CROATIAN Josip Habljak had never heard of Australian rules football until four years ago and had no idea what a ruckman was.

But now he is a coming off a season with SANFL club Sturt’s reserves and is lining up in the centre circle for division two amateur side Unley Mercedes this year.

Habljak, a former basketballer, recalls wanting to find out more about the football code after spotting posters at Zagreb University in 2013 calling for players.

Within a few months he was representing Croatia at the AFL European Championships in Dublin and named in the team of the tournament.

His stellar performances on the international stage over the following two years led an Adelaide-raised Croatian mate to get in touch with a friend, Sturt president Jason Kilic, who invited him to try out with the Double Blues last pre-season.

“I hadn’t even heard of footy before until 2013,” Habljak, 25, says.

“The first few trainings I literally had no idea what was going on – I was just trying to stand in the back of the line and then replicate what the boys were doing.

“But I loved the mateship – it wasn’t just a sport back in Croatia, it was more like a community.

“I was the first Croatian player to come to Australia and one of the rare Europeans and I was just so excited.

“To experience Aussie rules here has been a big thing for me.”

Habljak has risen through the 12-year-old Croatian national league, which features nine players per side, games on rugby fields or soccer pitches, six men’s teams and two women’s squads.

All the Croatian sides are named after AFL teams, including Habljak’s Zagreb Hawks, which play in Hawthorn guernseys and has adopted the Melbourne club’s logo.

Zagreb Hawks had not won a Croatian title until Habljak’s first season, which kickstarted a successful period for the club that included back-to-back premierships and national cups, as well three victories in a central European competition also featuring Austrian, Italian and Czech teams.

Habljak showed enough promise representing Croatia that he was chosen in a “European Legion” team, featuring the continent’s best young footballers, in 2014.

He attended the squad’s 10-day camp in London, where it trained alongside AIS/AFL academy players such as emerging Swan Isaac Heeney, and Sydney premiership defender Tadhg Kennelly and West Coast great Glen Jakovich were among the coaches.

“We had two games … which was a really good experience and in both games I was among the best on ground.

“I had the opportunity to play with Isaac Heeney and give him a few cheeky taps in the ruck.”

Habljak played 16 reserves games for Sturt last season, kicking a goal on debut and getting named fifth-best once.

He says the skill level is poles apart from in his homeland and players run much more in matches but he is happy with his first 12 months in Adelaide.

“I had a few games where I dominated the ruck and got a few touches.

“I was really pleased I could hold my ground against guys that grew up with footy, which is kind of the biggest achievement of all.”

Habljak had only watched one full AFL game before coming to Australia but has since been to games at Adelaide Oval.

He is training once a week with Sturt and twice at Unley Mercedes, where he hopes to win a premiership if he is not called up to the Double Blues.

His plans beyond this year are up in the air because he has study to complete – a Masters in strength and conditioning – and a girlfriend, Mija, back home in Velika Gorica.

“I miss my girlfriend a lot and I’ve got my life in Croatia but I really do enjoy playing footy here and things I can learn here I can’t anywhere else.

“I’ll finish this season and then we’ll see.”

Habljak is hopeful Croatia will be able to field a team in the AFL International Cup in Melbourne in August.

“I would love to play.”