Fremantle-born Robbie Puca has become established as a regular starter for N.S.L. club Eastern Pride over the past couple of years. But the past year and a half have been a rollercoaster ride for the 21-year old midfielder - his 1999/2000 season was curtained by illness, he then trialled in Europe and more recently found himself smack-bang in the middle of the off-field problems which threaten to swallow his club. This week fellow Pride teammate Michael Katz agreed to interview Puca on our behalf, discussing his career to date and the current turmoil surrounding their club ...

Katz : You started out as a junior with Fremantle United in W.A., and later you spent time with Perth (Italia) in the W.A. Premier League. Could you give a brief run-down on your time in W.A.?
Puca : I started playing when I was five about because my brother was playing and I was always there trying to get a game in his team. I joined Perth around 1994 ... I played first in the Under-16's and then in the Under-18's when I was still 15-years old. I think I made my debut for the first team when I was 17-years old and played for four or so years with Perth, plus another year on loan during the N.S.L. off-season. As a team we took out the championship, the Cup and Top Four titles while I was there in the juniors, and I was also part of the senior side which won the Night Series in 1998. On a personal level I won the club's Development Player of the Year twice in a row and also earnt State team selection. At Under-16's I played for W.A. at the national championship in Sydney where we finished fifth, and I was captain of the W.A. Under-19's under coach Eric Williams when we went to Malaysia.

Katz : How did you first come to the attention of the Falcons (nee Pride)?
Puca : I was approached by John Higginson who said that Stuart Munro, who was the Falcons coach at the time, were looking for a left footed player and a stopper. He went around the W.A. Premier League and he chose me and Fremantle defender Dave Evans and asked if we wanted to go on trial as he thought we were what Stuart was looking for. So I went over and took part in two training sessions and played a game where I scored a goal and hit the post, then came back over for good a month later.

Katz : You've named Perth Oval as your favourite venue to play ... everytime you come back to W.A. with your club there is always a Robbie Puca fanclub in the stands waving flags etc. You must be quite touched by that sort of thing, still getting the support of those from your hometown despite playing for the visiting team?
Puca : Yeah, it's really exciting to see that. Initially they were people that I knew - family and friends - but now one of my best mates, Gary Faria, is playing for Glory so the supporter base has been split down the middle, half went for Gary and half stayed with me.
Katz : And I'd just like to add that Robbie does get a lot of teasing about his fanclub from the Pride players ...

Katz : Falcons/Pride haven't tasted a great deal of success during your time with them. What have been the highlights for you on a personal level?
Puca : Playing 70 N.S.L. games would be up there. And I've won two trophies, the Young Player of the Year and the Achievement Award which is given for overall contribution to the club, not just what happens on the field.

Katz : You are now firmly established as a first-team regular. What is the typical weekly routine at Pride for the players?
Puca : I double-up playing with being a Development Officer at the club. The average week is changing now because we haven't been paid for so long ... it depends really. If we are doing a double session we'll train in the morning, then all the boys will go to a place called La Puceta for a nice pasta lunch and we're back training at night. But if we've got the morning off then those of us that are Development Officers will go to schools and run clinics. We've also got a radio program every Thursday. On our days off I like to play a bit of golf, some Playstation and just take it easy ...

Katz : 2000 was a good year for you. You were one of the clubs best players last season, you trialled in Europe mid-year and early in the 2000/01 season chalked up a personal milestone with your 50th N.S.L. game in club colours. In reflection, how do you view that year?
Puca : Yeah, 2000 was an interesting one, one moment I was up in the air and the next it all went downhill a bit. I started the season flying and the club were doing well, then I found out I was sick. I was diagnosed as being diabetic and had been playing without knowing it and I lost 13 kilograms as a consequence. At the end of the season I picked myself up, I was still keen to go to Italy but, unfortunately, not a lot happened there. My manager also set up trials in England with Cambridge United, but first I spent time at Halifax Town as I had gone about a month without training, so I got my fitness up and played a few games at Halifax. They were very keen but I wasn't really interested in going lower than the Second Division. Anyway, I went to Cambridge and the pace of the game in England is unbelievable, it took me a while to get used to it but I did well and they kept me on for longer and eventually started negotiating with Pride. But all that fell through ...
Katz: I just want to add that Robbie was actually in Italy at the wrong time, there was a mix-up between the club there and Pride. Then by the time he got to England a lot of the clubs had already spent their budgets, so it was hard to even find a club to trial with. He did really well at Cambridge but unfortunately Pride were asking a really large transfer fee, and at that stage of the season Cambridge just couldn't afford it. But they were really happy with Robbie and asked him to go back over this year ...

Katz : This season has been a rollercoaster ride for the club, and they seem to have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Let's look at what is happening on the park first. Pride are currently sitting in last place with just three wins from 25 outings ... what has gone wrong this season? Why are Pride stumping up the N.S.L. ladder?
Puca : That's a tough question ... to be honest it's hard to say. The team is probably the best since I've been here ... a lot of players are under-performing and I could maybe include myself in that ... and the off-field dramas haven't helped the players and we're all getting frustrated. But that's no excuse, in the first half of the season we were getting paid and there were no problems and we were still struggling but I really don't know. Katz, what do you think?
Katz: If you look at our results we haven't lost a game by more than two goals and we've lost six in the last minutes. We've been competitive in all our games, except maybe on or two when we were completely out of it. I think it's not that we're not good enough to be in the top half of the table, it's more a matter of expecting to win, of having a winning mentality and going out to wins games rather than trying not to lose. We've under-achieved in a lot of respects.

Katz : Off the park the club seem to be lurching from one crisis to the next. Problems with player payments (which I believe are continuing), the removal (and subsequent re-installment) of all N.S.L. points, and a growing uncertainty over the future of the club. This has obviously played a part in the poor showing this season. What is the feeling like around the club, and more specifically within the playing squad?
Puca : At the start it bonded us together more because we all agreed to stick together, but now before almost every game it's always "Okay boys, we are not going to get paid, are we going to play?" It's not the sort of preparation you want before a game and you really can't get motivated ... it's how am I going to pay my bills, how am I going to do this. It's pretty bad at the moment but we've all agreed we're going to stick together. We know we're not going to get any help from the club now, so the players are helping each other money-wise and so on. It's just us now, we've all said "Stuff the club, let's do it for ourselves." We want to try and fight through it and give the club time to find someone who will maybe buy or fix the club or do whatever needs to be done. But it looks like it might be happening, we got paid last week, it was the first full week we've got in around two months.

Katz : With the uncertainty surrounding the future of the club, what does the future hold for Robbie Puca? Are you planning to head back to Europe for further trials at the end of the season? And what are the chances that we might see you back in Perth at some stage playing/guesting locally?
Puca : I think I want to play another year or so in the National Soccer League. What let me down when I went overseas before was my strength and I've been working on that this year, building myself up a bit more and being a harder player which accommodates the English League, so another year might mentally toughen me up. Coming home would be great, as long as it's in the N.S.L., I don't want to be taking a step backwards. In the off-season I might be coming back, I don't know who for yet, but maybe I'll come back and play in the Premier League.

Katz : Thanks for your time Robbie. One last question ... I read somewhere that your most embarrassing moment was getting your head stuck in the net of the goals before a game. What is all that about?
Puca : When I was a junior, at our home ground I once scored a goal and the ball went through the net and the referee didn't allow it. So I became obsessed and before every game I'd go to the goal and check that they were pegged down correctly. Anyway, one day I found a hole in the net so I thought I'd check it out further and see if a ball could fit through it, but there was no ball handy at the time. I thought if my head can fit through that hole then a ball can also, so if I score the referee might disallow it again. So I squeezed my head through the hole but getting it back out was another thing, a few of the parents eventually yanked it off ... but I proved the ball would have gone through the net!

Katz : One last thing before we go, we'd like to say hello to Sandy Robertson who is playing in W.A. now, he used to play for the Falcons
Robbie : Yeah, hi Robbo, how's it going mate?

Special thanks to Tom Anderson for taking the time to put us in contact with Puca and arranging the interview, and to Michael Katz for putting our questions to the midfielder.

Copyright Brett Klucznik, 2001. No part of this article may be reproduced without the prior content of it's author, Brett Klucznik (bklucznik@iprimus.com.au). Doing so would be a violation of copyright laws and regulations.