Rojas was the standout winner receiving 908 votes from his playing peers, which easily doubled that of his nearest rival, Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero of Sydney FC with 449 votes.
Fellow All White Michael McGlinchey earned 239 votes to come into fourth after also having an impressive season with his club Central Coast Mariners, who will play Western Sydney Wanderers in Sunday’s A-League final at Allianz Stadium.
”With the other players that were there, it wasn’t what I was expecting so definitely a big shock,” Rojas says of the win.
“I said hello to Shinji [Ono] but Del Piero was in and out pretty quick. It’s probably the award that players prefer to win the most, because it is done by your peers. For them to think of me like that, it’s humbling and I think that’s what makes it a pretty special award.”
Rojas says the awards go some way in dampening the disappointment he experienced when Melbourne Victory were knocked out of the Grand Final by Central Coast Mariners at the weekend.
”We wanted to go all the way and to fall just short is probably the worst part about it. But I’m happy with the way things went personally, it was better than the year before. I’m more proud of our team and what we achieved compared to last year. I think we played some pretty good football, we played a lot of the most exciting games of the season.”
With his contract with Melbourne Victory nearing its end, talk has now turned to what move the highly skilled youngster will make next. Rumours have linked him to several European clubs but Rojas himself says reported interest from European heavyweights Liverpool and Juventus are just that – rumours. While there also appears to be interest from several Bundesliga clubs including Wynton Rufer’s former team Werder Bremen, as well as Nuremberg and Wolfsburg.
He is currently discussing his options with his father Rodi, and while he hasn’t ruled out re-signing with Melbourne Victory, he has long held ambitions of a move to Europe.
”It will be soon, it won’t drag on,” Rojas said. ”I can just tell you that I didn’t hear anything about the Liverpool and Juventus ones, other than rumours. But there are offers there, there are a few so we’ll look over those and look over the one for staying here and decide what’s going to be best.”
It has been a meteoric rise for the 21-year-old, who got his break with the Wellington Phoenix via a scholarship from supporters group Yellow Fever. He is the second New Zealander to claim the A-League’s major gong, the Johnny Warren Medal, after Shane Smeltz, who won it with the Phoenix in 2008-09.
”I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Melbourne and you always keep everything open. For me it’s all about developing myself as a footballer so whether I do that here or somewhere else, it’s something I haven’t decided on yet. I haven’t actually been able to speak with dad or anything about it because I’ve only just got back. But as soon as I see him we’ll talk about it and we’ll get things rolling.”
Rojas’ attacking partnership with Archie Thompson blossomed under the guidance of Ange Postecoglou and he finished the season with 15 goals and nine assists. The Hamilton product said his preferred position remained attacking central midfield but that wasn’t a factor in pondering his next career move.
”It’s the position I played growing up and it’s the position I love to play but if a coach wants me to play anywhere, apart from defence or goalkeeper, I’ll be more than happy to do it.”

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