Brisbane Roar – Mid Season Report
Interview with David Pourre
Earlier in the week I sat down with Brisbane CEO David Pourre and asked him about where the club sits going into 2016, and the focus remains on cleaning up the financial mess from the past off-season.
Pourre confirmed that the players and staff had seen their entitlements fully paid in accordance with both the original plan and the new CBA which called for players to be looked after by the end of the calendar year.
The club has also been very pleased with the crowd figures at Suncorp Stadium this season, culminating with the season high 17,696 in the last home game which is indicative of an increased attendance this season despite being boosted by January’s ‘Kids go Free’ initiative.
Pourre was also delighted with the regional game in Cairns, with the community engagement, the enthusiasm of the local governments and the crowd figure as hugely positive and indicated the club would consider taking further regional round games to the Far North in future seasons.
Other things to take of it were that the club are in negotiations with Suncorp Stadium to keep the venue as their home for the long term, while the club are also in negotiations a number of their out of contract stars to remain here in Brisbane. Finally, the club will hold another fan forum –the 4th of the season- before the end of the season.
Mid-Season Report
We’re now at the midway point of the season and it’s to say that Brisbane are performing about expectations at the start of the season, with the Roar sitting top of the table entering the second half of the season.
One of the big reasons for Brisbane’s success so far this season is the continuity from game to game, with five players starting every game this season, while another has featured in every game either as a started or substitute.
Hingert, Bowles, North, Corona and Broich have started in every game this season, with only Corona being substituted in that time, while Petratos has also featured in every game this season. Meanwhile McKay, Maclaren, Stefanutto, Borrello and Young have missed just the two games, giving John Aloisi a stable core upon which to build around.
Helping that continuity is an outstanding discipline record in the first half of the season, with just the 18 yellow cards through the first 14 weeks of the competition. It’s a record which see’s Brisbane sitting at the top of the fair play table for the season, with a record nearly twice as good as second placed Western Sydney.
There haven’t been a lot of negatives so far this season on the park, however the long term injuries to a couple of players has kept some of the teams first team players on the sidelines.
Topping the list is Luke DeVere, who missed 10 games with a quad injury from the end of last season, with Theo and Solórzano (8), Hervas (6) and Henrique (5) all spending a big part of the season on the sidelines.
All up things are going very well for a side who spent the off-season in turmoil, and with seven of their final 13 games at home, Brisbane are in a strong position to secure a top 3 finish.
A-League
Last week Brisbane went across the Tasman and played out a 0-0 stalemate with the Phoenix, a result which send Brisbane 1 point clear at the top of the table. There weren’t too many clear cut scoring chances in the game which is understandable given the attacking talent both sides went into the game without due to injury, suspension and Olyroos call-ups.
This week, Brisbane head to Melbourne for a clash with the Victory for the first time this season in a highly anticipated game, although both sides will go into the game under strength due to the Olyroos call-ups along with suspension.
Brisbane welcome back Michael Theo and Luke DeVere to the squad, with both likely to start the game on the bench, while they will again be without top scorers Jamie Maclaren and Brandon Borrello.
Melbourne meanwhile are suffering from a shortage of defenders, with Daniel Georgievski the latest to be ruled out thanks to a fifth yellow card of the season. Rashid Mahazi is likely to start in a makeshift back 4, with Nick Ansell reportedly not yet fully ready to start.
W-League
Brisbane picked up their second successive win in the W-League on Sunday, with the 4-0 win over bottom placed Melbourne Victory putting Brisbane in pole position top claim the 4th and final finals berth in the final week of the season.
Goals from Clare Polkinghorne, Katrina Gorry, Kristy Yallop and Angela Beard were enough for Brisbane to close out their home games.
This weekend Brisbane travel to 6th placed Newcastle on Sunday, and a win or draw will be enough to guarantee Brisbane’s return to the finals. Complicating the picture slightly however is the presence of 5th placed Adelaide and the 6th placed Jets, who both sit 3 points back and are an outside shot at booking an unlikely finals berth.
5th placed Adelaide will need to beat 2nd placed Canberra at home and have Newcastle defeat Brisbane to qualify, while the Jets will need to win by enough goals to reverse an inferior goal difference and hope Canberra beat Adelaide.
Despite all of those possibilities, Belinda Wilson’s side sit in a strong position heading into the final round, and seem to be hitting form at the right end of the season.
National Youth League
Despite Brisbane’s win on Saturday afternoon giving them an outside shot at closing the gap to Adelaide at the top of Conference A, the Reds went on to book their spot in the NYL Grand Final as they defeated Perth 24 hours later.
Brisbane now round out their 2015-16 NYL season with an away game on Friday against Melbourne Victory as part of a double header with the A-League clash.
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