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Downey, 23, who spent three seasons at Perth Glory and a stint with North Queensland Fury, says Wellington’s Westpac stadium remains the A-League’s version of rugby’s Carisbrook – dubbed “The House of Pain”.

The lightning quick Aussie defender is glad he’s not walking out of the visitors sheds anymore to be greeted by the noise and banter of the Yellow Fever and the icy chill of a Wellington southerly at his back.

Like the rugby venue in Dunedin, Phoenix have fine-tuned the art of making life a misery for visiting Aussie sides at Westpac.

And it’s this imposing home record that Downey sees as one of the positives of joining Ricki Herbert’s men for season seven of the A-League.

“It’s such a hard place to come and the fans are one big part of it and the weather is another and the mentality of the team, you just know you’re in for a tough game all the time,” Downey told au.fourfourtwo.com from Wellington.

“That was one of the encouraging things about me signing here is to be a part of that rather than come and try and play against it!”

Underlining that point about the conditions, Downey described this week’s weather in Wellington as “the coldest he can remember” as he huddled in front of a heater in the Wellington pad that’s also home to recent arrival Lucas Pantelis.

“When you look at the amount of points they got at home last year and in the last few seasons compared to the away points, there’s a real chance of finishing nice and high if we can just pick up a few more points away.

“That’s the real positive for me coming here. There’s a lot of potential. If we can get the magic formula right …”

Downey signed for Phoenix from VPL club Oakleigh Cannons following almost a season with Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam. His time in Holland was a familiar tale of wretched luck despite his best intentions.

He arrived in Rotterdam from Australia on a Monday at 6.30am and literally hit the ground running, thrown into a tough training session three hours later.

The former AIS student and Young Socceroo was again put through another session later that night. The pace didn’t stop with a double session the next day, followed by a Wednesday morning session and a game later that day.

By Thursday Downey was feeling the pinch but thankfully, he arrived in good shape. He shone at Sparta and a deal was struck.

However, by Friday his jet-lagged body was in need of rest and recovery. He didn’t get that much-needed respite. And that one day pretty much shaped his season.

“The last session on Friday I strained a little muscle in my hip and that was the muscle that kept reoccurring and reoccurring and kept me out of all the games.”

It was the death knell for his time at the Eerste divisie club where he was restricted to barely a handful of games for the red and white before leaving towards the end of last season.

“I played the first two games and played well in patches and then my hip would get sore," he said. "So I’d have to try to cover it and hide it.

“Looking back I could’ve said I needed some time to get this right. But it’s not the best impression when you’ve just gone to a club.

“I kept coming back too early. I knew in myself I wasn’t right. But if I can run and can’t use my speed, then I’m in a lot of trouble. It was a shame but that’s football.

“But in saying that I really enjoyed my time there and really learnt a lot.”

With the club’s Eredivisie promotion chances slim, many Sparta players knew they’d be released.

For Downey, a call from coach Arthur Papas at Oakleigh Cannons in the Victorian Premier League was just the tonic – and an environment for him to regain some confidence and fitness.

The Queenslander made ten appearances for the young coach as the Cannons made a blistering start to the VPL. Papas and the club’s exciting young roster made an impression on Downey.

“Arthur is a brilliant coach. I’ve got a lot of time for him. He helped me a lot with the way my body was.

“The way he structured my training was so careful and monitored. I ended up getting through a lot of games and the body now feels the best it’s been for a long time.”

Another Oakleigh player, highly rated defender Bryan Bran, is another Cannon said to have recently impressed in trials at Phoenix.

“They [the Cannons] had some great players, such as Steve Hatzikostas, who I’m sure will make the A-League in the future.”

Downey hasn’t lost his sense of humour, though. Quizzed about his tag “The Gympie Flyer” (given to him by Fox Sports’ Andy Harper) he said it was the source of much mirth.

“Mate, the first time I heard that nickname was on the 442 website. You’ve got to can it,” he said with a laugh.

“Around Oakleigh, the boys gave it to me after that – especially Arthur. So next time you do a story on Arthur, give it a shocking headline!”

Nicknames aside, Downey feels this season could be the one to launch his name back into the spotlight after a promising start to his A-League career at Perth.

He added: “The way he [Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert] wants me to play suits me perfectly.

“It’s a long way out from the season and we’ve still got a lot of players to sign and that can change the dynamics of the team.

“But so far the way we’ve been playing in trial games it’s been good for me.”

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