As Rhyan Grant prepares to break Alex Brosque’s appearance record for Sydney FC, the Sky Blues stars talk mateship and nicknames
AB: You’ll be breaking my record against the Wanderers for most appearances at the club so congratulations – but when you first came into Sydney FC in 2008, what was going through your mind as you came into that first session as a scruffy young teenager?
RG: I think like any young fella, I was bricking it. I was pretty nervous. The calibre of players we had at the time was pretty big, not so much yourself back then but Bimbi (Steve Corica) and Johnny (Aloisi) and I suppose Bootsa (Clint Bolton) and Shima (Simon Colosimo) were in the squad at the time.
Having to train with those guys, my main worry was just not to embarrass myself. To be honest, I didn’t think I was anywhere close to deserving to be there so it was a little bit nerve wracking. But there were a few young boys being introduced to the first team at the time, which made it a little bit easier. I suppose the middle aged boys we call them, like yourself and Bridgey (Mark Bridge) and Stuart Musialik made a little bit easier.
What did you make of the older boys when you first came in?
Just very nervous. Popa (Tony Popovic) was in and around the team, I think he just became assistant coach because he retired halfway through that season. It was nerve-wracking each session but at the same time you really had to work at it to make sure you’re ‘on’ every day. I suppose that goes a long way to improving.
How confident were you that you could make a success of professional football?
I definitely wasn’t confident. I knew that I worked hard and I sort of put my best foot forward whenever I got a chance, whether that was in a game or training, so I knew I could be competitive. But I never thought I’d go on to have the career that I have – not that it’s been unbelievable, but you sort of get the best out of what you can do. I think I’ve done that to the best of my potential.
So I definitely wasn’t confident but at the same time, I didn’t really think of anything else, either. I wasn’t planning on anything else or another sort of career. It was all balls in one basket in terms of trying to become a professional footballer.
Over the years, you’ve played in a few different positions. Now you’re obviously settled for Sydney FC and in the national team as a right back but what did you feel was your best position?
Back in the early days I was coming off the bench and playing number 10. As Bimbi would come off around 65-70 minutes, I was coming on for the last 20 as a Number 10, thinking I could get out there and score a few goals, as well as set some up. I think the coaches quickly realized I wasn’t scoring too many!
I could make good forward runs, I suppose, and put a bit of pressure on up there. But other than that, there wasn’t too much else I was contributing. I did really enjoy being changed around, I played centre midfield, right midfield, left midfield, a few games at centre back, left back right back. I was all over the shop!
I did really enjoy it. To be honest, that sort of gave me an awareness of what needs to be done around the park. But once I got to right back, I was more than settled there and sort of made that position my own. I did fancy myself more as a midfielder, though, definitely early on.
So in your time in Sky Blue, what are some favourite moments?
I think the grand finals and the success that we’ve had, that’s hard to go by, especially scoring in a few grand finals. But I think what I’ve got out of not only being a professional but being a professional at Sydney is the mates that you meet. I often speak about yourself. And we’ve got a few boys here now with Wilks (Alex Wilkinson) and Zulls (Michael Zullo) that I’ve known for a long time. Then over the years, people like Seb Ryall, Aaron Calver, Haji Gligor, people I played with for a number of years have turned out to be some really good mates and some of my best mates. I think the biggest thing I’ve got out of this club is how family orientated it is with really close mates that hopefully stay mates for a lifetime.
And who’s been the most annoying teammate you’ve had?
Oh, in terms of genuinely annoying me, there’s a few players I won’t name because I don’t want to call them out. But I was fine master for a long time, as you know and there’s a few boys that didn’t want to pay fines or chose not to, wanting to argue and that used to wind me up a fair bit.
Then there’s other guys that are just always pestering, like Zullo, always has been and still is a massive pest. But he doesn’t just single certain people out, he doesn’t let anyone rest. Over the years, obviously, Seba (Ryall) was a pest on the pitch.
The nickname ‘Buster’. I called you that for years but I never understood what it meant. Where did that come from?
It’s actually been a nickname of mine for a very long time. I think I was about two years old and I busted my head open two or three times in the one year. So my parents used to just call me Buster. For some reason, though I’ve moved o different places, different towns, different cities, I’ve always known one or two people who know me as Buster and it’s sort of just carried on. Now that’s only what people call me to be fair. I love it.
Fair enough. Now in the back end of my career, I obviously grew a beard and people said that it gave me more maturity. You grew a mullet and people mostly laughed at it. Is that why the glasses are there to make you more mature than what you are?
Yeah, I’ve got a sensible haircut now and the glasses show that and get my reputation back on track. I had the mullet for a while, I think before it became a thing. Everyone’s got one now so I’d like to say I had it a few years ago before it caught trend.
But I do want to say I do take responsibility for you growing your beard. I know you came in with a little bit of a beard one preseason and I said you definitely need to stick to it. So I’m definitely taking (credit) and I think unless you didn’t do that you wouldn’t have become the sort of cult hero that you are. So I think I’d take a little bit of responsibility for that and deserve a thank you but I’m sure that will come at some stage.
Back to more serious stuff. You’ve had a few injuries over your career and always persisted and got through them. What has been the secret to that consistency and that drive?
I’m not sure it’s something that I’m conscious of, I think it’s just me being a bit of a battler. I think anyone who watches me play will tell you that I know my strengths and one of those is not giving up I suppose, really fighting for it.
When I did have those knee injuries, it wasn’t about me consciously telling myself I need to get through this, it’s just how I went about it. A lot of people gave me different advice but I think the best was when people said that as a footballer, you’ll never get this time off in regards to weekends and time to spend with your family and friends, so make the most of it.
Getting away from football and really making the most of my lifestyle really gave me that hunger to get back in and really give it a good crack once I was back from those injury. The club were very supportive and stood by me when they could have easily let me go so I think I’ve got a mixture of just a bit of luck in being in the right place at the right time, I suppose.
One last question, making the World Cup would be an incredible icing on your career but what other ambitions do you still have?
Yeah, it’s a good question. I think I’d love to try a different lifestyle or experience a different culture. I’m very content at Sydney and do love it here, Sydney FC is definitely home to me but yeah, if something was to come up and I got the chance to try something different I’d definitely be open to it. I’ve got no regrets, I love it here at Sydney and we’ve been very successful over a number of years now. But I’d be open to trying something different and experiencing something new.
That’s about it. The club’s been in a much better place with you here and obviously everyone has always enjoyed playing with you. I enjoyed it mate and still enjoy catching up with you, still love watching you run up and down that line. So congratulations mate.
