The Aussies Are Coming by Matt Riley: 2014

The Aussies Are Coming
by Matt Riley
14/7/14

PTT Rayong's team last weekend at Suphanburi included three Australian players. Although that remains an exception to the rule, a developing trend shows the increasingly muscular pulling power of the Thai Premier League and the advantages of having a plus one "Asian" in the team. Watching Sisaket's Australian Brent McGrath (Pictured) slamming in the winner in last night's victory against TOT shows how the Thai market for ageing and lower level Korean and Japanese players is becoming saturated, whilst Australia is a new horizon to explore (for those astute enough to look). Four teams currently have a total of six Aussies in their squads. This is a small percentage of foreigners from other countries, but it is a number set to rise for a range of reasons.

Economically, Australian signings, for the first time in Thai football history, make sense. When Police United feel they need to offer ageing Ivorian Dangno Siaka a three year contract on one million Baht (thirty one thousand US dollars) a month, then it only needs a little organisation (which goes a long way in Thai football) to find much better value with just as much skill and a more accurate birth certificate. One of the key drivers of the Aussie arrival is the wage ceiling in their native A League. Only three "marquee" players in each squad are exempt from this salary cap. The annual budget for a club's non marquee players is two and a half million Australian dollars.  Seventy five million Baht a season is far less than at least three of the major Thai Premier League clubs and some of the outrageous spending but underachieving smaller outfits.

There are huge inequalities of income between players here in Thailand (ironically, Dagno was one of the lowest paid foreign players at Muang Thong United) and, as Robbie Fowler found when he made the switch from the A League, everything is up for grabs: a love struck Thai club will pay anything, backed by huge reserves of sponsorship and political cash. Fowler's fifty thousand US dollar monthly wage (before his raft of endorsements and bonuses) would pay for the annual salary of a minimum wage A League player with change.  This minimum salary is A$50,000 (1.5 million Baht) which shows the importance of collective agreements in the A League. The three youth player contracts permitted in an A League franchise must offer at least  A$40,000 (1.2 million Baht), with their payments not included in the salary cap.

This is a creative way to both support the development of youth players and encourage clubs to add them to their roster, without their expense subtracting from their senior player budget.  This minimum A League annual salary adds up to exactly the amount Police United pay each month for Dagno and Adnan Barakat and less than the monthly income of SCG Muang Thong United's Mario Djurovski, so the Thai financial incentive is clearly huge.

When you look at the experience Australian players add to the TPL, they also have a great deal to offer. Reviewing the careers of the "PTT Three," they combine two appearances for West Ham United, twenty two Australian caps and vast experience in the physically demanding A League that plays in a way perfectly suited to the AFC Champions League. If anything was needed to illustrate that, you only have to review the ACL progress of Australian teams this year. Whilst Central Coast Mariners finished bottom of Group F they chalked up two wins, whilst Melbourne Victory lost out on progress from Group G by the narrowest of goal average margins.

On August 20th, when single Champions League victors Buriram take on failed to qualify SCG Muang Thong United in the Thai Premier League, Western Sydney Wanderers will be slugging it out with Chinese superpower Guangzhou Evergrande for a place in the AFC Champions League semi final. Australia may have been allocated two group stages places compared to Thailand's one, but it remains am excellent Aussie return on investment.

Dealing with Australia is to work with a First World country that sticks to internationally recognised standards. That means the age of a player will tally with when he was born and agents (from their side at least) will be FIFA licensed and monitored. It also means Thai clubs can be more confident that what they paid for is what they get. It also accounts for another Aussie trend where a small but increasing number of foreign players may not be Australian, but they have built a career in the A League. Players like Dutch born Indonesian Sergio van Dijk made over one hundred appearances for Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United and has fitted straight into the heat and tempo of Thai football.

The temperament of Australian footballers is also attractive to Thai teams. Giant Aussie midfielder Eric Paartalu is a good example of the hard playing but calm approach of many Australian players. The SCG Muang Thong United man accepts the histrionics going on around him and concentrates on his own game. This mentality decreases the yellow cards collected, keeping them on the field for longer. Foreign players like Robbie Fowler who try to address the pantomime only end up in the referees book, as he did when rolling a player feigning injury near the touch line off the pitch and being rewarded with a card.

As word gets back of the high salaries and cash bonuses handed out to TPL players by the bagful, expect to see more and more Australian players make the switch. This trend started when Teerasil Dangda rejected a move East because he would need to take a pay cut three years ago and looks set fair to be the latest trend in Thai football. The game over here will be better for it, Australian players will earn far more than at home and the Thai game will have another chance to improve: whether it takes up the invitation is another matter entirely.