New recruit Kasey Wehrman and his new teammates today began pre-season training.
Overcast skies and a chill in the air provided a fitting backdrop for the return of one of the Newcastle Jets- latest recruits, Kasey Wehrman, to Australia. After spending the best part of the past nine years in the Norwegian Tippeligaen, the former Qantas Socceroo today joined his new teammates for the first time as the Jets began pre-season training.
Since departing on his Scandinavian sojourn, Wehrman has amassed 12 caps for the national team, while appearing in over 150 matches in Norway-s top flight league. Now, with this wealth of experience under his belt, the rugged central midfielder is keen to call Newcastle home for the foreseeable future.
“It-s good to be coming back from chilly Norway into chilly Newcastle,” he joked after this morning-s training session.
“I-m glad to be home, I saw the family last week, it-s still a bit of a shock to come back but a few more training sessions and I-ll be back into it,”
“I-m 32 now, so hopefully I can dig out a few more seasons, and of good quality at that.”
“I think the timing was right (to come home) and this is a good club, it-s ambitious, it-s hard working, so it-s got a good platform there and I-m eager to get involved.”
Wehrman explained that joining a club which has been part of the finals series in all but one season of the Hyundai A-League was a key reason in his decision to sign for two seasons with the Jets.
Indeed, almost a decade of playing in the thoroughly professional world of European football has given the down-to-earth 32-year-old an appreciation of what it takes to achieve enduring success. And a desire to be part of the club culture at Newcastle is a factor that Wehrman says will drive him during the coming years.
“The work ethic and the culture is the main thing; to get down to the roots of the club and make sure that we put in the hard work, because without any of that you don-t have any kind of stepping stone to step on,” he said. “You might be able to get away with a few games here and there but overall you won-t win the league.”
