After plenty of endeavour but without goals from 20 A-League games since his A-League debut in season three, Hoffman broke his goal-scoring drought for Newcastle in May with a stunning goal in South Korea.

A superb angled header against Ulsan Hyundai in the Asian Champions League group stage helped seal the Jets' thrilling passage to the knockout stage and began a renaissance for the 20-year-old.

And last weekend, his two goals helped sink Phoenix in the Jets' A-League opener.

In between times, he's struck for Jan Versleijen's Young Socceroos in Argentina and is on course for a spot in the Aussie squad for the World U20 Cup in Egypt next month.

Despite feeling the effects of a slight flu, the young striker spoke with au.fourfourtwo.com today ahead of Friday night's inaugural season five F3 derby.

Jason, or is it The Hoff?
I've been called that for as long as I can remember. It's almost like I don't respond to Jason anymore. It doesn't bother me whatsoever although I don't normally associate it with David Hasselhoff. I have seen him on Baywatch. I don't really like the show but him running around with girls in bikinis wasn't too bad though!

Well said... onto football matters, what's made the difference in The Hoff's game over the last few months?
I think just confidence. And that comes from being involved in the national team. Jan Versleijen's always shown a lot of confidence in me, when I was injured as well. I was worried when I did my knee that the World Cup campaign was over for me. Gary Van Egmond also had a lot of faith in me. And the goal against Ulsan really kick-started things. I couldn't be happier. It's the biggest thing that's changed for me so far so I'm just trying to make the most of it while it lasts. Even away from the park I have a happier outlook on things.

You're now coached by a real pro in Branko Culina - what are some of the insights he's given The Hoff?
When Branko came in, he said to me that I'd often found myself in good positions and shown a striker's instinct. He did say confidence breeds goals and confidence comes from repetition on the training park. I stay back with the likes of Sasho [Petrovski] and Jason [Naidovski] doing extras and getting that striker's feel that strikers talk about so I'm a lot more comfy in front of goal and relaxed.

Tell us a little more about these recent Young Socceroo games in Argentina.
We have Costa Rica in our World Cup group [along with Brazil and Czech Republic] so it was good to play against that type of opposition. We played Uruguay, USA and the hosts from Argentina Tiro Federal. But the team I scored against was Argentinos Juniors youth team, Maradona's first club. They were very strong. Jan played me in a similar role to what Branko played me on the weekend.

With Jan, any similarities to Branko?
He likes quick ball movement and turning defence into attack like we saw for the Jets against Wellington, which is similar to Jan. It suits my style - Branko and Jan both have confidence in me.

This U/20 squad will make for a crackerjack Olyroo side under Jan - have you thought ahead about Olympic glory in London, 2012?
Definitely. The 1989ers for the next Olyroo squad would be unbelievable. And to play at Premier League stadiums would be an unbelievable experience if we qualify. And with Gary Van Egmond being involved with the AIS and other coaches, I'm sure we'll be successful. Jan's focus right now is for as many boys to get as much experience in the A-League as possible.

Tell me about your teammates at Newcastle, what sort of things have you learnt from, say, Ljubo?
Ljubo's a great character to have in any squad. He's been outstanding on the pitch and shows great leadership on the pitch. You see two sides to Ljubo. He's pretty relaxed off the pitch, chilling out after training when we go out for lunch after training as a group. But on the pitch, he's all business. He's been a pretty good influence. He's a guy who's been to Europe and had a lot of success but he still has the time to chill out like he doesn't have a care in the world. I'm sure he'd want to return to Europe one day as well.