For Glenn Murison, the lure of a return to Australia was too much to turn down.
The Huntly midfielder left for Victorian club Shepparton South in 2020, but – within a couple of weeks of arriving down under – the pandemic started and, having not played for his new club, Murison returned home.
Now, though, the 24-year-old and girlfriend Aedin Mimnagh have returned to the city of Shepparton, which is 112 miles north-east of Melbourne.
Shepparton South’s season runs until October, but Murison revealed they may stay for longer.
He said: “Since I went they’ve been keen for me to go back out, but I’d been enjoying my job and my football back home.
“Eventually, I thought: ‘If I don’t do it now I never will do it.’
“And after it being cut short last time because of Covid, I felt it was something I had to go and do.
“Hopefully this time I’ll get to do what I’m going there to do, which is play.
“If we go there and love it and settle then we might look to stay or it might be a case of doing the season and then coming home.
“I can’t put my finger on it at the moment and, if things go well, we might end up staying for long. We’re going over with an open mind and (we’ll) see how it works out.”
Thanks to Huntly
Murison has thanked his hometown club Huntly for allowing him to pursue his Australian adventure.
He helped the Black and Golds reach the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield earlier this season and hasn’t ruled out returning to Christie Park in the future.
He added: “Huntly have been great with me and it works two ways, because I have given them good service as well.
“I’ve been with Huntly for seven or eight seasons and I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs.
“This season is one where it has been going well, but that maybe doesn’t quite reflect in the league table.
“It’s been fine margins in games and we got to a cup final as well and were close to winning it.
“Really for (manager) Allan Hale and (assistant manager) Stefan Laird this is their first proper season trying to establish themselves.
“Personally I feel there is a lot of potential for Huntly going forward and I think everyone has seen a difference this season.
“If I’m coming back home, then I’d be really happy to return to Huntly.
“With Allan and Stefan, there is a feeling of progress being made and the potential to win trophies.”
