Trigger has spent much of his soccer life in Ballarat with a stint at Northern Fury in Townsville and most recently a opportunity in the National Premier League with Heidelberg United.

After starting the 2017 season with City, Trigger made his way to United via the mid-season transfer window.

He would play 14 games at Heidelberg, but the commitment to the big smoke was a demanding one. Still working in Ballarat, Trigger made the three-hour round trip to training and matches three or four times a week.

Such was the toll, he was beginning plans to find a new job and move to Melbourne to ease the strain and allow him to play in the top NPL tier.

However, a new role at his work and a phone call from Ballarat City made the decision a “no-brainer” for Trigger.

“I was initially looking to move to Melbourne, (but) I got a new role at work, something I enjoy doing...and the commute, I was getting home at 10 or 11 o’clock at night, going to bed, getting up for work and doing it all over again – it was pretty tough,” Trigger said.

“It’s been a seamless transition coming back.”

While it has been great to be back in Ballarat colours, it has not been the season Trigger envisioned on the field. 

It has been a tough year for City to date, notching up four wins, two draws and seven losses – the height of the disappointment being a winless stretch through March that lasted five games.

But team morale was lifted on Saturday, a 5-0 win over similarly-placed side Brunswick City underlined the weapons Ballarat has when it is on.

Trigger said it had been challenging at times, but the weekend’s victory was hopefully a springboard to better results – however, backing it up against the highly-rated Dandenong City this weekend was paramount.

“It’s been a challenging start to the year.

“On our day we can put teams to the sword and other days we struggle a little bit, due to that inconsistency.

“A win was something that we really needed.

“It was more relief and understanding that we can put teams to the sword like that.

“We need to start producing it on a more consistent basis.

“It’s only one game, whether you win the game by five goals or by one goal it’s three points no matter what. It’ll definitely be a sterner test this week but hopefully we can take that confidence that we’ve built from last week and take it into this week.”

Ballarat City with travel to Dandenong for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday in round 14 action of the National Premier League two west competition.