And Aloisi says he was “shocked” at how good Wellington Phoenix striker Shane Smeltz has performed so far.

“I played with Shane when I first came back from Italy [in 2004] in the old NSL and he was pretty much injured most of the time,” Aloisi tells au.fourfourtwo.com.

“But watching him play for the New Zealand All-Whites against the Welsh national team recently where he scored two goals, pretty much shocked me.

"I couldn't believe how much he had improved.

"He's probably one of the fittest guys in the squad and one of the quickest. And he's doing really well with his finishing.”

Smeltz, 25, has enjoyed a successful off-season. He banged in two goals for the national team against Wales, and scored two more at club level in a 3-0 win over Sydney FC during the A-League pre-season cup.

Born in southern Germany and raised in Australia, has had a peripatetic career, starting off in Brisbane where he played for the Strikers in the old NSL.

Smeltz moved to Adelaide in 2003 and also played overseas with Wimbledon, Mansfield and Halifax (his last club) before his national coach Ricki Herbert snapped him up for Wellington.

But with the birth of his daughter, and with a contract in his back pocket, Aloisi senses the big forward is ready to take the next step in his career and become one of the surprise packets of season three.

“It's all new to him but he's doing really, really well. He'll be playing upfront and we can't wait to see him do his stuff for us,” he said.

Aloisi says, like most A-League teams, training right now is “...non-stop. It's hard but it's brilliant too.”

Together with media commitments, the former Adelaide United skipper has barely stopped since arriving. But he has no regrets.

“It's a breath of fresh air, mentally I've feel better here and I feel I could perhaps play another year after this season. Who knows if I can?" he said.

"But I've had a new lease of life after being in Adelaide.”