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Brisbane Roar to win A-League this season

Roar Guru
23rd October, 2012
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Roar Guru
23rd October, 2012
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Forget last season’s grand final win, forget the dominant 2010-2011 side which came back from the jaws of defeat to clinch what many believe to be the greatest A-League grand final in its short history.

Forget the unbeaten 36 game run, forget Ange Postecoglou, just forget the past two seasons of football; Brisbane Roar will win 2012-2013.

Why?

Because Brisbane Roar are from Brisbane! No disrespect to the other states and territories, but in Queensland there is this sense of Queenslander that lies even within the most unexpected of people.

Michael Theo (formerly known as Theoklitos), is from Victoria and loves Brisbane, recently signing a five year contract and stating, “I know I’m from Melbourne but now we’re Queenslanders, we’ve loved it since day one and the club has been great to us.”

Thomas Broich, the German, who in his early days was considered “bearer of hope” for the German National team, unfortunately incurred a foot injury which left him unavailable to play in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

After this his football career was in limbo, with the pressure of representing his country and poor relationships with coaches eventually leading him to Brisbane Roar, where he would find his feet once again.

And last but not least Besart Berisha, the energetic, hot-headed Albanian who lights up the park with his fearless running and consistent desire to score, score, score!

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Even he has found a home in Brisbane. In late February 2012, he signed an extended two year contract and in the process stated, “I’ve played at high level and at small level in Europe but the most I’ve ever enjoyed my football is here now in Brisbane so there’s no reason to change anything.

“Everything around me – the team is amazing, the club is fantastic and professional, the staff as well… it’s just a pleasure to work here.”

But Berisha really summed up the feeling of most at the club saying, “I really feel well – I’ve found friends, I’ve found people who really care for other people and especially the team, we really stick together and it’s really a pleasure to be here.”

Under the tutelage of Ange Postecoglou, Brisbane Roar were transformed into the most dynamic, self-motivated, structured and influential football team Australian football has seen since the days of the National Soccer League.

Prior to their dominance, Brisbane Roar possessed a team to win a premiership, though lacked self-discipline and consistency in their approach to football. The other aspect that affected their chances was the lack of trust, connection and respect between players and coach.

One man who has been there since day dot, would wait quietly in the wings, bide his time and take the opportunity when it presented itself. Rado Vidosic, a man who knew football and would implement his tactical genius approach and think outside of the box.

I could ramble on about how great the team has been over the past two seasons, but that is a whole other story in which I would detail each statistic in which they dominated, which is almost every statistic in the A-League, but I don’t need to.

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Without a doubt, Postecoglou’s time aided significantly the development of Vidosic, and while Postecoglou was at the helm, Brisbane developed their core philosophy for playing football.

This consisted of respect, team unity, passion, a never say die attitude, fun and most of all focusing on how they played and not always the score board. Wouldn’t exactly call it simple but it covers what the game is all about!

The current crop of players want to play for Brisbane, they want to stay in Brisbane and they want to create something memorable that in 20 years’ time, the A-League and teams within it will turn around and say they led the way in changing the way Australian football is viewed.

Forgetting all past achievements, this is simply why Brisbane Roar will become the first team in Australian sport since the Brisbane Lions to win three grand finals in a row.

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