Ben Waine: Rory Fallon instrumental in Plymouth Argyle move
- Published
Ben Waine got his first taste of Home Park when he was introduced to the fans at the 3-1 win over Milton Keynes Dons on New Year's Day
Ben Waine says fellow New Zealand player Rory Fallon was instrumental in his move to Plymouth Argyle.
The 21-year-old has joined from A-League Wellington Phoenix.
He follows in the footsteps of Fallon, who scored 22 goals in 161 appearances for Argyle between 2007 and 2011.
"I met him with the national team setup and that was where he first started talking to me about what Argyle was like and the city itself, and he he's had nothing bad to say," Waine said.
Fallon retired from football in November 2017 after New Zealand lost out to Peru in an inter-continental play-off for the 2018 World Cup.
His career in England took him to 14 clubs in England and Scotland where he played in all three tiers of the English Football League, the National League and Scottish Premier League - most notably at Plymouth, Swindon Town and Barnsley.
Fallon has been working as an assistant with the New Zealand national team since moving back to his homeland.
Rory Fallon helped New Zealand reach the 2010 World Cup where they finished third in their group - a point off making the knockout stakes - after draws with Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay
"I'm hoping he'll come and visit at some point as well, he's very highly respected at the club," added Waine of Fallon, who also had spells at fellow south west clubs Torquay United and Truro City.
"He was really pushing for me to try to come over here as soon as I got a sniff of it being a possibility."
Waine's family hail from the north of England, although his last visit to the UK prior to his move to Argyle was a decade ago.
But had things gone according to plan he could already be acclimatised to the English weather and the time difference.
"This move was kind of meant to happen in the summer and it kind of got blocked," he said.
"I was a bit distraught when it didn't happen over the summer, but ever since then I was keeping a close eye on what was happening and the amount of work that's been put in, and the results and the position in the table, is just amazing."
Newcastle United striker Chris Wood is the highest-profile New Zealand player currently playing in English football, from a country where rugby union is the number one sport - but that is something Waine hopes he can help change.
"Football over there is one of the most popular sports grassroots-wise, we sometimes get overshadowed by the All Blacks," Waine added.
"What they do is amazing, winning World Cups. The All Whites aren't quite there, but it's definitely a growing sport and hopefully people moving over here to play at a higher level helps it as well."