The Ireland-born real estate agent suffered a hamper of hamstring issues during his time with the Gold Coast Knights and, with minutes at the NPL Queensland club hard to come by, soon felt things had to change.
"I was in the team below A-league, but had to stop playing because I did my hamstring four times, so I missed out on the grand final which was a bit of a bummer,” the 24-year-old told News.com.au.
"My body changed quite a bit after I started going to the gym, so it wasn’t really ideal for soccer.
"In the end I had to choose whether to prioritise going to the gym or getting my body in shape for soccer.
"In the end I went with the gym, because well, I want to look good … and here I am.
"If I hadn’t have done that, I probably wouldn’t be here," he added.
