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It is the homecoming that will cap off one of the more remarkable sporting ascents by an Australian when Lucas Herrington ventures onto Suncorp Stadium.
Lucas Herrington’s return to Suncorp Stadium will cap off one of the more remarkable Australian sporting ascents.and his World Cup exploits with Australia,“It’s pretty crazy, a lot of things have happened in those 10 months.
It’s flown by,” Herrington said on the eve of the Queensland Football Series second fixture.
“I’m just trying to stay humble, keep working hard and enjoy the journey. I’ve had to work and adapt to every scenario from Brisbane to Colorado to the Socceroos to the EPL – it’s all different environments, different training environments, and you have to adapt to them all.
Herrington showed in Townsville once again just how high a ceiling he can hit, with fellow Australian defender Aziz Behich admitting the teenager “definitely” made his job easier, and had relished watching his growth to the point he endured a late night to watch his last Hull City clash.
“I think he said it was an honour,” Behich laughed, when asked how Herrington responded upon finding out he had tuned in for his battle with Newcastle United, which kicked off at midnight Australian time. Only Brazilian rivals Vitor Reis, Danilo Santos and Marquinhos finished with greater pass efficiencies than Herrington .
But it was the fact he did not make a tackle – or rather, didn’t need to in defusing the South American giants until Rayan’s equaliser from a corner with the game’s final play – which illustrated just how good he could become.
“Reading the game is what that comes from. He can read the game very well, and he’s got some good players around him who can guide him and assist him in that area to have him in the right position before the action happens,” Australia coach Tony Popovic said.
“He’s learning to be more proactive, that we anticipate will only get better. He’s a great young man; humble, quiet, but he doesn’t come across that way when he’s on the pitch – he goes out and is full of aggression.
“We’ve seen now against Brazil a confident young man defending against the very best. Now he’s got the challenge of doing something he hasn’t done in a while against that calibre, backing up three or four days later – can the body do it, and are you ready to play at that level once more?
” Herrington could be joined in the homecoming celebrations on Tuesday night by uncapped rookie Eli Adams, with the Toowoomba product hopeful of turning his first overseas move to Japan into international minutes ahead of January’s Asian Cup. The 24-year-old made his A-League debut with the Roar before finding himself under Popovic’s tutelage at Melbourne Victory, with his subsequent departure to Newcastle Jets – where he helped the club to a maiden premiership in the 2025-26 season – coinciding with the Socceroos great’s ascent to the nation’s top job.
Adams has since found his way to Japan, with the winger featuring in six of a possible eight games for J1 League outfit Gamba Osaka, and Popovic has already witnessed a different prospect to the one he first mentored.
“I think the jump from playing in Brisbane to going to Victory was a very big jump for him – moving away from home, the pressures of needing to perform at Victory, that was a bit of a change for him, but it also helped him,” Popovic said. “He’s in a foreign country so he’s adapting to a new culture, a new way of playing, and new expectation.
You’re a foreigner in Japan, you need to be one of the best players; otherwise it doesn’t work, and being at the same level is not enough.
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