\u201cI was disappointed because I like playing in big games and you want to be involved as a player, you want to be starting that game,\u201d Brimmer told the Herald. \u201c[But] I had to bite my tongue and I just thought to myself, what can I do to help the team and how can I influence the team when I come off the bench?\u201d<\/p>\n
He had a huge impact. In the first half, Brimmer had studied Phoenix goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi playing out from the back regularly and took advantage of a lapse in concentration barely 15 minutes after coming on, anticipating a misdirected pass then chipping the stranded custodian.<\/p>\n
In the 96th minute, another finish from Brimmer sealed the result, as he converted Luis Toomey\u2019s cross into an empty net. It\u2019s a day etched in his mind, especially because of an offhand promise he made at a pre-season fan function.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk about memories and you talk about the first derby,\u201d Brimmer laughed. \u201cPrior to that, I had spoken to the Port fans at Tyler street and I said I\u2019d score two goals and I happily enough did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake Brimmer of Auckland celebrates after scoring a goal against the Wellington Phoenix at Sky Stadium, Wellington. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Brimmer isn\u2019t making any such promises this time \u2013 especially as he is being used in a deeper position this season \u2013 but he is in a good space. The 27-year-old has been one of Auckland\u2019s standouts, bringing energy, invention and work rate to his central role beside Louis Verstraete. He has looked hungry and agrees with that assessment, after what was only an average first season by his standards. <\/p>\n
A former A-League Player of the Year \u2013 Brimmer arrived at Auckland FC as one of the biggest signings \u2013 he didn\u2019t always live up to that billing, with a third of his 27 appearances from the bench, including both legs of the semi final against Melbourne Victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal was to go away and reflect [after the season] and I wasn\u2019t happy with what I contributed to the team [last season] and I\u2019ve still got a lot that I can improve on,\u201d Brimmer said. \u201dThat\u2019s the mindset that any good footballer has, and I\u2019ve really come into pre-season hungry. I am playing that deeper role and I\u2019ve probably accepted that more this season, rather than last year, where I was a bit, not necessarily disappointed, but it was something new to me again.\u201d<\/p>\n Corica likes what he has seen so far.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s come back a changed man and is working extremely hard,\u201d the Auckland coach said. \u201dHe worked hard in the off-season as well. He is very motivated, playing really well, leading by example. He\u2019s doing the work that we expect from him in midfield and he has the quality on the ball as well, which helps.”<\/p>\n Brimmer will need to step up again on Saturday (7pm), as captain of the Auckland team \u2013 in the absence of the injured Hiroki Sakai \u2013 for the fourth instalment of what has become an intense rivalry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be an extra edge,\u201d Brimmer said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just an ordinary game … it\u2019s a massive derby for the country. Obviously, Wellington have a lot to play for and if everything works out for them this weekend, they could end up on top of the table. We\u2019re there to spoil the party, as we have done the last three times.\u201d<\/p>\n Brimmer is a veteran of derby matches \u2013 having experienced 11 intra-city clashes in Melbourne \u2013 and believes it is crucial to stay calm, despite the intensity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to get heated, tackles flowing in but it\u2019s important that we play the game, not the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n However, that will be easier said than done.<\/p>\n \u201cThe derby is the stage that everybody wants to play on,\u201d Brimmer said. \u201cYou want to perform and there is a lot at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n He has been impressed with Wellington\u2019s start to the season, with a completely overhauled squad featuring new additions like Ifeanyi Eze, Carlo Armiento and Manjrekar James already making their mark.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a credit to them and their recruitment team,\u201d Brimmer said. \u201cThey\u2019ve started the season very well. They look like a strong team and their defensive structure is quite good but they haven\u2019t obviously [faced] us yet. So we\u2019ll see how it goes this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI was disappointed because I like playing in big games and you want to be involved as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6030,27500,806,51,7022,84971,2068,1288,1872,26845,84970,78719,111,139,69,4762,57694,34592,1527,312,84972,213,2737,223,61,5273,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-120678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-again","9":"tag-aleague","10":"tag-as","11":"tag-auckland","12":"tag-black","13":"tag-brimmer","14":"tag-cant","15":"tag-capital","16":"tag-face","17":"tag-fc","18":"tag-jake","19":"tag-knights","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-party","24":"tag-phoenix","25":"tag-ready","26":"tag-return","27":"tag-says","28":"tag-spoil","29":"tag-sports","30":"tag-star","31":"tag-the","32":"tag-to","33":"tag-wait","34":"tag-wellington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}