Alas, he wasn’t able to extract a contract from Mariners’ boss Alen Stajčić.

“Perth is a little bit isolated, with Perth Glory being the only A-League that kind of knows or would look into the Perth NPL,” he told FTBL.

“Being probably one of the best or the best right-back in the league for two years at the age of 22-23, I didn’t see anywhere else to go. I had aspirations to make it as a professional – which I still have.

“I moved over and pretty much improved myself; Victoria’s a better league, has higher standards.

“[Heidelberg] is implementing things to change to make [the club] more professional.

“We’ve got physios there for massages, we’ve got an S&C coach to take our warm-ups. We have programmed exercise programs, people giving us advice on nutrition and stuff. 

“It is definitely taking a step forward from what it used to be 5-10 years ago when it was just rock up to a training session, chuck your stuff on and go for a run and have fun with your mates.

“Compared to a professional A-League environment, which I was a temporary part of, there’s still a pretty big gap between the two, but it is closing and hopefully that does close, leading towards hopefully getting a national second division involved as well.”

Wilkins and his Heidelberg teammates are set to commence their NPL Victoria campaign this Friday night when they clash with traditional rivals South Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium – a contest flagged by the NPL as their game of the week.

Currently undertaking a Masters of Exercise Physiology outside of football, Wilkins has been attacking 2020 with a renewed vigour – bringing a focus to an area of physical preparation too often neglected in footballing strength and conditioning departments.

“I know the importance behind training for power and strength,” he explained.

“A lot of my training involves lifting and doing hypertrophy training. I’ll be squatting and I’ll be lifting weights and pretty much doing full-body exercises. It makes me a lot more powerful as an athlete.

“A lot of people maybe don’t take into consideration how some of the Premier League footballers, some of them are very well-built upper body as well as lower body.

“So, for me, it was pretty important, to be strong everywhere as opposed to the stock standard footballer that was strong in the quads, legs and glutes and a really slim upper body and frame.

“I’m probably a bit stronger in the upper body than most, but that’s just how I like to be. I’ve always been a powerful runner and a sprinter.”