Both DJ JJS and CT are right.
There is also one more issue which may play a role in this lack of success by Burns. If you are good enough to be picked by J-League from A-League, that means you are really good (due to the higher skill level there). If you are that good in Australian league, then you would tend to be an individual, maybe a bit of a star, maybe a bit of a ego (not meant in a bad way), and possibly believe that hype. That would see you shot down in flames pretty quickly in Japan, and especially in any team sport, where there is no such thing as an individual brilliance (for example, any individual achievement is only worthy if it is part of an overall team effort). It would take me a while to put my thoughts into words here, but that it the gist of it.
The Japanese group-think is still somewhat underestimated by Westerners, but we have truly moved on by now from early seventies when this misunderstanding often made intercultural negotiations and business conduct a proverbial nightmare.