Ahead of their Unite Round F3 Derby clash with Central Coast Mariners, aleagues.com.au reporter James Dodd sat down with Newcastle Jets winger Eli Adams.
In a transfer window which saw Douglas Costa move to Sydney FC and Juan Mata join Western Sydney Wanderers, many other moves took a back seat in terms of grabbing national headlines.
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One of those deals was that of Eli Adams who, having begun to break into the Melbourne Victory first team, opted to swap AAMI Park for McDonald Jones Stadium to join Rob Stanton’s youthful Newcastle Jets.
Joining Victory in 2022 from Brisbane Roar, Adams would go on to play 16 games for the club across one-and-a-half seasons, featuring in both the Isuzu UTE A-League and Australia Cup.
However, he only started three of those matches, one of which came in the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League campaign, meaning he was largely used as an impact substitute late on in matches.
At 22 years of age there was a frustration building within, an itch that he was desperate to scratch.
Adams simply needed to play more.
“I think the big thing is game time,” said Adams as he sat down to chat after arriving home from training.
“I think it’s almost unparalleled in how you can grow as a player, and it’s the best way to learn. I think you can train as much as you want, but trying to replicate that feeling of competitive matches, it’s almost impossible.
He added: “I was super grateful for everything that Victory gave me in my two years time there. I learned so much and I think the next step for me was being able to play.
“I was in conversation with Rob (Stanton), he obviously talked about how last season, the numbers of players that he played all being under the age of 25 I think it was, and how he had the 10 youngest matchday squads for the season.
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“So I think there was the promising sign (that) he has played young players and there will be opportunities for me and as it’s happened I’ve come in, put my best foot forward and it’s been a really good start so far.”
Making his debut for the club in the Australia Cup before the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League campaign got underway, Adams has since gone on to play the full 90 minutes in all three of Newcastle’s league fixtures so far.
Furthermore, a stand-out performance in the Round 2 clash against Macarthur Bulls saw the Toowoomba native grab the headlines after scoring a quick-fire double to secure the Jets’ first win of the season.
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“I think you’ll see as the season goes on, a lot more people putting their hand up,” said Adams when asked if he felt a sense of responsibility to replace the goals lost by the departure of last season’s top goalscorer Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.
“Clayton Taylor, who obviously got many last year, he’ll be another one that will pop out and grab a goal here and there, but yeah, I think for myself, I want to really have a breakout season.
“I’ve been in the league for a few years now, but never really got that opportunity to, I guess, flourish and play consecutively week after week, where I’m being a regular name in the starting lineup.
He added: “I want to be an exciting player. I want to be a playmaker, creative attacking option that you know attracts fans and is entertaining to watch. I think that’s my style of play, and I want to continuously grow this season and show what I’m capable of.”
There have been many players of a similar mould who have come before Adams in the Isuzu UTE A-League and there will, no doubt, be many more who follow, some standing out more than others.
However the winger believes he knows what he needs to do in order to fit into the latter category and, crucially, believes he has what it takes to truly do so.
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“I think one word that has been thrown around from a few friends and family was X Factor,” remarked the attacker when asked what he feels he truly brings to a football field.
“I thought, okay, well that’s something that I can really think about trying to bring to the field every time I go on it. Whether it’s scoring or just being a creative player, taking players on, dribbling, doing things that I guess aren’t seen in every game.
“But yeah, trying to bring that X factor and be a player that people love to see, gets people off their seats. It’s just what I want to do, and it’s what I’m trying to continue to build on.”
Despite playing less than 20 Isuzu UTE A-League matches in his fledgling career, Adams knows a thing or two about X-Factor given where he’s trialled and who he’s trained with along the way.
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Having just finished high school, Adams’ world was then turned upside down after the 17-year-old agreed terms on a move to Germany, despite being a relative unknown in the domestic scene.
“I had signed a deal with SV Elversberg U23s at the time – they’re now in division two (2. Bundesliga),” he said. “Unfortunately, COVID hit, and everything sort of came crashing down a bit, and I had to return to Australia.”
The opportunity to join the German club may have been dashed but soon enough he found himself back in the heart of one of Europe’s leading footballing nations.
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“Talking to a few people from overseas and having some relationships built there (Germany), the opportunity did arise for me to trial at Greuther Furth, Augsburg and Bayern Munich over there.
“It sort of happened all very quickly. It was almost within a week where I was told, yeah, we’d love to have you come and trial so it ‘was pack your bags and on the next flight over’.
“I spent around two-and-a-half months over there, where I was trialling, just at those three clubs.
“When I was at Augsburg I remember getting a call from my agent and he said, ‘Yeah, Bayern Munich would like to have a look at you.’ Your heart drops a bit. You’re like, wow, really? A local kid from Toowoomba.”
And it was while trialling at Bayern that the kid from Toowoomba learnt what ‘X-Factor’ really is.
Immersed in a truly elite footballing culture at one of the biggest clubs in world football, the talent on display in both the first team and the academy set-up gave him an insight as to what is truly required to succeed at the top level.
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“I would have been there when Jamal Musiala was making his breakthrough into the first team environment. So I ended up doing one training session and he was there and he spoke a bit of English that was pretty funny,” Adams reflected.
“But he made it easy to talk to being one of the few English speaking people. I remember seeing him and to see where he is now it’s no surprise. He was just a joke out there. Like, untouchable, really. Three steps ahead, the ball was just glued to his foot.”
He added: “But again, it was another experience where I really learned a heap. I’m super thankful and hopefully in the future, I can go back over again, because I think now that I have those relationships, it’s almost like having one foot in the door there.
“Things have to happen here first. It’s not just gonna come off of who I know. I’ve got to show that I deserve it first.”
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