Leigh Broxham may have just scored his first Hyundai A-League goal in his 59th game but the Melbourne Victory midfielder is hungry for more as he looks to add an attacking string to his bow in season 2010-11.
Leigh Broxham may have just scored his first Hyundai A-League goal in his 59th game but the Melbourne Victory midfielder is hungry for more as he looks to add an attacking string to his bow in season 2010-11.
Broxham, who lived the fairytale of going from ball boy to championship player in 2006-07, has become a mainstay for Melbourne, playing 29 matches last season and featuring in the opening match against Sydney last weekend which ended in a 3-3 draw.
The match will be remembered as a rollercoaster with Melbourne coming from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, only for Sydney to snatch a point at the death. However, Broxham will always remember it as the game where he finally netted his first goal, albeit in bizarre circumstances.
Broxham’s attempt at heading the ball resulted in him kicking the ball accidentally into the back of the net in one of the more humorous goals in A-League history.
“I was looking to put a big powerful header into the bottom right corner. It skimmed off something, bounced off head, shoulders, knees and toes and went in. We take all of them. It doesn-t matter,” he said.
Despite an inauspicious scoring debut, Broxham, who has built his reputation as a tough-as-nails defensive midfielder, sees a more attacking future for himself.
“Ernie (Merrick) has given me more licence to get forward. Even before that goal I’d been in the box two or three times before that taking a gamble to get in there. I’ll continue to do that,” he said.
“The more times you get in there, the more luck you have, it-s something I’m trying to add to my game as well.”
At 22 and with four seasons with the club under his belt, Broxham is ready to become more than just a role player in the Victory side. Always highly-rated by his coach, he wants to start living up to that potential by becoming a more complete player.
“I want to consolidate on last year. I played almost every game. The last time I did that, I didn-t play much the next year. I just want to establish myself in the team and not let up. There’s little things on my game I want to work on to be more of a complete player and hopefully go onto higher levels,” he said.
“At the moment, there’s a lot of things I want to work on and I’m happy to be playing regularly.”
Broxham will be a year too old to feature at the next Olympic Games, so the next level for him is international football with the Socceroos. He believes that if he can keep improving then he is on the right path.
“It-s something that I’ve highlighted personally. I don-t speak about it too much, but it-s something I want to be a part of. There’s a lot of things I need to work on, consistency and quality, to get to that level. Hopefully I can in the next few years or so,” he said.
