Casella flying high at Ilinden

22-year-old Jaden Casella pulled of a sensational brace against Sutherland Sharks last weekend that had the whole league talking.

The former A-League talent made a return to Rockdale for the 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season after a successful stint at the Central Coast Mariners and has been quick to settle back into the league.

Showing great loyalty to return to the place that gave him his A-League break, Casella loved the taste of professional football he got from the Mariners.

“I was at Rockdale and had a fantastic end of the season there leading into the final,” Casella explained.

“I was actually planning on going back overseas as I was previously in Spain for two years but it led me to getting a few opportunities with a couple of the A-League clubs, Central Coast being one of them, that I wanted to take up.

“I was familiar with a few of the coaching staff and few players from there so I went up there and I had my trial there for about one to two months and they told me that they wanted to bring me on board and from then on I was just full time with the A-League squad.

“I had my great stint then and I got about 20 matches in – I did what I could, scored a goal against Melbourne City.

“I loved it, enjoyed it, enjoyed the full-time experience being a professional footballer.

“It was fantastic and I am looking at getting back to that professional level and constantly every day still training.

“Coming back to Rockdale was something that I wanted to do to get back in stride and start scoring, start assisting goals again and then hopefully it looks on to a step to go further again for the next season.”

Both goals against Sutherland were a display of incredible technical talent to net the strikes from range, giving the winger a taste of the success he’s been chasing.

“I think it [the brace against Sutherland] was something that I definitely needed and obviously something that the club needed to continue on with a winning streak,” he explained.

“Losing the first game wasn’t a great thing but ever since then we’ve been slowly building and building and knowing exactly what we want to do and what we want to achieve in this league.

“I really do think that we’re a fantastic chance of being top of the ladder in weeks to come.”

The squad that Steve Zoric has put together features a number of talented players who have had A-League experience, making it the perfect environment for Casella to get the most out of his football.

“I’m going to be honest, I personally think that we have a squad with the biggest depth in the league,” he said.

“I mean, we can play our first team or we can play our second team and there’ll be no doubt that we’ll put up a good fight.

“Definitely in training as well it’s a lot of head-to-head battles. 1v1 across the park and it’s honestly been really good. It doesn’t matter when or where we train where we always give it our best shot.

“Coming back from Central Coast and going to Rockdale it’s nothing of a walk in the park, it’s been fantastic.

“Going into training every single week, every single player has something to prove – every single player in that Rockdale squad has done something in their career so it’s just been great to play and train alongside all of them.”

The young talent has developed his football with some time in Spain, playing amongst some exceptional talent produced in the European system.

“That’s [Spain] where I got into my first first grade squad over there, it was like the fourth division and it was fantastic,” Casella said.

“The boys there, they were all class.

“It wasn’t too much of a physical battle, but it was all technical, all on the ball so it really improved my ball skills being over there and playing alongside a few great clubs, especially in the youth team – playing against the Valencia Under 19s team was also fantastic.

“It definitely shaped me, it’s how I how like I play as a footballer today.

“Every single place I’ve been has taught me something different and it’s definitely made me gain more attributes as to being an all-around footballer.”

Having tasted some of the best football environments, Casella has his eyes set on returning to Europe to continue pursuing his dream.

“I have an Italian passport, so that’s why nothing really stopped me from going to Spain the first time,” he explained.

“My goal since I’ve been a little kid is to is to get to those European leagues so I’m just fighting every day, I’m doing what I can, regardless of whether it’s a club or professional level, to be back out where I want to be.

“It’s definitely a definitely a goal to get back into that professional environment.”

While his goals are high, Casella is focussed on finishing off a great season with Rockdale this year.

“With Rockdale for the season I want to get as many points as we can at Australia Cup and NPL season,” he said.

“For the NPL season I want to see us at the top of the ladder and obviously fighting for finals and just get as many points as we can, that would be fantastic.”

-By Madeline Riley