you’ve got to be a brave person to take it on. You cop a lot of flak if you do wrong but it pays off when you do a good job. Honestly around the league at the moment… there are a lot of good ’keepers. But the one in form, I think, is Danny Vukovic from the Central Coast. I also rate our second ’keeper Justin Pasfield. I think he’s got a huge future ahead of him. He’s come a long way in the past year working under Jim Fraser.

Did he seriously train as an outfield player before your game against Newcastle?
No! If he was going to get thrown on it was just to make up numbers. It was that simple! I don’t think you can teach him within a week how to be a footballer out on the field.

Reproduced from TheFull90 – the official matchday magazine of the Hyundai A-League www.a-league.com.au Get it at the game!Where do you think he would have been thrown on?
Probably as far away from the ball as possible! [laughs] We’d probably stick him up front. I think we were under the pump most of the second-half so he would probably have been thrown on up front somewhere.

I know you’re mates with Anthony LaPaglia. Does he just want to talk football and goalkeeping with you?
Yeah [laughs]! He’s crazy. Any time you get on the phone with him or whenever he comes over you try and have a conversation about how his life is, about what’s going on in Hollywood and all that, but he just wants to get straight back onto football. He wants to talk about goalkeeping… he’s just that passionate about the sport, about the position. You can just tell in his eyes that the excitement of being part of football and Sydney FC is something that he’s always been keen to do. He was probably even more keen to be part of it as a player but he can’t do that… he’s too old! Too many operations [laughs], but he’s certainly enjoying his time being part of Sydney FC. I think it’s an exciting club to be at. There’s certainly a lot of drama and a lot going on but I think he enjoys every moment of it.

How many fingers have you broken in your career?
Oh god, that’s a bad question! Touch wood… none, zero.

Really? That’s amazing...
Yeah, I’ve had ligament damage but nothing too major fortunately.

We’ve noticed that in a lot of pictures of you kicking the ball, you stick your tongue out...
I’ve noticed that too lately! I didn’t know I did it, no. But yeah, I’ve also noticed every time I’ve got a photo of me doing it.

It’s not a conscious thing, then?
Certainly not, no! I would if I got any extra power doing it but I don’t think so! I don’t know what to say to that, I don’t know how that happens. I don’t stick my tongue out often, so it’s a bit of a strange one.



Being at the back means you must cop a lot from rival fans. What sort of things do they say?
Oh... usually they’re not too original at all. They just have a go at your mother or something like that. They call you names and stuff, nothing that original. That’s what I love about the Cove, they’ve got all these songs and they put a lot of effort into it. The Cove fans are just fantastic. I think they’re by far… and I’ve been to every ground in the league, but the Cove have just taken on this professional attitude of being a fan of Sydney FC. Most of them have learnt all the songs and they’re original songs. They’re the best supporters in the league by far, I think.

What are some of the lyrics?
They always like to, when we score, sing ‘Bolton, Bolton what’s the score?’ and I give them a one or two-up… depending on what we’re up by and that usually gets a cheer!

How old were you when you got your first pair of gloves with your name on them?
Last season! Yeah, I’ve never been too fussed about having my name on the gloves but Uhlsport did that for me. They had a pair sent out from Germany like that, so that was great. As long as they do the job you know!

Reproduced from TheFull90 – the official matchday magazine of the Hyundai A-League www.a-league.com.au Get it at the game!