Brebner's Gamble On An Australian Sojourn Could Deliver A Silver Lining

The Age

Thursday February 8, 2007

By MICHAEL LYNCH

MELBOURNE Victory playmaker Grant Brebner, a recovering gambling addict, made the biggest bet of his life when he left the fiercely competitive world of British soccer for a new sporting career in Australia.

The punt has paid off spectacularly, not just for the measured midfielder but for the club that gave him the chance to reinvent himself.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that the former Manchester United player had signed a two-year deal that will keep him in Melbourne until at least the end of the 2008-09 A-League season.

"I am happy here on and off the park so it was quite an easy decision," Brebner said. "It's been all I wanted it to be."

The 29-year-old Scotsman has undoubtedly been good for Melbourne. His crisp passing, assured ball control, good technique and ability to switch the play and co-ordinate attacking moves make him a creative counterpoint to the fiercely competitive Kevin Muscat in the team's engine room.

And just as surely, Melbourne has been good for the player who, after serving four years at Old Trafford under Alex Ferguson - he joined Man U aged 16 - came to the Victory after two seasons at Dundee United. In between he had loan spells at Reading, Stockport and Cambridge as well as five seasons in Edinburgh at his home town club, Hibernian, which he also captained.

The move to Australia was a circuit breaker in both his personal life and his professional career.

The young Brebner succumbed to the gambling bug, at one stage developing a $6200-a-week gambling addiction that led him to spend a month in early 2004 in a rehabilitation clinic run by Sporting Chance, the charity founded by recovered alcoholic and former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams.

Australia has given him a fresh start and the chance to earn the first significant silverware in his career.

Brebner has played in two losing sides in Scottish Cup finals - for Hibs (2001) and Dundee United (2005), both going down to Celtic - but he says that the dramatic last-gasp win over Adelaide last Sunday was "certainly up there" with the best moments of his career.

"It's certainly one of the best feelings I have ever had after a game, with the result and the way it happened," he said of the stoppage-time triumph.

Brebner is reluctant to compare the Australian game with the more physical Scottish Premier League.

"There's a lot of things here that can stop progress," he said. "Things like salary cap mean that you are not going to attract three or four high-profile players over here. If you are looking at Europe they can do that, the standard's always going to be a tad higher."

Does he see the rest of his life unfolding in Australia or would he like to finish his career back home?

"Probably, (but) I would like to have a treble double (three championship trophies and three premiership plates) by that point and then we can look at going back. I am not looking further than the two years I have got."

Brebner is set to become the midfield fulcrum for the team next year and beyond but coach Ernie Merrick believes veteran skipper Muscat has plenty left in the tank, too.

"The combination of Grant, Kevin Muscat and Fred in the centre has been a great asset. The way Kevin is playing, I think he will last another five years. To be honest, at the end of the game last week he was just powering up and down the pitch," Merrick said.

"Hopefully Grant stays here for a while. It (Australia) has been good for Grant, he enjoys the lifestyle, he certainly enjoys life with his teammates. We have won the premiership, we are in Asia and I think he's looking forward to a great future."

? A disappointed Newcastle Jets will announce today whether they will appeal against a suspension that rules Jade North out of this weekend's A-League preliminary final against Adelaide United.

North was last night given a two-match suspension after being found guilty of a charge of violent conduct after appearing to headbutt Sydney FC defender Iain Fyfe in last Friday's A-League minor semi-final.

One match of the two game suspension was suspended until the end of the 2007-08 season and would be invoked if he received a red card or suspension for any violent conduct offence in that period. Newcastle could also be without Stuart Musialik, who injured his shoulder playing for the Olyroos last night. -- With AAP.

© 2007 The Age

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