Now in his fifth year in the A-League, the former Perth Glory rookie has amassed plenty of experience to share with the Hunter outfit’s youthful line-up.

The 23-year-old said he needed to get out of his comfort zone and praised Jets coach Gary van Egmond for taking his game to the next level.

“Not having my family and friends over here in Newcastle has actually been good because I’ve had to look after myself without the distractions,” he said.

“And the coaching style that Gary has at training is a high-tempo pressing type of game; it’s about improving every day which is what I want.

“I think I’ve developed not just on the pitch but also off it and I think that’s down to the coaching staff here at Newcastle.

“There’s a lot of focus on reading the game, positioning and also the different types of ways that we play. Instead of always playing a 4-3-3, we might change to play three at the back or some other system.

“Obviously it’s good to have this in your locker so if things aren’t going right in the game we can change and adapt to any formation.”

And while he could hardly be called a veteran of the game, Neville is enjoying a new found responsibility within the squad.

“At Perth when I was there I was one of the younger ones, but with the squad we’ve got at Newcastle there’s a lot of youth which is good,” he said.

“There’s still obviously a lot more experienced heads in the team. I kind of look up to them and listen to what they have to say and then try and pass on some of that knowledge to some of the younger guys coming through because it’s pretty daunting and quite tough training week in and week out with the older guys. So I just try and help out really.

“The younger players in the team all have great attitudes and they want to go far in the game which is good for Newcastle and good for our team.”

The former Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday triallist said Newcastle’s success to date – sitting third after last week after collecting a number of big scalps including Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners - has come as no surprise to the tight-knit unit.

“I think the way we’ve been training and our preseason put us in good stead, we always work very hard and we’re aiming to finish as high as we can,” Neville added.

“Obviously the introduction of Emile (Heskey) has helped as well. He’s very important – we didn’t really have an out and out striker before he came, so he helps with the balance of the team.

“But we’re not a one-man team, everyone’s very important in the set up and he just happens to be getting on the end of the goals which is good.”

With a host of young guns returning from the U19 championship in the UAE, Neville is expecting the competition for places to see the Jets soar even higher.

Josh Brillante, Adam Taggart, Jack Duncan, Connor Chapman and Mitchell Oxborrow will all be making a claim for first team action.

“A lot of these young guys have been away with the Young Socceroos for most of the season,” Neville said.

“But they’re coming back this week with a lot of confidence after qualifying for the U20 World Cup and hopefully that confidence rubs off on the rest of the team.

“There’s some good young talent there and I think a lot of them are going to press their claim to play in the A-League this season.”