History for Ranix

The Irishmen have stayed the course for more than two and a half years now, blown away by this country's beauty, the lifestyle and the warmth of the welcome, even though they have had to make some cultural adjustments to make and deal with some criticism from New Zealanders.

"We don't have fans everywhere," says O'Keeffe, 25.

"There are some people who are against imports. There are a lot more people who support us ut there are still come people who don't agree with imports. A lot of people thought we'd come here for six months and then be gone again but we're here for the longer term.

"We're working in football [in development roles for Football South], not just playing football. We're trying to grow the whole game and we're here for the long term, for the forseeable future so I think people are slowly getting onside."

The criticism upsets the 27-year-old Last. "You put on the Southern United jersey every week to represent the region," he says. "When you hear that some people don't support us it's difficult because the amount the effort we're putting in to try and get the club to the next level. For us it's about sticking at it and trying to get these people on board."

Little, the New Zealander in our group interview, is like the bridge between these players of disparate backgrounds and his countrymen. He has also heard the grumbles that the imports take the spots of Kiwi players and give nothing back, but he's having none of it.

""People get that impression from other teams," he says. "Auckland City have a lot of imports and they don't do any work, no coaching . . . People assume that's what happening down here but it's not. These guys are going to schools, they're coaching at the weekends."