by Daniel De Silva for pfa.net.au

The first couple of weeks at Sydney FC have been great.

When you’ve joined a new club, you always have a combination of nerves and excitement.

When I first arrived, I was buzzing to play a few matches and settle into my new surroundings.

I’ve quickly found my feet and it’s been great to get to know the boys, the coaches and discover the professional environment.

It’s exciting to be part of Sydney FC. They have been such a successful club and there’s a great culture here.

I felt from my first training session that they have that winning mentality.

Now, after playing a few games with them, there is this feeling in the dressing room that you just know collectively that we’ve got the confidence to win the next game.

You can just go out there and express yourself.

Being the first player to ever be loaned within the A-League is something new and I guess there is still a lingering and strange feeling about the way I left the Mariners and was able to join Sydney.

The most important thing for me through this process was to understand what was actually happening and not to let other noise get into my head.

People said I was ‘on strike’ or ‘rebelling’. This certainly wasn’t the case.

It was actually much more straightforward.

The Mariners were made aware there was an opportunity for me to move to Sydney and they were open to that.

I had a meeting with the staff at the Mariners, and they gave me permission not to attend training until the discussions with Sydney were resolved. It was a really nice gesture from them, and I thank them for that.

The Mariners staff didn’t insist on me returning to training as they were aware the deal with Sydney was being done – it was just taking a lot longer because the rules were new and people were working through it all for the first time.

In my mind, this was the way a lot of transfers and loans work around the world, so there was no issue. I knew the Mariners knew that too, so I felt comfortable with the decision.

I never refused to go to training or anything like that.

I always had a good relationship with the Mariners the whole time I was there. They are a great bunch of lads. I still try and keep in contact with them and I’m not too far away from them now.

I sent them a message wishing them all the best for the rest of the season and left on good terms.

That is the reality of football. Players move clubs and sometimes you have to leave those friends behind, but they’re not behind completely.

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To score in my first competitive game was a pretty great feeling, and has certainly helped me settle quickly.

I played one friendly, but the Rockdale game in the FFA Cup was my first competitive match and it was obviously great to play 90 minutes.

I hadn’t played in a long time so it was good to get that amount of time and obviously scoring the goal, getting to know the boys and gelling with the team – all of those things are so important.

I think for any player you want to be playing every game you can, so if I was to cement a spot in this team, I won’t give it up easily once I get that opportunity.

Hopefully I showed in the first game what I can bring to the club and as more games come I will keep on doing my best and work hard.

That’s the focus for me at the moment, playing football. Nothing else matters.

💬