Rutger Worm can lay claim to being one of the original Melbourne Heart players and its first ever goal-scorer. On the eve of the Heart’s first finals appearance, the well-dressed Dutchman sat down with Kait O’Callahan to talk about everything from soccer and AFL to Australian girls.
The Melbourne Heart
Congratulations on making the final. It must be a very exciting time for the team.
Yes, last year we didn’t make the finals which was really disappointing as we had a really good team with experienced players. But this year we have a team with younger players and I think we’ve done a really good job.
What do you think the team need to do to make it deep in the finals or win the competition?
We have to win four games to win the championships. It is going to be difficult and we are playing Perth first. But if we want to be the champions we have to win against everybody.
Our focus in second halves is something that has been criticised; the amount of times we have won a second half is very low. Why is that and what is the team doing about it?
Sure. We have a very young team and we put a lot of energy into our game. In the second half we are often tired and not sharp anymore; we press a lot and we can’t keep doing that for 90 minutes. That’s what the coach wants but that’s hard to do for 90 minutes. If we try to play a little bit smarter and drop down then we get a lot of balls against us and that has happened in the second half a lot, especially in the last two or three games. I think it is conditioning wise as well – it is hard to explain.
Are you saying that fitness is an issue for the team?
No it is not that. We just play a certain way, which is really difficult to keep up for 90 minutes.
Can you tell us about your training schedule?
Following game day we have a recovery day – just in St Kilda, recovering the muscles, ice baths – yeah it’s freezing! – beach, swimming pool. The day after that we are free – normally we have Monday free – and then have training sessions and physical training on Tuesday and more training and technique on Wednesday, and Thursday is just light stuff – set pieces and watching the video.
Do you spend much time running or at the gym?
No – in the pre-season we do a lot. Now we do much more with the ball. During the season, because it’s such a short season, we don’t do that much running.
Last year you played a full season but not this year. Why do you think that is?
Last year I played everything but this year I had an injury at the start of the season, that is why I didn’t play. When I came back from injury we had the period where we won seven or eight games in a row, so I was really happy with that. But the last five or six games I’m not playing a lot because everybody is fit and Eli Babalj and Mate Duganzic are doing really great jobs. Because I didn’t play at the start of the season, conditioning-wise it is difficult to play 90 minutes, so that is why I have played a lot of 60 minute games.
John van’t Schip (JVS), the coach of the Melbourne Heart, is leaving at the end of the year. Do you have any thoughts on who might take his place?
I don’t know – I hear different stories. It is difficult because he’s playing a certain way, sort of a Dutch influence – first 4-3-3 and now 4-4-2, press forward when we don’t have the ball. So we need a coach who does the same thing as JVS to be honest but it is difficult to find. Some say John Aloisi should do the job but maybe we need an experienced coach with a name because Melbourne Heart is not really big and is a new club so maybe we need a coach with a big name from Europe who has the same mind as JVS.
Growing Up in Holland
What age did you take up soccer?
I started as an amateur when I was six years old – my dad was a keeper and my mum was a soccer player as well. When I was ten I started with a professional organisation who I played with for two years but they didn’t find me good enough so I left for my own city, Nijmegen, where I was born, and I played there professionally for ten years. After ten years I decided I’d had enough and I wanted to look for something else for experience and adventure, and that is why I went to Melbourne with a Dutch coach.
Who did you idolise growing up?
Dennis Bergkamp, and players like Ronaldo – the old Ronaldo not Christiano – but Bergkamp was more my style you know; midfielder, good technique and a good guy off the pitch as well.
If you weren’t a professional soccer player what would you be doing?
I was learning to be a chef and I also studied to be a painter, but to be honest I always knew what I wanted and it was to be a soccer player. I did everything I could and I made it so I will try and play until the end of my career.
Why did you choose Australia?
Firstly, my manager was the same manager as JVS’s and when the Melbourne Heart started up he asked me to come with him. I thought about it – about my mum and dad and my girlfriend at the time – and I asked a lot about Melbourne and did lots of research on the Internet. I found that Melbourne and Australia are very liveable with good weather, sports, and food. I was told the A-League is growing so to see the world it is a good place to go for two-three years.
Why would you encourage kids in Australia to take up soccer as opposed to AFL etc.?
Well you have to do what you feel like but soccer, for me, it is the best game in the world. It has everything – the physical part, technical part, mental part – it is a fun, all-round game, you know what I mean?
Moving to Australia
Were there any big culture shocks when you arrived in Australia?
Not many – I expected a lot more! Of course if I went into the country, the outback, I’d get a shock. But Melbourne and Sydney are really western, really European/American.
What do you miss the most about home?
Family and friends. Some other things – some really Dutch things – but not that much. Sometimes my parents send some things over, like chips and cheese, mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is disgusting over here, you eat everything with ketchup!
How long do you see yourself in Australia?
My two-year contract expires at the end of this year but it depends what my new coach wants (as to whether it gets renewed) so I’ll just wait and see. But if they want to keep me then I’ll think about it because I really like it here and I don’t mind staying a bit longer. But my friends and family are a big part of my life so yeah, I’m not sure yet.
Do you go home in the off-season?
Yes, I went home at the end of last season. My mum and dad have been over – it was the first time on a plane for my dad and straight away he had to fly 24 hours! I was really proud of him. My best friends have been here too.
Living in Australia
Where did you take your family – what do you consider Melbourne’s best sights?
Lots of nature – King Lake, Great Ocean Road, and the Dandenongs. Also the inner cities and the stadiums are beautiful. We also went to Sydney.
What do you like about Sydney?
The Darling Harbour area is beautiful. The people are a little bit different though from Melbourne. They’re not bad, but different: more business, more focused, more keep to themselves. People in Melbourne are more laid-back, friendly, and open.
What about the rest of Australia – have you seen everything you want to or would you like to travel more?
I haven’t seen anything to be honest. In away games you only see the stadium, the hotel, and a bus. I have been to Hamilton Island though and saw the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsundays.
What about New Zealand?
I’ve been to Wellington. It is not a bad city but really windy but the nature is better elsewhere I understand. People in Holland go to New Zealand for the nature and I have heard it is a beautiful country. They don’t have many animals though.
Not really, no. Just a flightless bird. What’s your favourite Australian animal?
What a question. I don’t mind the kangaroo. It is different and we had never heard about it, but it is typical Australia. They are funny how they jump and how they move around. The koala is a bit boring. I carried one in Hamilton Island.
Have you eaten kangaroo before?
I don’t know if it is terrible to say but I have tried it once, yeah. (I like it) if they prepare it well, cook it well, then it is very tasty. Otherwise it is not very tender, I think.
How would you describe Australian people?
I think they’re really friendly, they try to help. They’re different but not in a bad way. I mean when I came here and I was at the airport for the first time, I didn’t know where to go. It was my first day on the other side of the world. And one guy came up to me, saw I was lost, and goes, “Hey mate, can I help ya with something? Do ya need a hand?” In Europe not many people would do that. That’s a typical Australian.
What about Australian girls?
Is this a part of the interview or what? (laughing).
You can be honest – I’m not an Australian girl!
Ahhh I see! (long pause) Well you have a lot of influence from Greece and the Italians, so that’s a little bit European as well but… the girls are normal, nothing special.
Nothing special?
Oh no I don’t mean in a negative way! But they’re not much different from European girls. They’re maybe a bit closed off, they’re not really open-minded compared to the Dutch girls, and they dress different. But maybe that’s the weather – they wear heels and shorter dresses. It is a little bit much for me. It is good to watch but, as a girlfriend, no. It isn’t very classy.
What about the rest of Australian fashion?
It is a little more alternative than Europe. You wouldn’t think that – of course there is a lot of American and English influence here – but you have Smith Street and Brunswick Street where they’re really into fashion and are really alternative and different. The fashion is really up there – Chapel and Collins St are very good for shopping.
Have you been to an AFL match and what did you think?
Yes, once I went to Melbourne versus Richmond. It was last year. I support Hawthorn a bit because I live there and they’re not a bad team. What about you?
Erm, I prefer rugby union.
Yeah I’m not a big fan of AFL but they’re obsessed with it here. If I have to pick out of rugby and AFL, I pick AFL. It is more with the feet, more forwards not backwards, shooting more. They’re not stocky but taller, I like it.
Anything else except the mayonnaise you really dislike about Australia?
The traffic in the city is terrible but it is the same in Holland. But I do find it hard to really open up to Melbourne guys (to make friends) – they’re not that open.
Finally, can you tell us your absolute favourite things about Australia.
The weather and the nature. But Melbourne – it is a great city, one of the best in the world.
Image credits: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images AsiaPac
