To see Zadko train with Newcastle...

Two years ago, Zadkovich was on top of the world after he was dropped by Sydney FC only to sign for then-Premiership side Derby County alongside Socceroo Mile Sterjovski.

He managed to top that with a call up to the Beijing Olympics with the Olyroos and scored Australia's only goal of the tournament in the opening 1-1 draw against Serbia.

But in the following match against Argentina, Zadkovich tore his groin...and so began a torturous series of injuries that wrecked his chance of ever shining with his new club.

After 18 months with the Championship side and just eight injury-crippled appearances to his name in between repeated trips to the treatment room, Zadkovich was released by the Rams in January.

Now though he is back in the A-League at Newcastle Jets after signing up with his former coach at Sydney FC, Branko Culina.

And he says he is now better all-round for the journey he's made.

"I don't have any thoughts about what might have been at all," he told au.FourFourTwo.com.

"It was hard to come to terms with being in that position when everything had appeared to be going so well but that's just part of football.

"It's part of life as well. You're going to have setbacks and knockdowns.

"I definitely think I'm more self-assured and mature now than I was. Being over there is a lot more intense, there's a lot more pressure over there, even playing in training.

"After you've played there and proved yourself a little bit, you can take that confidence to relax a little bit more in the game.

"Hopefully I've picked up a bit of knowledge and experience in the last two years and probably a little bit of maturity too.

"Being taken down by injuries has given me a good chance to sit back and reflect on things a little as well. It was tough definitely but other people have worse situations in life so you just have to deal with it and keep going.

"You can't really stop and think about it too much. You just gotta do what you gotta do. You can only put your best foot forward and that's it.

"Once the initial part of it has set in you just have to see what do I have to do now to get back to where I was. That's where all my energy and focus goes to.

"Briefly I got the chance to taste football at Championship football but it was cut short. It was great experience though. There are some really class players in that league.

"Just being among those players and coaches, the whole set up over there is a lot more advanced than Australian football."

But it was the burning desire to return to the Socceroos side that pushed Zakovich to bounce back from his lengthy rehab.

"It was just the love of the game that kept me going," he said. "Just to try to fulfil my potential and not let it slip away because injury kept me out for a long time.

"But that feeling of putting on the green and gold or your club jersey and giving it your best is addictive. That's what kept me going.

"I played a few games but it put a bit of a damper on it because I was never really fully fit. I've done a lot of rehab and got myself back on track and happy to be here basically."

Now he hopes to buckle down and play a key part in the Jets' campaign next season.

And he insists he has no regrets that's he's back in the A-League after things seemed to be going so well for him two years ago.

"Obviously at the time, when these things are happening it's different because you're trying to make a decision, but I'm really happy with my decision," he said. "It 's the best move for me.

"It's really good to be back - there's some brilliant players here and I'm looking forward to playing with these guys. I think this is the best for me at this point. I'm really happy.

"There's no point thinking about what ifs and speculation and listening to the hype about things. It's about what decisions do you have to make right now.

"I've made it, I'm glad to be here, it's a beautiful place, good people, brilliant coach - someone I've worked with before - so they're all positve things.

"I don't have any thoughts about what might have been at all."

He added: "The goals now are to win the A-League. That's my goal.

"I don't care what we do just so long as we win something. I want to win as much as we can."

To see Zadko train with Newcastle...