Meet the snubbed Brisbane Roar midfielder on an American adventure

Australian midfielder Jesse Daley has put his A-League frustration behind him and is determined to make his stint in the United States a success.

Daley

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Daley grew up in Brisbane and spent three years with the Brisbane Roar, captaining the Roar’s youth side, along with a brief spell with Melbourne Victory.

But unable to crack a place in the first-team, he departed for the National Premier League Victoria at the age of 18.

In May this year Daley headed for the United Soccer League (USL) to join Seattle Sounders FC 2, the reserve team of the Major League Soccer (MLS) side. There, under the coaching of former Central Coast Mariners captain John Hutchinson, the midfielder has thrived.

Daley's journey from Queensland to Tacoma, Washington, included a season with South Melbourne and then six games for Lions FC, but he admits not getting a chance at senior level with the Roar was a blow.

“It was definitely frustrating. Of course it was, it’s my hometown club, I was there from a young age so I wanted to push on and do well, probably too badly,” he told The World Game.

“At the end of the day it didn’t work out and that’s football. You would like to see more Queenslanders playing for the Roar, young Queenslanders being given an opportunity at the Roar.”

“There’s been so many [who haven’t] over the years – Kenny Dougall, Joey Champness left and he’s doing well at Newcastle, Harry Sawyer’s over in Asia.”

Daley signed a one-year deal with the Sounders 2 after a brief trial period. Fellow Aussie midfielder Antonee Burke-Gilroy, previously with the Newcastle Jets, also joined the American club at the same.

The 21-year-old said the pair were lucky that Hutchinson was on the hunt for Antipodean talent.

"I’m fortunate because John Hutchinson our coach was on the lookout,” he said. “There were two foreign spots available and me and Antonee went over to trial.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. I just loved being back in a full-time environment. I was quite frustrated at the NPL level – not because it’s a bad level, but I missed the full-time environment.

“Seattle Sounders 2 play in the USL, which is the second professional division in America. We’re quite closely linked with the first-team.

“We train on the pitch next to them and quite a lot of the first-teamers play games for us throughout the season. The link's really close. It is a feeding team into the Sounders first-team.

“The USL is full-time and professional so that’s different to Australia. I would say it’s between the best NPL teams in Australia and the A-League, somewhere in that gap. It’s better than state league, but I don’t know if the league is as good as the A-League.”

Daley scored two goals in 22 matches for Sounders 2 this season. The former South Melbourne man believes being back in a fully professional football environment for the past six months has aided his development.

“Sometimes in Australia we might underestimate the difference it makes, but the little things you can work on your game,” he said.

“Obviously video analysis, we do double sessions, extra finishing, extra passing whatever you need for your specific position. The sports science side of things is kind of a different world over there.

“Even the resources, the Sounders are amazing, world-class really and quite a bit of a way ahead of Australia.”

Hutchinson has been with Sounders 2 since March 2017. Daley said the 38-year-old has been “fantastic” for him.

“He obviously played in the same position as me, he’s an Aussie, which helps, but the transition was quite seamless because of that,” he said.

“I kind of took it for granted other aspects of American life that I thought would be the same. Definitely having ‘Hutch’ there, and his family is there as well, having that when we went over to Seattle made it easier for us to adjust.”

Sounders 2 finished second from bottom in the USL’s Western Conference. After establishing himself as a regular starter, Daley has set his sights on making his MLS debut in 2019.

“Our team struggled for results, but I think there was still a lot of positives to come out of our season,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of young players in S2 and towards the end of the season a lot of the young boys really stood up.

“My goal has to be to break into the first-team of the Sounders. I’ve been there for six months so going into my second year that has to be my goal and that’s what I’ll try to do.”


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5 min read
Published 19 December 2018 5:53pm
By John Davidson

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