Harry Kewell has made the man's decision to put family ahead of football. Respect. Just days after virtually agreeing to continue as a Melbourne Victory player, Kewell will instead remain in England, where his mother-in-law is fighting serious illness. Life gets a perspective at times like this, and Kewell's got his perspective exactly right. No one should question his decision.

Nonetheless, there's a frustration that this story won't have an ending. Kewell leaves the A-League without having conquered it. New Victory coach Ange Postecoglou believes he would have done just that if he'd stuck around for next season. Based on Kewell's form in the back half of last season, you'd wager Postecoglou would have been proved right. Now, of course, we'll never know. There's a sense of unfulfillment - perhaps from both parties. Kewell arrived with a bang, but leaves with a whimper - through no fault of his own. But there is one important legacy. The brief flirtation has sharpened the focus on another significant relationship - that between the A-League, and the much-vaunted ''returning Socceroo''.

One and done … Harry Kewell and Melbourne Victory have parted ways. Credit:Getty Images

From day one, Football Federation Australia has seen the repatriation of Socceroos from Europe as a major factor in helping to develop the league. The governing body has bent over backwards, and sometimes bent the rules, to ease the passage home for the chosen ones. It may be a worthy ideal on some levels, but has it really worked?

If, for the sake of the argument we classify a returning Socceroo as someone who featured regularly in the national team squad during their time in Europe, then the strike rate isn't that good. By my reckoning, 26 players have fallen into this category since the A-League started in 2005. I reckon just seven of those have so far given real value for money - Steve Corica, Kevin Muscat, Jason Culina, Shane Stefanutto, Jacob Burns, Ante Covic and Michael Thwaite. Some players came back too late in their careers, others couldn't get over existing injuries, others simply didn't have the right attitude. ''I'm here to give something back to the game,'' has been the common catchcry from many of them. Fact is, only a handful have been willing to accept a charitable wage. Most have driven a hard bargain, and far too many have proved to be expensive mistakes.