It was only a handful of months ago Cam Peupion checked off the likes of Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium and Exeter City’s St James Park from his career away days list.
Combined, the two grounds have a collective capacity of just over 20,500.
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It’s why Peupion could be forgiven if he smiled like a child while enjoying a police escort through the rowdy streets of Rome en route to the 70,634 capacity Stadio Olimpico.
For a 21-year-old from Sydney’s northern beaches, these are the footballing adventures he could only dream about as a young boy.
But, as a player finding his feet at Brighton, Peupion has quickly learned this is now his new reality.
So too are those tricky loan spells in the unforgiving lower tiers of English football, an experience that is part-and-parcel for talented youngsters at Premier League clubs.
Rarely do European nights against the likes of Roma mesh with a difficult five months at League One strugglers Cheltenham Town, but that has been the story of Peupion’s season.
Crucially, he’s earned the respect of seasoned Premier League veterans at both stops and has had a Champions League winner take him under his wing.
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HOW PL VETERAN HELPED AUSSIE SURVIVE LOAN DISASTER
As deadline day in the summer window neared, Peupion knew he needed game time at a senior level and the only way to get that was by going out on loan.
A host of clubs interested in the right winger’s services, but Brighton decided to send Peupion on loan to Cheltenham Town, a club that had returned to English football’s third tier for the first time in 12 years just two seasons ago.
Peupion himself was excited to join the Robins after a positive phone call with the manager Wade Elliott.
“The manager was calling me before and telling me he really wanted me in and that I was going to be a big part of his team, so I thought it was an exciting place to go and play football,” Peupion told foxsports.com.au.
By the time Peupion joined on August 29, Cheltenham had lost four of its first five games and pressure had rapidly mounted on Elliott.
Peupion made two substitute appearances for a total of 17 minutes in his first two league game after moving, both of which were defeats.
The losses to Barnsley and Exeter City also spelt the end for Elliott’s time in charge, a fate that Peupion understands is “part of football”.
In came Darrell Clarke, who had previously spent time with the likes of Walsall, Port Vale and Bristol Rovers.
Unfortunately for Peupion, Clarke’s arrival heralded major changes that cruelled his hopes for game time.
“He completely changed the formation, changed the way we wanted to play,” Peupion said.
“We went completely for long balls, try to play for corners and throw ins.
“For a technical player like me, there just wasn’t a spot for me in the team, no matter what I did in training. It was just wing backs.”
Clarke even made the startling admission to Peupion that he’d rather use the Aussie “as an impact sub if we were losing, just because I didn’t fit into his team and his style of play”.
Even though Peupion knew he could do little to force his way into Clarke’s plans, he never downed tools in training and, if anything, earned the respect of Cheltenham’s veterans for his attitude.
One of which was Curtis Davies, a centre back with 173 Premier League and 314 Championship appearances to his name.
“He (Davies) was really good to me, he gave me a lot of advice,” Peupion said.
“He could see that I was struggling because I wasn’t playing and he’d been through similar things in his career.
“He pulled me to the side many times and just said, ‘Look, keep training really hard, your attitude is spot on, if you keep doing this you’ll get a shot here or it’s going to help you in the future.’”
With Peupion battling for game time and Brighton dealing with an injury crisis and the looming departures of Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra to the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations respectively, it made perfect sense for the Seagulls to cut his loan short on December 20.
It took less than a month for the Aussie youngster to make a major impression upon his return.
THE MID-SEASON MOMENT THAT PROVED OLYROOS GUN IS UP FOR BRIGHTON FIGHT
During the Premier League’s winter break, several clubs will jet off to warmer climates for a mid-season training camp.
Like they did when the Premier League stopped for the 2022 World Cup, Brighton’s squad returned to Dubai, with Peupion among the travelling party.
According to a source close to Brighton’s first team, who spoke to this publication on the condition of anonymity, the players were granted a team bonding evening during the trip, with staff making training the following morning optional.
The next day, only three players attended training: James Milner, Evan Ferguson and Peupion.
It is this attitude from Peupion that caught the eye of Brighton’s seasoned professionals like Milner, Danny Welbeck, Adam Lallana and Lewis Dunk in training.
Lallana is the one who has grown closest to Peupion and has taken the Olyroos star under his wing.
“Ads has been a super big help for me,” Peupion said.
“He’s doing his coaching licenses at the moment, so he’s constantly in training pushing me as hard as he can.
“Then off the pitch, he’ll pull me aside and show me things on his laptop about where I could press better.”
Although Lallana spends time with Peupion talking about areas for improvement or sharing experiences from his professional career that began in 2006, he and Brighton’s other senior stars are as ruthless as it gets during training.
“When you’re in an environment like that, whether it comes from the manager or the players, if you’re a young player you’re going to get pushed,” Peupion said.
“But I think you realise quite early that it’s not personal, they just do it to try and make you a better player.
“For sure, there will be moments where they’ll push you and if you do something that’s not quite right, because you’re learning and you’re young, they’ll tell you.
“It’s competitive, it’s fiery, but I love being part of it. Off the pitch, they put their arm around you and they’re just trying to make you the best player you can be.”
As Peupion mentioned, Brighton gaffer De Zerbi is driving the sky-high standards as much as the Seagulls’ biggest names are.
The Italian took over after Graham Potter’s departure to Chelsea in 2022 and his stock has continued to rise after guiding the Seagulls to the Europa League last season.
So, what makes the enigmatic Italian such a gifted coach?
“I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about football and so passionate in general,” Peupion said.
He wants the best out of every single player that he works with and he pushes them to the highest level.
“It’s the finer details that you wouldn’t even think about and think highly of that makes you a better player.”
Peupion revealed those “finer details” are all to do with where players are positioned on the pitch and how they follow the pressure.
De Zerbi is also “relentless” with players only using two touches during passing drills.
“Everything has to be perfect, because when it comes to a game, if you can pass with precision and be perfect and be in the right position that he wants you to be in, then he believes that you can beat and play out from the back and score easily,” Peupion said.
“It’s that detail that comes into it that makes him brilliant to work under.”
Although the Brighton boss has proven himself to possess one of the shrewdest tactical minds in football, he makes his points in rather unique ways.
Peupion provided the example of when De Zerbi informed him he’d be coming off the bench away to Newcastle last season to make his Premier League debut.
“He pulled his pants down and just said, ‘I want you to play like you’ve got your pants down, no stresses in the world, no problems,’” Peupion laughed.
Such is De Zerbi’s faith in Peupion, he handed the Aussie his first start for the Seagulls in the club’s fifth round FA Cup clash against Wolves in late February.
Sadly, the moment the Italian informed Peupion wasn’t quite as vivid as when he found out he’d be making his Premier League debut.
“I remember he pulled me into his office the day before and sat me down and told me, ‘Do you think you’re ready to play with the first team and start a game?’” Peupion said.
“I told him, ‘Yeah, that’s the dream I want to do, that’s what I’ve been working towards.’
“So he said, ‘Yeah, you’re starting tomorrow.’
“He told me the day before, put his arm around me and said, ‘Whatever happens, it’s on me. Just go out there and do what you’d normally do. There’s no consequences.’
Peupion’s teammates were ecstatic for the youngster.
“All of the senior players were coming up to me saying, ‘Look, you’ve got nothing to lose, just play your normal game, you’ve been training really well, you deserve a start,’” Peupion said.
Peupion only played the first half in a 1-0 defeat to Wolves, but he received plenty of positive feedback from his teammates and manager.
“The gaffer came up to me afterwards and said I played really well and was really impressed with me,” Peupion said.
“All of the boys were buzzing and said I did really well.
“It just means that when I’m in and around the group and training with them every day, you get a bit more respect and trust from the boys because if you get put out there, they can trust that you can deliver a performance and be a player that they can play with.”
De Zerbi’s trust in Peupion was also evident when he named the young Aussie on the bench in both legs of Brighton’s Round of 16 Europa League clash against Italian giants Roma.
Unfortunately for the Seagulls they were beaten 4-1 on aggregate, but the experience of being in the Italian capital made Peupion realise he’s finally doing what he’s “always dreamed of doing”.
“Even leading up to the game and getting the police escort through Rome towards the game, the whole city stops to shout abuse at you,” Peupion said.
“It’s an experience I hadn’t really had before, but it was something special.
“I was just smiling on the bus thinking this was one of the moments where I realised how far I’d come, from being a kid on the northern beaches dreaming about being a professional footballer to being on a bus for the Europa League and going through Rome and everyone’s stopping, staring and shouting at you.”
WHY BRUTAL BRIGHTON SNUB LEFT AUSSIE ‘GUTTED’
With eight games remaining in Brighton’s season, Peupion is hoping for more appearances off the bench or, in a dream scenario, a potential Premier League start.
He also might’ve enjoyed regular time had he been released by Brighton for Olyroos duty as they seek to qualify for the Paris Olympics, an event Peupion has been “dreaming about” for some time.
However, the club refused to let Peupion link up with the Olyroos for the AFC under-23 Asian Cup, a decision that left Peupion “gutted”.
“I was (desperate to join), to be fair,” Peupion revealed.
“I sat down with Brighton and they explained their reasons for not wanting me to go to the Asian Cup.
“I understand it’s a business at the end of the day. They see me as someone that could potentially help them in the last part of the Premier League season. So from that point of view, I do understand.
“I was gutted though, because it was something I was looking forward to, being part of the Asian Cup squad and trying to qualify for the Olympics.”
Should the Olyroos qualify for Paris and Peupion earn a call-up, who knows what it could lead to in the summer.
But, with the faith of De Zerbi and his senior Brighton teammates, it feels like Peupion’s European dream is truly starting to begin.
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