Brisbane Roar’s 4-3 win over Melbourne City on Sunday was a reminder of just how exhilarating the A-League can be when it’s firing on all cylinders.
The Roar’s decision to take the first of three fixtures to Redcliffe this season was vindicated when a sell-out crowd of 9,387 fans packed Dolphin Stadium, despite a huge hailstorm crashing through the northern suburbs just over an hour before kick-off.
My wife Ashton and I knew all about that storm because we’d just pulled out of Chermside shopping centre when it hit and Ash, who’s as unflappable a Far North Queenslander as it gets, calmly pulled over in a side street close to her old workplace.
I jumped out and chucked a picnic blanket on top of the car as a procession of hail stones pinged off the roof, only for a flooded gutter to then force us to seek shelter in someone’s driveway.
Between chucking the blanket on the roof and stepping out into a street rapidly resembling the Brisbane River, it’s safe to say we were now cold, wet and more than slightly concerned about the state of the car.
But you know what I’ll always remember most about this game? It won’t be the packed stands or Roy O’Donovan’s hat-trick.
It will be the drama of trying to get to the ground, on what should have been a routine journey that turned into an action-packed adventure shared with my Roar-loving partner.
As for the car? Not a mark on it.
Which is not exactly what we could say about Brisbane Roar’s first half performance.
One of the advantages of watching a game at the ground as opposed to on TV is that you get a sense of what conditions are like for the players.
And as strange as it may sound, when Jamie Maclaren nodded home his third goal of the afternoon to make it 3-1 to City shortly after half-time, I honestly thought the Roar were still in with a chance.
Why? Because they had a stiff breeze at their backs which had genuinely troubled them in the first half.
And suddenly any time City opted to hoof it forward after half-time because the Roar were now adopting a high press, they turned over possession.
Some of the stereotypes around the A-League remain a mystery, because in the first half all the Roar did was try and play the ball out from the back, while City’s midfield pinged diagonal balls over the top.
City’s tactic was by far the more successful and in Uruguayan duo Javier Cabrera and Adrian Luna, they possessed the sort of skilful South Americans who can unlock any defence.
With City 3-1 up after 51 minutes the game looked done and dusted, even if the score didn’t tell quite the whole story.
Because the game would have looked very different if O’Donovan hadn’t smashed a well-executed set-piece routine against the foot of the post on the half-hour mark.
(AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Before that O’Donovan looked like he was denied a cast-iron penalty when Harrison Delbridge up-ended the Irishman barely a quarter of an hour in.
And although the Roar’s match-winning penalty was contentious – the letter of the law states that Denis Genreau put his hands above his shoulders, even if it looked like O’Donovan’s half-volley would have taken his head off otherwise – it’s not like the hosts didn’t deserve some luck.
Two individuals arguably deserved it more than most.
One is O’Donovan. After missing a penalty in an FFA Cup shoot-out defeat, the veteran striker never looked like flinching from the spot on Sunday.
The other is Robbie Fowler. His tactical decision to introduce Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Jai Ingham into a more attacking line-up changed the game.
But perhaps the people who deserved that clash the most are the A-League’s true believers.
We’ve got a fantastic little football league when it’s on song. Maybe it’s time a few more of us acknowledged that.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
It's the only logical/realistic option for them - both capacity-wise and cost-wise.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Reading these threads a year later amuses me, it turned out the Brisbane Roar wanted Dolphin Stadium to be their home after all.
Ad-O
Guest
No, he's right. Redcliffe is a total pain in the arse for most of the city to get to. Especially if you want to take public transport.
Nick Symonds
Guest
AERIAL VIEW OF LANGLANDS: https://thetigers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/55-LANGLANDS-AERIAL-VIEW.jpg SATELLITE: https://www.google.com/maps/search/Langlands+park/@-27.4969108,153.0490839,665m/data=!3m1!1e3
TEZZA
Guest
I don`t know if Perry Park could be improved too much. The FFA Cup match against Melbourne had just over 3500 spectators and it was packed so to try and fit in another 12000 would be near impossible I would think.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Perry Park and Dolphin Stadium would seem to be the most realistic options. And yes, both need investment, but surely that could be done relatively cheaply? Corporate facilities, bring capacity up to, say, 15k to start with, maybe a roof over the main stand.
Randy
Roar Rookie
If the Dolphins League side gets promoted to the NRL then there is good cause to further upgrade Redcliffe to a 20-25k seater stadium. Then perhaps down the track the A League can put a team on the south side of Brisbane and you could take advantage of the North/South divide which no other code has taken advantage of. Play the derby at Suncorp. Not sure where the south side team would play though... perry park is northside, ballymore is northside... maybe Langlands park but it would need a serious upgrade.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I couldn’t agree more on “cutting the cloth to suit” although I believe there is room for improvement in many cases. In Perth they built that beautiful grandstand facing into the sun and I often wonder how many people don’t go along in the summer months for that and similar reasons? The reason why I mentioned market research was to focus on the crowd at Dolphin stadium and to examine if they attend Suncorp games? Were they locals? What was the split in the crowd? Were they attracted by the intimacy offered? We often come up with ideas, suggestions, hypothesis etc but I’d prefer to see it all tested.
Micko
Roar Rookie
People like sports teams and stadiums that feel like a part of the community. You see the difference when fans like a stadium. The irony was when Perth Glory came in to the NSL and were huge, they played at Perth Oval: WAFL team East Perth's home ground. It had charm with old grandstands on one side, with the little grandstand behind the goals being called "The Shed" with the vocal singing supporters there (mainly poms) and temporary grandstands erected on the ground over the summer for the Glory games. East Perth were eventually forced to leave THEIR home ground (!) and Perth Oval was transformed into a rectangular stadium. It's a great facility, but kind of soulless and sterile now for Glory games. You see the same problem with other teams in the A-League and other sports as well. The West Indies use to have amazing atmosphere at their full, quaint cricket stadiums, but for the 2007 world cup all these charming venues were bulldozed with soulless new huge stadiums built with giant grandstands that never get filled as the locals don't go to them. You can tell the West Indians especially just don't like these soulless oversized venues with their new fancy modern stadium designs. Part of the charm of watching the EPL (& other leagues) is seeing historic grandstands and stadiums with their history. They become part of the local community if you like. Brisbane might be served better by 2 A-League teams with the Roar based at that stadium, and another (Brisbane Strikers maybe?) based at their stadium, be it central or southern suburbs of Brisbane.
anon
Roar Pro
Save Lang Park for the Broncos. They pack them in and create a good atmosphere. Much better to have 10k people in a 10k suburban ground. Makes for a lively, intimate experience.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
It kind of suggests that there should have been some extensive market research being conducted on patrons on Sunday afternoon.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I noticed a few seasons ago that BR played WSW and then SFC within a very short space of time and the games were marketed as some kind of state of origin...it just isn’t and nobody really fell for it either as far as I could tell.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
That seems like a pretty sound reason Mike.
jbinnie
Guest
Nick- It has long puzzled me as to why Roar, having moved their training and administration facilities to Logan, have never ventured a look at QSAC as an alternate to Suncorp. A look at the stadium as it is today will show that a lot of money has been spent there ,adding a second grandstand, and the only unknown factor is whether the boo-boo made by the council back at inception, when it was laid bare that the grassed area was not large enough for any of the international football codes. Transport of fans to that ground would not be a problem, at the moment fans are transported to Suncorp by bus, and one would imagine with many many buses lying idle at the weekend, running buses along the motorway from the city would not be a huge problem. While it is nice to speculate on the "busy "state at Dolphin it has to be remembered the max crowd is only 10,000 and Roar have proved over the good years that they are capable of pulling 15-17000 to a game and if they were to do that again the potential loss in income is horrendous. Room for thought. Cheers jb.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Probably size: the intimate nature provides a natural atmosphere and fun experience unlike huge oversized stadiums.
Admiral Ackbar
Guest
Great win to Brisbane, haven't seen a win like that since Glory bumped off the Wanderers back in January. We've worked out that Redcliffe works for A-League, but we're not sure why. Is it the size of the stadium, or is it the people that live in the Redcliffe-Moreton Bay area are likely to be "football people", eg expats from football loving countries?
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
I remember reading somewhere years ago that Roar had to draw 15k to Suncorp just to "break even". Are they obliged to play a minimum number of games there?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I think we're a bit cheap sometimes Waz, or have over-valued imports. Remember how JA wouldn't pay Jamie Mac marquee wages. I don't know what we offered Brattan but I'd hope we're penciling young players in now, for future senior roles, like our current crop of young defenders. Sure, some will be lost to better leagues but even those who go to other HAL clubs that fit Roar should be told they have a place back here. The good senior Qld players, and coach, in the HAL are all with non-Qld clubs. The best way to fire up support for any Brisbane team is to have a few local stars.
Nick Symonds
Guest
STADIUM LOCATIONS: Lang Park - Too big (especially for 2nd team) Ballymore - Ruled out by government and being downgraded Perry Park - Needs upgrade, but is it possible? Dolphin Stadium - Are corporate facilities adequate? Ipswich - Proposed but nothing certain QSAC - Long way from rail, needs overhaul for A-League Wakerly Park - Nothing proposed but site might work Albion Park Racecourse and RNA Showgrounds - Both proposed as sites for an Olympic stadium that would have 80,000 seats and be oval/round for athletics
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, these giant cavernous stadiums are ridiculous for the A-League. The atmosphere at small suburban grounds full to, or close to capacity at 8,500-12,000 would far exceed anything else. It's a better in the flesh fan product, and better tv product too.