Kye Rowles says the Hearts Aussie connection convinced him to move halfway across the world to become a Jambo. The defender finally made his debut as a second half substitute during last night’s friendly defeat to Preston North End. Rowles’ arrival from Australia was delayed after visa issues and extra time off after international duty. He’s finally gotten some minutes in maroon though and will likely get more this weekend. Hearts host Stoke City in their final pre-season friendly for Gary Locke’s testimonial at Tynecastle.
Rowles becomes the third Australian to join Hearts under Robbie Neilson and Joe Savage. Cammy Devlin was the first last summer before Nathaniel Atkinson joined him in January. Rowles knows both well, and roomed with Atkinson while away with the Socceroos, who qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
And the new boy admits he’s relied on his compatriots a lot, both in persuading him to make the move to Scotland and now that he’s here getting settled into life in the capital. “Those two boys have been a massive help so far,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll need to lean on them a bit more in the coming weeks.
“I’ve known them boys for a little bit now and they’re top guys. Top players as well. They’ve been a massive help so far and I can’t thank them enough to be honest. They were just buzzing for me and only had good things to say about the club, the city and the boys. Once I heard that I was like: ‘You know what? It’s definitely worth a shot.”
As for what fans can expect from Rowles, he told Hearts TV: “I like to think of myself as a good teammate. I try to lead on the pitch with communication and that kind of stuff. I’m aggressive and a player that likes to get stuck in so I’m going to try and bring those things to the table. I’ll work on a few things that I need to as well and just get better to try and help the team as much as I can.”
Rowles was on the bench for the recent 2-2 friendly draw at home to Crawley Town. However, as he wasn't registered in time, was listed as a trialist and didn't make it off the bench. But now he’s experienced the Gorgie ground during pre-season, he can’t wait to run out there for real. He added: “The stadium looks unreal. I was there on Saturday. The pitch is quality.
“The stadiums are built differently to back home, that’s for sure. They’re proper footballing stadiums here and I can’t wait to see it rocking. It’s going to be unreal.”
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