Queensland deserves to see more of the Socceroos

its not done on a fairness basis these days. Governments pay for events, being deserving pays no part in the decision process

Waz I'm also a QLD Socceroos fan but it does make sense to hold the Thailand game somewhere cold like Melbourne Ange has stated it himself that he wants Australia to create a bigger home advantage for his team (crowd, weather etc.) Although ur point is valid that the Socceroos can't overdo it, need to get used to winning in all conditions

Suncorp's surface is worse than a cow paddock.

Suncorp atmosphere is as good as or better than AAMI. Suncorp is best in Oz given its capacty, no doubt.

Nemesis - I am sorry if my use of simple English is too much for you. Would I like all Socceroos to be playing in Australia? What a stupid question. Of course I would, provided of course our standard of football supported their talent. Has our standard reached that plateau?, No of course it hasn't, the consistent importation of players from overseas to every team in the HAL spells that out very clearly,albeit most of the imports are what could be termed "tradesmen" from the European leagues you hold in so high regard Now regarding your vision for an HAL that is simply a stepping stone for young players on their way to Europe,Asia,Middle East or the Americas. That doesn't say much for your ambition for our football in general and maybe therein lies the problem that has been facing us since Davie Mitchell, Eddie Krncevic,and Frank Farina ,led the "charge" in 1983,85,88. That was 35 years ago, so maybe you are right, maybe we don't have the knowledge,talent or financial resource to be anything better than a feeder league. Sad thoughts indeed. You see you have more faith than I, for the much vaunted National Curriculum in which you place great faith,is simply a re- hash,(costing millions of dollars) of coaching information that was available in this country as far back as 1975. so it could have affected the development of the 3 players I mention above. Our non-development of local talent goes back a long way and always we have been told it is lack of funding that causes this problem.This is not guesswork on my part I was involved. Cheers jb.

Don't hold your breath QLD when the new Perth stadium opens in January it will be the most advanced in the world - it's close to Asia and 4- 5 hours less on a plane to and from Europe - plus the surface at NIB is the best in OZ to train on. Expect to see a lot more Roo games in Perth

What difference does it make if the pitch is perfect in October? This match is being played on 5 September. AAMI Park is the only venue that should be considered. It is No.1 football stadium in Australia for * playing surface * atmosphere And it is the option that the National Team coach wants. And the players want. Give MVFC & City Active fans active bays at end of the stadium. City & Victory members get 1st choice to buy 10 tickets each. We need a football crowd for this match. Casuals & event-watchers can Go Back To Where They Came From.

The same point as you're making. AAMIs pitch was cr*p once too. Ange created the HALs best team on Suncorps pitch - it ain't that bad with winter grass

SFS is perfect in October as well....What was that you said about making a point ?

jb I'm not following. Are you saying you want the cream of Australian footballers - the best 23 players in the country to be playing ALeague? If all 23 Socceroos were playing in the ALeague would that make you happy? Would you think "this is fantastic. We don't have any players playing in the big leagues of Europe"? Unless they are being paid marquee wages, I think it's a major failure if the best 23 footballers in Australia are playing ALeague. Why? Because it means the Football market doesn't think they're worth much. The average ALeague wage for a good quality pro would be around $250k. The guys representing the Socceroos should be earning at least double that if not 10-20x more than that. I want the ALeague to be a development league for the best Aussie players. I want it to be the pathway for every Aussie footballer to choose when they decide to become a pro-footballer. I want us to keep producing a never ending line of: Leckie, Kruse, Langerak, Ryan, Rogic, Mooy, Milligan, Spiranovic, Juric, Amini, Jeggo, etc. etc. When they shine in the ALeague I then want them to take the next step and shine in higher-paying leagues.

nemesis - I have pointed this out to you before but it obviously has not registered. Of course the lads playing overseas may have started their careers playing A league football, age governs that statement, and when one considers a 22 year old was only 10 when the A league started is that really a surprise???? What we are apparently witnessing now is what was witnessed 20 years ago, The overseas clubs are "finishing" our young players education and I personally think that after 10 years of planning and putting into operation our Curriculum should now be slowing down that process. Of course you may well be one of those people who seem to think the only players the curriculum will help will be those kids who start at the age of 6. I am not one of those for I truly believe the curriculum should have been aimed at improving every young player in Australian football whether he was 6 or 16 when he first came under the influence of the NC. AP's selections over the last 5 years indicate quite strongly that the HAL is not fulfilling that "finishing" education that we all thought and hoped it would. Comprendez ???? Cheers jb.

jb I'm confident that we will continue to have more than 80% of Socceroos having a connection with the ALeague. By "connection" I mean: a) they started their pro-career in ALeague, or b) they revitalised their pro-career in ALeague; or c) they are currently playing ALeague In the current 22 man squad in Russia, only 5 players have had no connection with ALeague: Hrustic, Degenek, Wright, McGowan, Luongo (Jackson Irvine was at MVFC youth team for a couple of years before signing with Celtic). The majority of the world's best players do not play in their home country's Leagues. The best Brazilians, Argentinians, Uruguayans, etc etc move overseas. The best talent will always be lured by the best jobs that pay the best money. Australia's A-League will never be able to provide wages that can keep the best Aussies in Australia. If the best Aussies are staying in ALeague it means they're not good enough to be considered by the higher paying leagues. If Aussies aren't playing in Euro leagues some say: ALeague is not producing good players If Aussies are being lured to Euro leagues away from ALeague, some say: there's a problem with the Curriculum because all the best players are moving overseas. I find this absolutely ridiculous.

Nemesis- From what you have told us before with the continued improvement we are seeing in our game .surely we will also enjoy the benefits of that improvement very soon. There has to be a limit on the amounts of money being paid overseas and those sums of course have to be allied to the costs of living in those areas,so it could be that perhaps in the near future we will be able to match the offerings of those "minor" leagues many of our "exports" are now playing in. We can but hope. Your second point is a bit more worrisome. If the FFA continue to pour dollars into the operation of their NC, (forgetting for the moment how much it has cost to date) and you tell us it will NEVER help to supply "home grown" Socceroos, then it poses the question,why not scrap the whole idea and let those "foreign" countries put the finishing touches to any youngsters who care to venture to those environments?.Just a thought. jb.

I'd rather we got 50-60k in a 50-60k arena than 25k in AAMI Park. Brisbane would fill Suncorp for this game easily but would struggle to get much over 30k for early games. Horses for courses. But with a proper plan, marketing, decent ticket prices etc, the Roos should be able to sell out every stadium they play in every time. At the moment Gallops attitude is "show me the money" which is short term gain but will lead to long term pain. The Roos need investing in - from atmosphere to game day exjeriencd to active support, the whole lot. There is no investment going on while Gallops only criteria in $$$$

jb 2 points you've raised need to be questioned. 1) Funding From what is reported, lack of funding is never the issue nowadays when the FFA decides host venues for WCQs. Rather, it's the opposite. Based on what we read, State/Territory Governments pay the FFA significant money to host WCQs. This could also be the reason why the Ticket Pricing is so poorly matched to customer preferences. It could very well be that the State/Territory Govt underwrites the event. This means the FFA is guaranteed a payday, regardless of whether the stands are empty. But, the downside for passing the risk off, the FFA then no longer controls the Ticketing. The State Govt/Stadium sets the Ticket Pricing & their focus is recovering costs; not creating a vibrant football atmosphere. 2) You suggest maybe in the future our "National Curriculum starts to give us potential Socceroos who would perhaps be based in Australia" I'm sorry, but, based on all we know of the Global Football Economy this will NEVER happen unless labour markets for footballers in Europe become restrictive. In every industry, the best talent gets paid the most. For football, the highest wages for labour are overseas: Europe, Gulf Region, East Asia. The only way Australia will ever retain its best talent would be if foreign leagues imposed restrictions on foreign players, as we do in ALeague.

Having the Socceroos play in Brisbane or any other city for that matter all comes back to funding,or, to be more correct, should we say, lack of funding. This is not a new problem ,in my time I can remember Rale Rasic (1973) publicly be-moan the lack of games he could get for his squad and that was repeated when Jimmy Shoulder (1978)made the same complaint with his squad. Remember, most of the Socceroo teams of the time were playing in Australia. Now before I get told that times have changed is has to be remembered that the costs of going through an exercise to give our national team game time have also rocketed into the stratosphere so it shouldn't surprise when "practice" or "friendly" games have all but disappeared, or conversely, are played in areas that hopefully guarantee a large crowd paying exorbitant ticket prices This problem is exacerbated by the fact that ,even after 30 years, the costs of getting a Socceroo team together are also outside the FFA's control, as 95% of the players being used do not play in this country. Is there a "cure" for this perceived problem,??? Not until such times as our National Curriculum starts to give us potential Socceroos who would perhaps be based in Australia. So to the interested observer,it is not a geographical problem, but simply a fiscal problem, in other words lack of funds. Cheers jb.

I'd rather fill 100% of games than get 35- 40k in a 50-60k arena

Allianz = cow paddock but we played there. Suncorp in October = perfect Townsville in October = perfect Gold Coast = perfect What was your point again?

I actually agree with that. But AAMI is too small

Agreed. But do they want a national team supported by 24 million people or a team of prostitutes that follows the money?