Culina completed his duties with Gold Coast United by taking out the club's Player of the Year Award last night in recognition of a dominant debut season in the Hyundai A-League.

He confirmed at the awards night that he would head back to the Netherlands on April 5 and commence a five week training programme with his former club in a bid to maintain his fitness ahead of the showpiece tournament in South Africa.

"The decision to go to PSV was made with Pim's blessing and we both thought it was a very good idea for me to train at a very high level with a top European club," said Culina.

"I had the option of going to Europe in January and to the Middle East or Asia a few weeks ago, but I declined those offers as PSV was always in the back of my mind.

"My decision was made easier by the standard of football in Holland and the quality of the training, which with all due respect, is higher than what I would find in Asia or the Middle East.

"I know the area, I know everyone there and they know me, so the transition will hardly be felt at all, which allows me to just slip right in and concentrate on doing what I'm there to do."

Culina, who captained the Socceroos in the recent Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia, is expected to be in the Pim Verbeek's first XI for the opening World Cup match against Germany in Durban on June 13.

The 29-year-old confirmed he had offers from several clubs to play over the past few months, but believes a return to training with PSV will be sufficient to keep him in shape for the World Cup.

Gold Coast Coach Miron Bleiberg praised Culina's influence in the club's first season.

"Jason came back to Australia with an enormous reputation, which brought with it all sorts of different pressures," Bleiberg said.

"He made a big decision career-wise and has handled the expectation that was heaped on him like the true professional he is - letting his football do the talking."

Michael Thwaite was voted the Players' Player of the Year and Members' Player of the Year

Bleiberg added: "Michael does everything with a smile on his face and has been outstanding for us all year. He is a model professional and a consistent performer who has shown his quality week-in, week-out.

"I'm not surprised that the other players, and our members, voted for him because he works so hard for the team and the club."