On Thursday night, Jack Hingert is set to become just the 13th player in A-Leagues history to make 300 competition appearances. The Brisbane Roar veteran tells aleagues.com.au how a phone call from Ange Postecoglou prevented him from signing for Wellington Phoenix before starting a 14-year spell at the Roar.
Jack Hingert was holding back tears as he walked out onto AAMI Park for his 304th game in all competitions for Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
The 34-year-old full-back became Brisbane’s record appearance-maker in the defeat to Melbourne City, surpassing club legend Matt McKay to claim sole ownership of top spot on the all-time leaderboard.
Below Hingert and McKay on Brisbane’s list of top five appearance makers sit Thomas Broich, Massimo Murdocca and Henrique – a collection of Brisbane icons who, like Hingert, contributed to the club’s famous “Roarcelona” era of the early 2010s under Ange Postecoglou.
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Hingert’s Roar journey began in 2011 when the up-and-coming talent returned to Victorian club Dandenong Thunder after two years at the now-defunct North Queensland Fury, fearing his Isuzu UTE A-League journey was over.
Then came a trial opportunity at Wellington Phoenix, and a contract almost signed – until a phone call from Postecoglou, and an agent’s ultimatum, changed everything.
How different it might’ve been for Hingert who, after 14 years in Brisbane, is now the club’s all-time appearance record holder and on the cusp of becoming just the 13th player in Isuzu UTE A-League history to play 300 games in the competition – a feat he’ll achieve on Thursday night when Brisbane host Western United at Suncorp Stadium.
“When North Queensland Fury folded in 2011, I had to go back to Melbourne to Dandenong Thunder for six or seven games in the off-season, just to try and stay fit,” Hingert told aleagues.com.au.
“I remember speaking to my agent at the time. He said: ‘Just come back down here, play in the NPL, just to stay fit, so when something comes up, if you get a trial, you’re ready to go’.
“So I did that, and then I went to Wellington Phoenix for a week or two with Ricki Herbert as the coach, and they actually offered me a contract. I think we actually negotiated everything, it was all done and negotiated, and I was ready to sign it. But then I got a call from my agent.
“He said: ‘Look, you won’t believe this: you have another offer. I’ve had a phone call from Ange Postecoglou. He’s got one spot left in the squad, and he wants to give you the opportunity.
“He’d see me around in the NPL with Melbourne, I think even before I went to Fury. So he had seen me and had his eye on me for a few years, He knew a bit about me and who I was.
“My agent said: ‘I’m going let you decide. I’m going to write down what I think you should do, and I want you to then tell me what you think you should do or want to do, and then I’ll show you what I’ve written down, and then we’ll make the decision together from there’. So we did that.
“At the time at Wellington, I probably would have been a starting player, or close to a starting player. I think I might have even got a little bit more money at Wellington back then too.
“Going to Brisbane, I thought I’d probably be on a minimum wage, and it was more about going to the best team in the league, and working my way up through the squad to get game time, battling your way through and learning from the guys that just won the Championship.
“My agent gave me a day to think about it, and I called him back and said: ‘I want to go to Brisbane’. My agent had written Brisbane down as well, which made me feel better about the decision.”
Little did Hingert know then that Postecoglou’s persuasive powers had set him on a path that would change his professional and personal life forever over the following 14 years.
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Hingert joined Brisbane after the club’s first Championship in 2010-11 in the midst of Postecoglou’s side becoming the Isuzu UTE A-League’s iconic “Roarcelona”.
Having missed the Roar’s first league title, Hingert contributed to Brisbane going back-to-back in 2012, and then added another Championship to his name in 2014.
11 years on from his last Championship, Hingert is still at the Roar in what is his 14th-consecutive season at the club. Looking back now, he can’t imagine what life might’ve been like if he had elected to go against his instincts and sign for Wellington when the opportunity to join Postecoglou’s Roar was on the table.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to walk into the team,” he said. “I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work to get into that team. And I was learning from the likes of Ivan Franjic at right back, which was again, great learning for me. The opportunity for me to work with these types of players, Matt McKay, Matt Smith, Jade North, Besart Berisha, there were so many players there that were just unbelievable that I could learn from.
“The thing that stood out for me under Ange was the feeling you had when you were playing in that team was like, you were walking out onto the pitch every week, and just had no thought whatsoever that anyone could beat you. You’d walk out there, and you didn’t even consider that you could lose on that day.
“I just remember when I was at training, his eyes were on everything. The standards were unbelievable.
“It was the same feeling that you would have when you were a kid and your dad was watching the game, wanting to perform for your dad and impress your dad, that was how it felt trying to impress him, like it was your dad there watching.”
The first 11 of Hingert’s 272 league appearances to date for Brisbane came under Postecoglou before the then-Roar head coach departed from the club at the end of the 2011-12 season.
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Hingert’s determination to make his second crack in the Isuzu UTE A-League stick was fuelled by the memories of his two years at the Fury, and the understanding that what you work so hard for can disappear in a flash.
“Playing for the Fury was an awesome experience,” he said.
“On every one of my photos on social media, there’ll always be a comment: ‘Bring back the Fury!’
“I was lucky enough to get that opportunity while I was playing in the Victorian Premier League, which is the NPL now, for Dandenong. It was my first season there, I was only 17 and we were doing really well.
“It just came up by chance. I think my coach,Stuart Munro at the time, knew Ian Ferguson, who was the coach at Fury. He had asked if you’ve got any players down there that he’s recommended and he put me forward.
“They were in pre-season camp in Perth, playing against Wolverhampton and Perth Glory. Those were my trial games. And I went there, did well, and I remember, I still remember the conversation with Ian Ferguson, who told me he wanted to offer me a contract.
“Walking away from that meeting, it was like my dreams had all come true. I could finally say I’m a professional footballer.
“And at that time, I was like: ‘I’ve made it’. But I think some of the boys, when I got back to the hotel room I was in, I was in a room with the likes of Daniel McBreen and those types of experienced guys. And they were like,: ‘That’s awesome, I’m really excited for you – but this is just the start, so make sure you keep your feet grounded. I think they were on to me pretty quickly.
“I grew up in England, so getting my first professional contract at North Queensland Fury, and then playing alongside Robbie Fowler, for me, it was just crazy.
“It was pretty sad when the Fury did fold, because I still had another year on my contract. I was expecting to be there for at least another season. I really enjoyed my time there, it was a great club. The fans were awesome. Everyone got behind us and supported us. It was a really cool experience for me.
“But I think the best thing for me there was that, I think some of us young players actually got quite a lot of opportunities, and that helped me a lot as a player and as a person.”
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From Dandenong Thunder to North Queensland, back to Dandenong and then onto the Roar, Hingert has forged a 17-year Isuzu UTE A-League career. Now, he’s set to join 12 players in the competition’s illustrious 300-game club.
“It’s a very proud moment for me and my family,” he said.
“It’s something that I never really even thought that I would be able to achieve when I started at North Queensland Fury, and when I first signed at Brisbane.
“And you look at some of the names around me and the list of 300 and even on the list of Brisbane Roar appearances, it’s pretty surreal to me that I’m now up there with those guys.”
“It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of things going on in the background that people don’t see and aren’t aware of. A lot of people only see us on the pitch, but they don’t see what work goes into it, and the work that we put in away from the pitch to get to this point.”
Only 12 players have reached the 300-game mark in the Isuzu UTE A-League’s 20-year history and on Thursday night, the exclusive club will welcome a 13th member:
“Look at that list: those guys are all legends of the game, legends of football in Australia,” Hingert continued. “And they’re all the type of player who’s consistent, reliable, and they work hard.
“They’ve got that bright attitude and mentality and work ethic, and that is probably what separates us guys… this is where you see you get those benefits now of all the years of looking after yourself, all the years of dedication and sacrifices and making sure your body’s right, and then having the right attitude and mentality every day, this is where you get the rewards and see the benefits of all that now.”
Hingert credits his early efforts to stay in peak physical condition as the key to adding as many as four years to his playing career.
“One of the key messages that I try and tell the young boys at the club is: all the work that I did when I was younger, on my body and looking after myself and everything, all the sacrifices you make when you’re younger and more towards the start of your career, I think I am now reaping the benefits,” he said.
“I’m 34 years old. I’m still fit and healthy, and I’ve been available for every match. I still win the fitness tests in pre-season training.
“I think when you’re doing that work early on in your career, you don’t necessarily see the benefit straight away, and it doesn’t necessarily transfer into performance in that moment.
“But from my point of view, I feel like I’ve probably gotten an extra four years or so out of my career that I potentially might not have got if I didn’t do that work.
“I have a lot of mates who retired early, and had to retire early because maybe they didn’t maintain their bodies, injuries and stuff as well.
“I feel the work that you do early on benefits you later in your career, where you might get an extra three to five years out of your career purely just on that work that you put in early on, I think that’s definitely the case with me.”
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Hingert will play his 300th Isuzu UTE A-League game when Brisbane host Western United on Thursday night, and further extend his lead on the club-record appearance leaderboard at the Roar.
Born in London and raised in Melbourne, somehow everything clicked for Hingert once he arrived in Brisbane; now, he can’t imagine his life being any different, as he prepares for the emotionally-charged night on which he further enhances his status as a Brisbane Roar legend at Suncorp Stadium.
“Brisbane is my life. Brisbane Roar is my life,” Hingert said. “It runs through me and my family now.
“14 years at one club, you don’t really get that very often in football these days, with one player staying at a club for such a long time.
“My life is here, my wife is from here, we had our first child here so Brisbane is my home and in years to come, when I finish playing, Brisbane will always be my club and a massive part of my life.
“Something I’ve always said is: I just want to be here to help us get back to the success that I know we deserve, and the fans deserve, because it is such a big part of my life.
“My time at the club is something that I can look back on, in the most part, in a positive light, in a positive way. I’ve learned so much, and it’s definitely shaped me as a person and as a player.
“I think I’ll be overwhelmed, proud and excited on Thursday night. I think every time I wear the jersey, I still feel so much pride and play with so much pride.
“Every time I put that jersey on, I still feel the same way I did when I first put on that jersey, the same feelings and buzz that I used to get when I first walked out onto the pitch at Suncorp Stadium.
“I play for not only myself and my family, but for our fans. It’s something that I’ve always tried to do, and always will try and do.”
Hingert is set to notch his 300th Isuzu UTE A-League appearance as Brisbane Roar host Western United at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
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Team news: Brisbane Roar v Western United
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Macklin FREKE (GK), 6.Austin LUDWIK, 8. Walid SHOUR, 10. Florin BERENGUER, 11. Asumah ABUBAKAR, 12.Lucas HERRINGTON, 13. Henry HORE, 15. Hosine BIILITY, 17. Nathan AMANATIDIS, 18. Jacob BRAZETE, 19. Jack HINGERT, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 24. Sam KLEIN, 26. Jay O’SHEA (C), 27. Ben HALLORAN, 29. Matt ACTON (GK), 35. Louis ZABALA, 43. Adam ZIMARINO, 47. James DURRINGTON
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY
Outs: 14. Pearson KASAWAYA
Western United squad: 4. James DONACHIE, 6. Tomoki IMAI, 7. Ramy NAJJARINE, 9. Hiroshi IBUSUKI, 10. Matthew GRIMALDI, 13. Tate RUSSELL, 14. Jake NAJDOVSKI, 17. Ben GARUCCIO (c), 19. Noah BOTIC, 21. Sebastian PASQUALI, 23. Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 24. Michael RUHS, 29. Charbel SHAMOON, 30. Dylan LEONARD, 32. Angus THURGATE, 33. Matt SUTTON (gk), 37. Luke VICKERY, 44. Jordan LAUTON, 70. Michael VONJA (gk), 77. Riku DANZAKI
Ins: 21. Sebastian PASQUALI, 29. Charbel SHAMOON
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 20. Abel WALATEE (injured)
