Matt Jurman has joined a special group of Hyundai A-League players.
It’s been a long time coming and after 11 seasons in the Hyundai A-League competition, defender Matthew Jurman has finally reached the 150-match milestone.
Starting his career as a youngster at his local club Dapto, Jurman has paved an incredible career that has seen him play for some of the biggest clubs in the Hyundai A-League and abroad.
Monday night against the Mariners officially marked the milestone and despite the result, it was a night to remember for Jurman.
“It’s a proud moment for me, just thinking back to my first game, years ago now,” said Jurman.
“My first game I was actually at the AIS in Canberra and I was able to have an opportunity to come to one of the games away in Perth with Sydney.
“Eventually I got there and then I moved to Brisbane, so I think I’ve grown a lot as a player in those years and has helped me get to my overseas stints.
“Now you’re talking about 150 games so it’s a very proud moment for me.”
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It was a quiet start for Jurman in his first four Hyundai A-League seasons, breaking into Sydney FC’s first team for a handful of matches.
The big breakthrough for the defender came in 2011, with Jurman featuring in 34 matches over two seasons in the heart of defence for Brisbane Roar before he returned back to the Sky Blues where he really began to make a name for himself.
A perennial rock at the back, Jurman won a wealth of accolades by the time he was 27 both individually and as a team, leading him to head overseas in 2017 to make his mark at some of the biggest clubs in Asia.
Jurman spent two seasons in the K-League 1 with Suwon Samsung Bluewings before moving to Saudi Arabia where he played 18 matches for three-time AFC Champions Al-Ittihad.
Having ticked off quite a few things off his career bucket list, Jurman is now pushing forward to some of the next milestones in his career.
“I’m looking forward to the next milestone now I’m not stopping and I’ve got a lot more goals I want to tick off,” said Jurman.
“It’s been good since I’ve come into the Wanderers and I knew a lot of people at the club, so it was easy to settle in.
“We’ve got a great team so I’m hoping that we can take off where we were before the break and we can really kick on with these next five games.”
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Since joining the Wanderers, Jurman has been pivotal in ensuring that the Red & Black stick to their structure.
The defender is confident that the Wanderers will reap the rewards of their hard work in the final four regular games of the season.
“If we play to our potential and play to what JP (head coach Jean-Paul de Marigny), in the structure that he wants us to play, and if we stick together as a team we can do some damage this year,” said Jurman.
“The results will come if we do what we need to do and focus on ourselves.
“We need to get the maximum points that we can get. We go into every match in the mindset of winning every single game.
“It’s important to have momentum in this league, and that’s what we are trying to make sure we do in these next few games.”
Jurman and the Wanderers will tonight need to get a result against Wellington to keep their Finals dreams alive and there’s one thing for certain – Jurman will be wanting to tick off a Finals appearance with the Wanderers off his bucket list.
