Those qualities are exactly what the Southern Men needs to bolster its chances in the national hockey league.
Southern showed promise in its opening match against Canterbury, slotting three goals past what is a handy line-up.
But some brittle defence led to a 7-3 loss.
The arrival of the player nicknamed "Budgie" should go some way towards stiffening the resolve at the back when Southern resumes its campaign against North Harbour and Northland in Christchurch this weekend.
The 21-year-old Tasmanian is fresh from a solid season with the Tigers in the Australian NHL and has played in England for the past two seasons.
He also played for Australia A in a series against India this year and bagged a couple of goals from corners.
"Dave [Ross, Southern coach] was saying they struggle on corners, so hopefully I'll put a few corners in," Budgeon said.
"That will probably be my best asset over here, I guess. If I can come over and do a job there, they'll be happy and so will I."
Budgeon started playing hockey when he was 8. It is, as he says, "in the blood, mate".
His father, Craig Budgeon, played for Australia and his uncle, David Budgeon, also donned the national strip.
Budgeon would like to follow in their footsteps and play for Australia and has made some progress this year, earning selection in the A side and playing nine matches for the Tigers.
In his last season for Doncaster, in the English league, he scored more than 30 goals and was named the club's player of the year.
"It was a good life experience as well. I got to see the world a bit and it was a good opportunity. I think I benefited from it as a player and a person."
Budgeon got the idea to play in the New Zealand league after talking with Canterbury player Mitch Hayde.
Hayde passed on Budgeon's interest to Southern, which contacted him by email.
Budgeon had never visited New Zealand and leaped at the opportunity.
"I'd really like to see the Southern boys get a few wins and help the guys out in that respect, because they finished last last year. But it is also a chance for me to get exposed and get some experience.
"It's good to play in different countries. It is a different style of play and you learn things and, hopefully, I can take something away from it as a player."
North Harbour will go into today's match against Southern as the firm favourite.
It finished third last season and started its campaign brightly with 6-1 win over Northland.
