Neill's change of heart MELBOURNE Heart chief Scott Munn said his team was delighted to get the chance to take on Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill in his first A-League game next weekend after the veteran defender spurned the Melbourne club and opted for his home-town team of Sydney FC. And Munn said Neill had "backtracked" on understandings he had with former international teammates John Aloisi and Hayden Foxe, Heart's senior coach and assistant, that he would join the side if the club that appeared to be his first choice, Brisbane, failed to qualify for the Asian Champions League. "Certainly Lucas has probably stretched some long-term friendships providing some information that he has backtracked on," Munn said on Saturday. We are looking forward to playing Sydney and Lucas at AAMI Park next Sunday. It should be an interesting meeting. Munn and his football operations manager John Didulica met Neill's representative in Sydney on Friday before the Heart played the Jets in an A-League fixture in Newcastle on Friday night, a match that saw the Jets leapfrog Heart on the table with a 2-0 win. They warned after that meeting that they would not get involved in a bidding war for the rising 35-year-old. Munn said that Heart put together what it thought was a competitive package of around $100,000 for the last six games of the season plus any finals it qualified for. He estimated the Sydney package might be worth double. On Saturday afternoon Football Federation Australia announced that Neill had plumped for Sydney FC, where he will swell the big-name quotient (Alessandro Del Piero and Brett Emerton are also on the roster) in Sky Blue. FFA chief David Gallop confirmed that the sport's governing body would be stumping up some of the cash for Neill's guest stint. In this crucial FIFA World Cup qualifying year, it will be great to see the Socceroo captain playing in front of Australian fans in our very competitive national league. A number of clubs held discussions with Lucas and his representatives and FFA made the same offer of assistance to each club," said Gallop This season FFA has been party to several arrangements covering marquee players and returning Socceroos. Our aim has been to support clubs who have made substantial investments in top-quality players. The marquee players and returning Socceroos have added great value to the A-League in terms of playing standard and marketability. At the end of the season we will review this policy in conjunction with the clubs to ensure we are maximising benefits for the whole league. Heart felt that Neill could have added stability, know-how and experience to the club's defence in the final high-pressure weeks of the season. Heart has surrendered several points already this season late in games, and Aloisi and Foxe were confident Neill's leadership could have helped their young defenders. Instead he will boost Sydney's late-season charge to a spot in the play-offs. Frank Farina, who is now Neill's coach at club level, was the Socceroos boss who helped Neill develop his international career. Farina has turned around Sydney's fortunes following Ian Crook's resignation earlier in the season and was rewarded with a new two-year deal early last week.