Born and raised Western Sydney boy Brendan Hamill has returned home and is ready to impress in front of his local fans in Wanderland
After two hard years in Korea with Seongnam Ilhwa 21 year old Western Sydney local Brendan Hamill is returning home, signing with the Western Sydney Wanderers for the 2014/15 season.
A born and raised Western Sydney boy, growing up in Chipping-Norton, he learnt his trade with local teams Chipping Norton FC, Marconi, Parramatta Eagles before impressing enough to get the attention of NSW and Australian Institute of Sport programs.
From there it wasn-t long before the young defender-s hard work began to pay off as his strength, tactical understanding and fantastic positioning earned him national team recognition – selected to wear the green and gold of Australia at U17, U20 and U23 level.
After continuing to impress at institute and national levels Hamill next made waves in 2010 when at just 18 he signed with Melbourne City (formerly Melbourne Heart) for their debut season.
The durable teen put in an impressive 35 appearances in two seasons for the new Victorian club before in 2012 he caught the eye of K-League side Seongnam, coming in as a replacement for departing club legend and Socceroo Sasa Ogenovski.
Despite making the move to Korea at only 20 years of age and with the weight of filling Ogenovski-s rather large boots Hamill says that he arrived at the club confident in what he could achieve and ready to showcase his abilities to the K-League.
“Sasa was in every sense a legend over in Korea, but joining as one of their limited four foreign players means that you get a sort of respect so I tried to not really feel any pressure I just wanted to get out there and play the best I could,” said Hamill.
Although things started off well for Hamill injury soon began to thwart his time in Korea with a cruel knee injury at the end of 2012 forcing him to have surgery and eventually after a long, painful stint on the bench put a premature close to his time with the club.
However, true to the Wanderers spirit regardless of Hamill-s frustrating time in Asia the mature Red & Black recruit is ready to take his experiences in Korea and put them to use going forward.
“Yeah I had some injuries over there but I like to think of all the positives from my time in Korea. Playing in another country opens your eyes and my bad run there has made me appreciate the game that little bit more,” said the 21 year old.
“I had an interesting time overseas but I decided to come back and try and get some regular football under my belt.
“I am really happy to be here for day one of the Wanderers training and I am ready to get in a good pre-season and return to my best.”
At only 21 with four years of competitive football to his name Hamill certainly has time to get back to his impressive best and wasn-t shy in admitting that the opportunity to re-ignite his career and further his development under Tony Popovic was a big selling point in his decision to join the Wanderers.
“I am looking forward to learning from Tony Popovic and the coaching staff here. Tony has played for the national team and over in England, he plays the same position as me so I am excited to learn as much as possible from him and be the best player I can be.”
And when asked about the prospect of playing as a local lad in front of a packed stadium in Wanderland Hamill wasn-t short of praise for his hometown fans.
“As a local Western Sydney boy it means a lot to me to come back and play for the Wanderers it is amazing to see the success the club has had, especially now with their incredible fans.”
“I-ve been to a couple of the Wanderers games and the support is unbelievable, I-ve been to games over in England and the Western Sydney fans are on par with some of the English Premier League fans.
“It will be a special feeling playing for Western Sydney I really want to get out there and play in front of 20,000 passionate fans and the RBB.”
