Issue 215 of NTV came out in January 2012. It featured an article by Adam Henderson on our new signing from Central Coast Mariners, Tom Rogic…
Tom Rogić is a 20-year old Australian signed from Central Coast Mariners in the A-League.
He joined the Mariners midway through last season in January 2012 having never played professional football before but was picked up by the Nike Academy as one of eight players given a contract by their worldwide scouting system.
In his first season with Mariners, Rogic helped them to go on and win the regular season title. In 2012 Rogic again helped Mariners to the top of the league table, scoring 3 goals in 11 appearances.
He has also gained international recognition this season, and now has four Australia caps to his name along with one for the Olympic qualifying team.
Rogic is an attacking midfielder and is described by his former club as being “potentially and hopefully one of Australia’s future brightest stars”. After signing him for Central Coast Mariners, manager Graham Arnold described him as, “a creative player, you give him the key and tell him to go and unlock the door. He’s naturally gifted, has a strong physique and can score goals as well.”
He is considered by some to be the most technically gifted attacker to emerge from the Australian Leagues since Mark Viduka, who had a very successful spell at Celtic.
Rogic, although very good with the ball at his feet, is hard-working and at 6ft 2 is not easily bullied off the ball. He also can score goals and in his one year with Central Coast Mariners he hit the back of the net 5 times in just under 30 games. He is not afraid to get stuck in either.
He seems to tick all the boxes for Celtic. A playmaking midfielder is currently top of the list of positions needed and Rogic looks like a technically gifted player
However, his strength and work-rate also mean that he isn’t a ‘luxury player’ who might struggle with the physicality of the Scottish game or look out of place in a two-man midfield.
He also fits into the current policy of buying cheap, young players from smaller markets. And with the fee reported as being around £500,000 is not an expensive signing.
At 20-years old he also has a lot of time to improve his game and will be seen as both an exciting-young player and a longer-term replacement to the likes of Victor Wanyama, Beram Kayal or Kris Commons who are only likely to be at Celtic for a few more seasons.
So, how did that one work out?
ntvcelticfanzine.com 