Jordan Bos' first competitive fixture for Feyenoord couldn't have been scripted much better.
On the eve of a new Eredivisie campaign, after an injury to incumbent left-back Gijs Smal had thrust him into the starting lineup for his new side's UEFA Champions League qualifier against José Mourinho's Fenerbahçe, the young Socceroos star collected the ball just inside the Turkish side's half in the 91st minute with the scores locked at one apiece. Afforded time and space, the Australian looked up and spied Anis Hadj Moussa's run into the box and promptly swept a left-footed delivery where only the Algeria international could meet it, sending De Kuip into raptures, and securing the Dutch side a 2-1 first-leg win.
A pretty good first impression.
After two seasons with Belgian side KVC Westerlo, Bos had made the switch to Rotterdam less than a fortnight prior, moving in a deal worth a reported €5 million and signing a four-year contract with a club that runs in his DNA; his Dutch-born father and generations of his family all growing up supporting De club aan de Maas.
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Injuries had restricted Bos, 22, to just 12 starts with Westerlo the season before, as well as ruled him out of the Socceroos' last two windows of FIFA World Cup qualification, but it was these very fitness issues -- according to a report from Dutch outlet Voetbal International -- that had allowed the Eredivisie giants to swoop in and secure his services at a price they otherwise may not have been able to consider.
Bos' next opportunity to impress will come on Saturday (Sunday morning, Australian time), when Feyenoord host NAC Breda on the opening weekend of the new Eredivisie season. Lining up across from him will be another of the three Australians who will ply their trade in the Dutch top-flight in 2025-26: former Central Coast Mariners standout Maximilien Balard, who is now in his second season with NAC. The following day, Socceroos attacker Ajdin Hrustić and his Heracles Almelo teammates will make the trip to face FC Utrecht at the Stadion Galgenwaard. Elsewhere, defending champions PSV Eindhoven will open their campaign at home to Sparta Rotterdam on Saturday evening, followed the next day by AZ Alkmaar hosting Groningen and giants Ajax welcoming newly promoted Telstar to the Johan Cruyff Arena.
A further 33 rounds will follow in the league's 70th season, with three Champions League places among the eight possible European berths on offer at the top end of the table, while others battle to avoid the two automatic relegation places and relegation-playoff slot.
"What I found in the Eredivisie is that it's very attacking," former Ajax assistant Michael Valkanis told ESPN.
"Even the smaller clubs. When we were at Ajax... if we went to the [Go Ahead] Eagles, there was no chance that we're going to sit back and just park the bus. They were going to come. They were going to be high pressing, playing attacking football, trying to get in behind us."
Returning to Australia this season as the new head coach of Brisbane Roar in the A-League Men -- a club that's roots, fittingly, are tied to Brisbane's Dutch diaspora -- Valkanis has had two stints coaching in the Eredivisie, serving as an assistant to John van't Schip first at PEC Zwolle and then Ajax. Every week was a chess match, he recalled, with teams adjusting not only week-in and week-out to match the strengths and habits of their opposition, but switching their approach multiple times in-game to counter the approach their opposition had brought into the game.
"We noticed that every club is similar in that aspect," he said. "That it's all about attacking football and scoring goals. From a defensive point of view, it's how we're going to press to win the ball back. It's not to sit back and park the bus; you rarely see that in the Eredivisie."
Inexplicably allowed to leave Gosford for nothing despite having a year remaining on his contract, NAC midfielder Balard had an incredibly successful debut season in 2024-25, starting every game he played across league and cups, and even wearing the armband in a late-season clash with NEC Nijmegen. All indications are that the 24-year-old will continue to be an ever-present figure in Carl Hoefkens' midfield this season.
Injuries and a series of misadventures at club level, meanwhile, have seen Hrustić effectively spinning his wheels over the past seasons. After successfully helping Eintracht Frankfurt lift the Europa League in 2022 -- scoring a penalty in the final, no less -- the mercurial midfielder joined Hellas Verona in what can only be described as a nightmare move. A brief loan stint with Heracles Almelo back in the 2023-24 season served as something of an oasis during this period and, having previously thrived in the Netherlands, spending several years with Groningen in addition to his time in Almelo, Hrustić will be revisiting a happy hunting ground this season -- boosting his chances of forcing his way back into Tony Popovic's plans for the coming World Cup.
Indeed, all three of Australia's representatives in the Dutch top-flight this year stand out as strong contenders to be part of the 23-player squad that will assemble in North America. The Eredivisie sent 19 players to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, led by 12 members of the Netherlands squad in addition to representatives of Mexico, Ghana, Iran, Poland, and Serbia. Meanwhile Brad Jones, Jason Davidson, Tommy Oar, Brett Holman, David Carney, and Jason Culina have all used the league to earn a place in previous Socceroos World Cup squads. Archie Thompson memorably reinforced his spot at the 2006 tournament by joining then-Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink on loan at PSV.
Short of further injury or a dramatic downturn in form, Bos shapes as a near-certainty for 2026, with the strength of his season in Rotterdam likely to dictate if he starts over Melbourne City's Aziz Behich as Australia's left-back. Consistent minutes and goal contributions should likewise see Hrustić on the plane. Balard, for his part, is yet to feature for the Socceroos, but he met Popovic after an Abu Dhabi-based training camp ahead of the June window, and was advised about what he needed to do; "hopefully, it will be visible on the pitch soon," Balard told B-side Rats.
"It's a wonderful league to watch and a very competitive league," Valkanis said. "I see why a lot of Aussies are going there because I tend to think that the A-League is very much like the Eerste Divisie [Dutch second division] and a little bit like the [Eredivisie] -- we're very much attacking here as well, and a lot of the mindset is to press.
"You go to some of the other countries in Europe, the mindset is still very deep and block defence and go on the counterattack. So I can see now why a lot of Aussies are venturing there. It suits, and it's a great league. It's an entertaining league. They can really develop further as attacking players."
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