A TOP-flight career that started as nothing more than a six-week contract reaches a milestone on Friday night when Brisbane's Ivan Franjic makes his 100th A-League appearance.

Fittingly, it comes in a top-of-the-table clash against Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium, and in the same week in which Franjic took a huge step towards securing a berth in the Socceroos' World Cup squad.

Not bad for a bloke who never represented Australia at youth level and who less than five years ago was a part-time footballer in Melbourne who earned the bulk of his money as a carpenter.

"It shows that if you put in the hard yards, you're going to get rewarded,'" Franjic said.

"It might not be straight away, but if you keep going and never give up, it'll be somewhere in the long run."

It was current Sydney FC boss Frank Farina who gave Franjic his initial Roar and A-League chance, signing him in August 2009 on an injury-replacement deal for fullback Andrew Packer.

So impressive was Franjic in that time that he has never again had to pick up his carpentry tools, with the short-term stay becoming a long-term commitment to Brisbane that continues today.

media_camera Ivan Franjic gets his pass away under pressure. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

"It's a big achievement for me to play 100 A-League games for the Roar and to do it in front of the home fans will be something special. They've been with me since day one," he said.

Franjic's supporters were also cheering his every move on Tuesday night when he made just his sixth appearance for the Socceroos, and his first on home soil, in Australia's 1-0 win over Costa Rica in Sydney.

It was a big night for Franjic, who re-united with Ange Postecoglou in his former Roar coach's first match as boss of the Socceroos.

Postecoglou was full of praise for Franjic's effort at right fullback, with the performance putting the 26-year-old utility right in the mix for World Cup selection next year.

"It was exciting to link up with Ange again, (but) I still have to keep performing at club level,'' Franjic said.

"If I do that, I'll hopefully get called up into the next national camp, but there are no guarantees about going to Brazil for the World Cup."

"I don't see myself as a first-choice player for Australia. It's just an opportunity every time I get out there.

"Every time I don't take the opportunity, somebody else is waiting in the wings."

In good news for Roar fans, Franjic has no intention of trying his luck at an overseas club any time soon, knowing that if he's good enough, he can make Australia's World Cup squad from the A-League.

"The most important thing is playing 90 minutes in a good league and the A-League's not an easy competition," he said.

"Unless it's the right move, I'm not going to move. I'm very happy at Brisbane and that's obvious because I'm about to play my 100th A-League match for them."