Gombak general manager Lawrence Lau tells au.fourfourtwo.com that the young Aussie has impressed the coaching staff at the club despite being a virtual unknown in his homeland.

"He's looking good," he said. "We headhunted him. We're aware he played in the lower leagues with Bonnyrigg but you can sometimes find gems from these leagues."

Subara played the last three seasons at Bonnyrigg before leaving the club last season. With few options in Australia, a meeting with former Socceroo Milan Blagojevic smoothed the way for him to get a shot playing professionally in an Asian league.

Blagojevic (pictured) a member of the highly rated 1992 Olyroos and a 31-times capped Socceroo, told au.fourfourtwo.com he heard about Subara, put him through his paces and was sufficiently impressed to call a contact of his, Aussie coach Darren Stewart, at Gombak.

"The S-League is probably like NSW Premier League in terms of standard, maybe slightly better. That's because they allow four or five foreign players," says Blagojevic, a former player with Johor in Malaysia.

"And for future players of the A-League, they become used to training day in, day out in those conditions.

"Here you pick a player from the NSW or Victorian Premier League, it takes time for their bodies to adjust with sometimes two sessions a day. They pull up very sore.

"It's got a helluva lot of pluses. And it's only a seven hour flight to Singapore and they speak English. What's more, the top two S-League sides qualify for the AFC Cup."

Blagojevic, last season's coach of NSW Premier League grand finalists Sydney Olympic, says it's still hard to get noticed as a player outside the A-League.

"It's taken the explosion of the likes of Shannon Cole to get any recognition. For me, the Super League is just the same," he said.

Gombak is coached by former Newcastle NSL player Stewart and the Bulls are currently in pre-season mode ahead of its March S-League kick off.

"He's impressed Darren quite a bit," says Blagojevic. "He's passed his beep test and his medical and he's put pen to paper for a year with an option for a second.

"He's landed a decent deal that he's happy with. He's on a professional contract now, gets to play football day in, day out, and earn a very decent living.

"Here, in the state leagues he'd have had to work and train three nights a week. When you dangle that sort of carrot in front of a player, I know what I'd do."