LEIGH Broxham didn't hear them the first time, but he certainly didn't miss them when he got home.

Coming on as a 85th-minute substitute against Central Coast a fortnight ago, in what was his 100th A-League game, Broxham was booed and jeered by sections of the home crowd.

It's not the first time he has been given such a "welcome" by the Melbourne Victory faithful and Broxham said this week the ire had not missed its intended target.

"I didn't hear it when I came on the other week, but when I watched the replay I heard it for myself," he said.

"It doesn't make you feel fantastic. But such is life, I suppose. That's what happens. You just have to move on. I got a lot of messages from friends and family that were great support."

Everybody has a story, but Broxham's is unusual.

He started as a train-on player at Victory in 2006, having played under then coach Ernie Merrick at the Victorian Institute of Sport, but quickly became ensconced in the club in a way he could have never imagined.

A broken foot - his second in a short space of time - ruled Broxham out of training for some time, but with assistant coach Aaron Healey juggling multiple roles, Merrick had a job offer for him: team assistant.

Getting paid "peanuts", Broxham, among other things, was in charge of all of the club's gear - the "s--- stuff", as he put it, until he was fit enough to train again.

HE juggled training at Olympic Park and work until he became the Adam Sandler character in his own version of the Waterboy, signing a short-term playing contract that was meant to give him a taste of senior action, but resulted in him playing an on-field role in Victory's 6-0 grand final win over Adelaide in February 2007.

"You become one of the boys. They accepted me as part of the group," Broxham said of being team assistant.

"But you're sort of caught in between as well because I'd be in the office with the staff and then out there with the players, so I kind of had to learn what not to hear and what to hear, what to share with what people. It was quite interesting because you were half and half.

"It was a year out of my life. It wasn't a pleasant year with all the workload, but it's one I definitely wouldn't change for anything because I wouldn't be where I am at the moment."

Merrick aside, Broxham, 24, rates Kevin Muscat as one of the biggest influences on his career.

Broxham said the former captain and now assistant coach used to throw him a dollar or two - as long as he cleaned Muscat's boots.

"I can't go into too much detail, but I will say he did a great job," Muscat said.

He said Broxham had earned great respect around the club for his strong work ethic.

"He just puts his head down and works hard," Muscat said.

"A lot of people don't know the heartache he's had with injuries, especially just prior to the start of his contract with us, and then the fact he's been able to fit so much in since is a testament to him.

"People don't see, and refuse to see, what he does for his teammates. When Broxy's picked in the team, he's picked to do a certain job and I think sometimes people can confuse that role that he's got in the team."

Broxham doesn't pretend to be the best player going around, and how could he, given his long-held whipping boy status in the Etihad Stadium or AAMI Park stands?

But three Victory coaches - Merrick, Mehmet Durakovic and now Jim Magilton - have continued to call on the midfielder and he is the second-youngest A-League player to reach 100 games.

He's even won a Socceroos cap, so he must be doing something right.

Teammate Archie Thompson said Broxham's role was underestimated.

"There's a lot of people out there who say, 'I could have done this. I could have done that. I could have done better with this', but the fact is he has played 100 games and it's a credit to him," he said.

"He probably cops a lot of flak, as we all do, but he's kept his head down and he's been rewarded through what he's done for this club.

"His desire to win the ball is second to none. He does a lot of dirty work that some of us don't like doing. He just works hard."

Broxham knows you're only ever one or two good performances away from becoming everybody's hero - just ask Socceroos crowd villain-turned-hero Brett Holman.

FOR now, though, Broxham just puts his shield up and gets on with the job.

"I've probably had people criticising me every day of my career. You don't miss it; you can't. You read something or hear something; it's out there," Broxham said.

"You get tweets that aren't nice. You'd like to say what you really think but you can't so you just block that person or whatever and get on with it, maybe show your mates and have a laugh about it. It might make you angry at the time, but they can say what they want.

"It's people's opinions, and they're allowed that, but you learn to let it go. If you listen to everything everyone says, you'll end up in a dark place.

"It's all a learning curve. You learn a lot about yourself and a lot about people and the way they are.

"I've had a few hard times, but as you get older you deal with it a lot easier because you've had those problems in the past. At the end of the day, I wouldn't change what I do for anything."

Originally published as Leigh gets the Brox cheer