LFC Legends explain why they're relishing Australia clash

Click here to get your tickets for this special fixture now and read on to see what the trio of former Reds stars told the media gathered in the Centenary Stand ahead of the game...

Let’s start off – Rushie you’ve played and been involved [in LFC Legends games] many times before, but for the guys alongside you it’ll be their first involvement with the LFC Legends. What can they expect? What advice do you have for them?

IR: Get fit first! It’s all about entertainment and there are lots of Liverpool supporters out there, so the job is to go out there and entertain. We’ve got a few younger legs in the side this time, so that helps. It’s all about being a part of Liverpool Football Club – it’s a family club with supporters worldwide. Australia is no different, we were there a couple of years ago and there were 98,000 there [in Melbourne], so that just shows the support for Liverpool out there. It’ll be great to take the Legends out there.

The scenes in Melbourne were quite incredible – the 'You'll Never Walk Alone' that night was one of the best renditions ever. How do you see this one going?

IR: The one in Melbourne was unbelievable – it was like a Champions League final. There were 98,000 fans there and 96,000 of them were Liverpool supporters in their red shirts! This time it’s in Sydney and it’s the first time we’ve been there. I feel it’s an amazing opportunity for the people out there – young and old – to go and see these players. We’ll have Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler – there’ll be some great players out there – and a lot of people will be looking forward to seeing them play.

Aldo, Rushie’s advice was ‘get fit’ – how far away are you? Have you started your regime yet?

JA: I’ve been trying to get fit for the last 20-odd years, to be quite honest! To be fair, if you look at the older lads, we do try to keep ourselves in shape. We enjoy a quiet pint now and then at the right times, as you know! But we gym it and you do have pride in yourself and in your body, but having said that I don’t expect I’ll be getting too many minutes having looked at the rest of the squad! It’s great as people have asked me who I’d have liked to have played up front with. I’ve played with Rushie, with Beardsley and some great players…but I’d always have loved to have played some time with Stevie G, in the false No.10 position behind me. Just five or 10 minutes of that would be great and go along with some of the greats I’ve played with. I’m really looking forward to it, I’ll be fairly fit, but it’s not just about us – Liverpool is the biggest supported club in Australia, so this is an opportunity for them to see some of the greats of the 1990s and 2000s, which they’ve never had the chance to do. It will work both ways.

Gary, you’ve had the chance to play alongside Steven. The chance to pull on the shirt and play with him again, how special will that be?

GM: It’s very special. As the boys have said, we’ve been apart for a little while now – it’s been a few years now – so this is an opportunity to come together. There's a bond, especially within teams and players that have won something, so to get back in the room with those guys again will be a great experience. The camaraderie and that bond is unbreakable. The stories and the craic in the changing room is still as sharp and you’ve still got to be on your toes!

In terms of playing with the other guys, there’s also the chance to play behind these guys as well [Rush and Aldridge] – two of the club’s greatest ever strikers...

GM: The guys have touched on it and we don’t rely on our physical presence anymore, you tend to use your footballing knowledge and experience. Our footballing brains are very similar and the guys think on the same wavelengths. The game will start off as a friendly in front of a big crowd, but everyone is very competitive and once it starts we’ll want to do well and want to win. Those little footballing things will start to flow.

Gerard Houllier at the helm…what will he be like as a gaffer for the guys?

GM: He was fantastic for me – he was the guy that brought me here and gave me an opportunity at 35 years young! He’s an excellent coach, a great organiser, and he wants to win. Everyone sees this very friendly guy with a lovely manner, but inside there there’s a guy that wants to win. Come the game, he’ll want to win it.

Speaking of wanting to win it, in the last game against Manchester United in Sweden it was definitely competitive – Jason McAteer got a booking. This could be competitive as well…

IR: Very much so. I must have been sacked because I was in charge then! They’ve got a proper manager now. They’ve put me on the bench. It’s great. I just hope McAteer is in a bit better form. Every time Liverpool play Manchester United, that’s a rivalry anyway because they are two of the most supported clubs in the world. This time we’re playing against Australian legends. Gerard Houllier will want to win, but the most important part is entertaining; we want to see goals in the game, people are going there to see goals and entertainment. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing. Off the pitch, it will be great because we’ve got great entertainment in Bruce Grobbelaar. He’s another one who will be absolutely fantastic. People don’t realise how good he was off the pitch as well. It’s all about the team spirit. With these different eras, we’ll find what team spirit is all about.

And Carra back in the side to do a bit of moaning, which will be entertaining for you all…

JA: It’s that winning mentality and, to be fair, we’ve all got that. We can all be moaners. You know with him at the back and Stevie G in midfield, we’ve got a really good chance. They’ve got a strong team on paper. It will be friendly in its own way but it will be really competitive.

GM: Looking through the list, you look at somebody like Carra, who you see as very vocal. But there’s a lot of leaders there, a lot of guys who have done well at this club. It’s no coincidence they’re very vocal on the pitch most of them.

From the Aussie point of view, they are about the most competitive nation going. They will want to turn it on for their own fans and make a show, won’t they?

JA: Absolutely. Throughout sport, I think it’s the biggest growing country over the last 20 years – in sport, the Olympics and everything. Cricket has always been massive there. With the ex-pats going there, there is a massive British and Irish influence within the country. It’s very, very competitive. Whatever sport they take part in – like ourselves – there’s that spirit that wills them on to go and win.

Gary, you played in the Premier League more recently. Are there any of the Aussies you are looking forward to reconnecting with and facing again?

GM: The guys there are accustomed to playing at a competitive level. We’re going in against a very proud nation. They’ll want to win as well. I’m looking forward to going in against them all – it will be a competitive game.

The Liverpool-Australia connection is something pretty special, isn’t it?

GM: I witnessed that in the summer. I was with the team when they went down to Australia on the pre-season tour. I wasn’t in Melbourne a couple of seasons ago, but to witness the crowds in Brisbane and Adelaide was amazing – over 50,000 both. It’s wonderful. Ian was saying Melbourne was a remarkable sight but to be at the games in Brisbane and Adelaide and see all the fans singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, all the red shirts in the crowd, was pretty gobsmacking, mindblowing to see the amount of support Liverpool have got down there.

JA: We’re all looking forward to seeing this fantastic stadium. We’ve only seen it on the television; it’s fairly new but looks amazing. That will be a great experience for us all.

What about the time of year you’re going? How are you going to cope with the heat?

JA: We’ll be on the bench! The lads on the pitch might struggle a little bit, but our 15-minute cameo will be OK!

For you it is a genuinely new experience – you’ve not been to Australia before…

JA: I’ve never been. It’s a country I’d always loved to have gone to but I was slightly put off by 24 hours of travel. But this has come and for me personally it’s a trip of a lifetime, being there four days. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve got a lot of friends over in Australia who emigrated when I was in my teens, from the Garston area, so I’m hoping they’ll pop to Sydney. It’s a long way from Perth but it would be nice if they could pop across and I can share a pint with them – after the game!

Are you looking forward to catching up with Craig Johnston?

JA: Yes, he’s a good friend of all of us. He’s a great lad. Rushie was talking about entertainers in the dressing room – he was definitely one of them, a cracking lad. I was speaking to him a few weeks ago on LFCTV. I didn’t recognise him at first because his long locks have gone. I’m looking forward to catching up with him.

IR: Very much so. Craig was over in pre-season with us. He’s a very passionate Australian. He was really the one who probably started everything in Australia in the ‘80s. He put Australia on the map for people like Harry Kewell. Craig was one of the reasons a lot of people started supporting Liverpool.

See the squad in full below:

LFC Legends: Bruce Grobbelaar, John Aldridge, Phil Babb, Patrik Berger, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler, Luis Garcia, Steven Gerrard, Stephane Henchoz, Vladimir Smicer, Ian Rush, Jason McAteer, Gary McAllister, Dietmar Hamann, John Arne Riise.