Bridges will spend a week in the Hunter as he is put through his paces by Culina - a coach anxious to add to his firepower stocks.

The former Elland Road favourite, who played in the same Leeds side as Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, first linked up with Culina at Sydney FC in September 2007 but had barely pulled on his boots before the coach was axed and replaced by John Kosmina.

Bridges returned to England at the end of the regular season to continue with Hull City but his last club before jetting out to Oz this week was third tier MK Dons.

He told the Newcastle Herald: "I'm here to have a look at the place, just for a week. Branko can have a look at myself, I can have a look at Newcastle and the club, and hopefully we can come to an agreement and I can get myself out here and settle down here until the end of the season."

Bridges only managed a couple of goals during his Sydney FC stint but one of them was a cracking strike that earned the harbour city club a 1-0 win against Newcastle.