And his two young daughters live in Melbourne \u2013 with his ex-partner \u2013 which means Brimmer only sees them a few times across the year. <\/p>\n
It meant there was a lot to weigh up when he made the decision to sign for Auckland FC and it has felt even harder during this second season. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you have to sacrifice \u2013 you only get a certain amount of years playing football,\u201d said Brimmer. \u201cSo it was a sacrifice I was willing to make to leave my dad who was quite ill and my two beautiful daughters. I have a dream and unfortunately that was a sacrifice I had to make and every day, every session, every game, I try and do my best for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father tries to come over \u201cas much as he can, although it\u2019s quite difficult\u201d. Brimmers sees his daughters \u2013 Hayzel and Evalyn \u2013 for a period during school holidays and when Auckland FC have matches in Melbourne, where he is often able to stay on for an extra day or two. He has been appreciative of the club\u2019s empathetic approach. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been immense,\u201d said Brimmer. \u201dEvery opportunity I can get to go back to Melbourne, they allow it\u201c, adding that manager Steve Corica had given him time off for his grandfather\u2019s funeral. <\/p>\n
Jake Brimmer has been under the radar this year. Photo \/ Photosport <\/p>\n
For his part, Corica said they are trying to support Brimmer as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must be difficult for him, he has got a lot going on in the background. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to support him as much as possible and every now and then he gets a little bit of extra time off to go and see the family. It\u2019s always difficult but he has been a true professional, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding to the emotional bandwidth, Brimmer\u2019s wife Amelia is also set to give birth within in the next fortnight. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife is due in that week, we play Adelaide [April 3],\u201d said Brimmer. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be very difficult to get back. But the baby will be born here, so I\u2019m gonna have a Kiwi baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brimmer has only started eight matches this season \u2013 an adjustment given his past deeds, especially with Melbourne Victory, where he was a focal point \u2013 but accepts it is part of the sport. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no egos in the team,\u201d says Brimmer. \u201cObviously we\u2019re fighting for places and every footballer wants to start, but at the minute, my job is to come on and help the team as best as I can off the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auckland FC\u2019s in-game reinforcements have been a big part of the team\u2019s success, with their enviable depth. Corica\u2019s team are in good position \u2013 after Saturday\u2019s pivotal 2-1 win in Newcastle \u2013 to pursue another Premier\u2019s Plate and score top spot for the finals, as they trail the Jets by a solitary point. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have given ourselves a great chance,\u201d admitted Corica. <\/p>\n
It feels like they are finding their groove \u2013 at the right time \u2013 in the midst of a six-match unbeaten run. They\u2019ll be heavy favourites against eighth-placed Macarthur, who have lost four on the bounce, conceding 12 goals across that period. But Corica also knows they could be desperate \u2013 and desperate to show the rot.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s dangerous] if we take them too lightly, which we don\u2019t want to do,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jake Brimmer in the A League<\/p>\n
Club Games Goals Assists<\/p>\n
Melbourne Victory\t98 15 19<\/p>\n
Perth Glory 60 0 3<\/p>\n
Auckland FC 41 3 3 <\/p>\n
Total\t\t\t\t\t\t199\t 18\t25\t<\/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":"And his two young daughters live in Melbourne \u2013 with his ex-partner \u2013 which means Brimmer only sees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2840,27500,95,51,84971,8530,2109,26845,16555,4532,72919,84970,116640,111,139,69,90,2680,2730,12860,6926,213,2737,3258,1361,1961,12628,810],"class_list":["post-339603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-across","tag-aleague","tag-and","tag-auckland","tag-brimmer","tag-carried","tag-family","tag-fc","tag-form","tag-grief","tag-heartbreak","tag-jake","tag-midfielder","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-opens","tag-personal","tag-revealed","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-star","tag-struggles","tag-that","tag-this","tag-tragedy","tag-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339603","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=339603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}