With the half-time whistle fast approaching, Richmond have one final opportunity to level proceedings as Jake Barker-Daish prepares to take the corner. Rick Mensink’s side were 2-0 down after strikes from Matthew Conversano and Jake Nakic put the hosts in front, only for Liam Flynn to half the deficit.
The midfielder’s low corner bounced and bobbled in the box before meeting the foot of Geert Arend Roorda, who tapped home at the back post for the equaliser. Both teams failed to add to the scoreline in the second period, settling for the point with the Dutchman’s goal on the stroke of half-time proving pivotal.
Additionally, it was also Roorda’s first strike in Richmond colours following his move to Kevin Bartlett Reserve earlier this year, after nearly a decade spent playing in his native Netherlands. His signing for the 2015 NPL2 Champions in mid-December captured the attention of many given his pedigree, which included being capped at Under-21 level for the Oranje and more than six seasons plying his trade in the Dutch Eredivisie.
The towering figure, who stands at an imposing height of six-foot-three, gave his analysis of the contest post-game and believes that the scoreboard was a fair reflection of the 90 minutes of play.
“I think we were a bit unlucky in the first half to concede the goal due to our mistake and turnover in possession and they capitalised the space afforded well”, Roorda said.
“The second goal was clearly offside, but we fought back and kept them under pressure before scoring our goals. The second half was even and we tried our best to play football which they did not, but it wasn’t enough for us in the end to get the three points. At the end it became a battle in the midfield, and we lost that battle, but having said that I’d say based on the chances created a draw was a correct result.”
The first half of the game perhaps epitomised Richmond’s campaign so far, with a slow start seeing them fall behind the eight ball, before rallying back to get on level terms. Their last five league fixtures have yielded only one defeat and included a sensational 6-3 victory over league ladders South Melbourne on the eve of Easter.
“We’re improving every single day and the results lately have been important, as is our style of play, which we have also worked on,” Roorda said.
“We’re undefeated in our last four, which sounds good, but we have only won one of those games plus the cup game, and in the end we need to win games instead of drawing them.”
The 28-year-old only arrived in the country in February – weeks out from the season – and has taken some time to adjust to life and football in Melbourne, which he characterises as primarily being physical.
“I’ve been in Melbourne for eight weeks now and lifestyle wise I’m loving it, with the weather being good and the people very friendly to me,” he said.
“With regards to the football side of things, I had to adapt in the beginning as it’s played a different kind of way here. It’s based more so on physicality than technical and tactical components, which is what I’m used to playing in Holland and this has forced me to adapt.
“I am quite tall and strong, but my strengths lie with the ball at my feet and trying to play with it. I’m happy with the team as there is a lot of goodwill here and a desire to continuously improve and fight til the end, so nothing to complain about.”
After spending his entire career in his home country, the lure of an overseas adventure at the end of the world prompted Roorda to leave his family and friends in the Netherlands behind. Prior to making the move down under, he enlisted the advice and help of several former Dutch A-League players, who he had crossed paths with in his homeland.
“I always wanted an adventure far away from home living alone and Australia was my preferred option,” he said.
“My former Heerenveen teammate Gerald Sibon and good friend Rutger Worm both told me good things about the lifestyle and football side of things.
“I also talked to Bas van den Brink, who played in the A-League for Gold Coast United and Perth Glory. He had some contacts here and got me in touch with [agent] Boris Ivanov, who organised the move to Richmond.”
Born in Heerenveen, Roorda made his debut for his home-town club in 2007 as they competed for a place in Europe. He spent four seasons at Abe Lenstra Stadium in addition to a year on loan at Excelsior of Rotterdam, and called some well-known internationals as teammates during his time at Heerenveen.
Current Dutch national team members Bas Dost (Wolfsburg), Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle United) and Luciano Narsingh (PSV Eindhoven) were some notable teammates, as were foreigners Michael Bradley (USA), Danijel Pranjic (Croatia) and Miralem Sulejmani (Serbia).
While retaining touch with some of his former teammates, Roorda asserts that the different career pathways each has followed has made keeping in contact with many of them difficult.
“Every now and then, but contact is hard because everyone moves their separate ways and you lose touch with a lot of friends and players,” he said.
“But at the same time, the football world is very circular and you eventually end up bumping into each other from time to time.”
Despite featuring in the Europa League for The Super Frisians, his time with the club ended in 2012 when he joined fellow Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen. Eighteen injury plagued months at the club saw him make only fourteen league appearances. In fact, persistent injury problems have been the story of much of his career, curtailing his progress with countless hours spent in the treatment room.
To get a clearer picture of his fitness troubles, Roorda’s appearance in the Round 6 league fixture against Melbourne Knights was his 100th competitive career league appearance since making his first-team senior debut in the 2007-08 Eredivisie season.
His versatility though has been on show for all to see, given the positional adjustments he has made over the course of the opening rounds of the season. After starting the opening round contest against Hume City as a designated centre-forward, Roorda has moved back into attacking and central midfield before partner Bryan Bran in defence against South Melbourne, where he has since remained and is nonetheless enjoying his football there.
“I am a midfielder but Rick [Mensink] wants me in the back because he wants greater stability in defence and a better set-up,” he said.
“He thought I was the right person for it and once I started playing there it went quite well, and he’s been happy with my performances, so he has kept me in the backline.
“For now I’m happy and not moving out of defence, as I want to also improve myself as a defender while also doing it for the team.”
Having played for the Under-17, 19 and 21 representative sides of the Netherlands, and with and against several of the current Dutch senior squad, Roorda is well-placed to give his thoughts on the current state of the national team, which despite finishing third in the World Cup in Brazil, have sensationally not qualified for the upcoming European Championships in France.
While some have suggested Dutch football is in a period of decline, Roorda believes the nation’s strong youth development infrastructure will ensure that such a disappointment is only a temporary blip.
“A lot of the recent struggles revolve around money, as financially it’s not that easy in Holland being a small country with the league not as good as in Spain and England or Germany,” he said.
“The distance between us and those leagues is getting bigger, but our strength tends to lie in our youth development.
“It’s a development country with some of the best youth academies in the world, so even though we didn’t qualify for Euro 2016, I think we will get things right in time for the next World Cup in Russia.”
Roorda, who goes by the nickname of Dutchie amongst his teammates at Richmond, also handed out his observations on Australian football, which he believes will continue to grow in the years to come.
“Australia is a small football country with a lot of that having to do with the fact that it’s not the number one sport here yet,” he said.
“But it is growing and Australia is very open to learn and develop, so I expect it to keeping doing this and increase their competitiveness with each World Cup, particularly given the influences of other football countries here.”
While it may have taken a few games for both Richmond and Roorda to find their feet in the NPL, there is a sense that with every passing week, Mensink’s men improve and collect more and more points as they look to secure their top flight status.
If they manage to achieve such a feet, there is no doubt that their credential Dutchman will play a crucial role as the club look to utilise his European experience to guide them through the campaign.