Brisbane Roar may have come away with only a point from Redcliffe on Sunday, but it’s fans who should feel like the real winners thanks to a vastly improved match-day experience.
With two goals disallowed and a few more excellent efforts wasted, you’d have to think the Roar were the only team that couldn’t score on Valentine’s Day.
They certainly had their chances, with Japanese import Riku Danzaki twice denied by the assistant referee’s flag in what looked like a couple of correct decisions.
The on-loan Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo youngster is fast turning into one of the signings of the season, but he couldn’t find the angle to drive Brisbane into a deserved lead in the 77th minute thanks in no small part to Johnny Koutroumbis’s lunging tackle attempt.
And the Newcastle defence warranted plenty of praise on the back of some desperate rearguard action.
It’s one thing to watch games unfold on TV, but watching live from Moreton Daily Stadium offered a brutal reminder of just how physical the competition’s toughest defenders can be.
Nigel Boogaard and Nikolai Topor-Stanley may have been around since the start of the A-League, but the veteran defenders put on a clinic of brute force when dealing with the Roar’s nimble attack.
Boogaard in particular targeted Dylan Wenzel-Halls, and while the Ipswich-born tearaway never took a backward step, you could hardly have blamed the pint-sized Roar attacker for going out of his way to avoid the Jets skipper.
Between those two and goalkeeper Jack Duncan the Jets just kept finding a way to keep the Roar out. Had Valentino Yuel not smashed his piledriver against the post shortly before halftime, the Novocastrians might even have left the peninsula with all three points.
But as frustrating as the 0-0 draw will be for Brisbane coach Warren Moon – who could perhaps have turned to his bench more than just once – there’s one area of the game where Roar fans should have no cause for complaint.
And that’s their 11,500-capacity stadium.
It may not always look like it on TV given the main Fox Sports cameras are mounted in the constantly packed western grandstand, but the Roar’s new home is just about perfect.
The atmosphere has been buzzing at all five of the Roar’s games in Redcliffe this season, but it was particularly obvious in the side’s 5-2 thrashing of Melbourne Victory last Saturday.
The hosts may have made a fast start in that one but they were assisted by a parochial home crowd sitting right on top of the action and baying for Victory blood.
And it’s the fact the club now have a home ground where fans can ratchet up the atmosphere that should make Brisbane Roar a genuine threat this season.
All they need to do now is find a way to get a few more fans into that new northern stand.
Before the season kicked off Roar chief executive David Pourre told me he’d made a concerted effort to reduce ticket prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he couldn’t in good conscience charge fans the same prices they’d been paying at Suncorp Stadium when so many had seen their employment prospects reduced.
There’s no doubt the Roar now boast some of the cheapest tickets in the league, and it was noticeable how many more fans were in the Den yesterday compared even to a week ago.
But there’s only so much the club can do. The one thing some of the hold-outs yet to enjoy the Redcliffe experience need to do is simply find a way to get to a home game.
Because as we saw with Wellington’s 2-0 defeat to the Mariners in yesterday’s other fixture in Wollongong, you can’t put a price on the value of a good home ground.
Redcliffe may not be the Brisbane CBD, but it’s hard to argue the Roar don’t look right at home.
matth
Roar Guru
Ouch. I'm not sure what the reasons were, but you have my sympathies. I've had plenty published here, which leads me to believe that the secret is to be boring, non-contraversial, unpopular and fairly average. :stoked:
AndyAdelaide
Roar Rookie
i have submitted 4 article on here already (african australian youth, home grown players, sydney fcs refusal to play youth over the years & the state of youth in australia in general. all 4 have been rejected by the eastern states mafia that runs the roar lol
matth
Roar Guru
Because Redcliffe is awesome
matth
Roar Guru
And Adele concerts
matth
Roar Guru
Might be time for you to write an article Andy ...
matth
Roar Guru
Based on that every A-League team could fit into Dolphin Oval
stu
Guest
I think being 'objective' is a better description.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
If it's the difference between the club continuing to exist or going broke at a stadium they can't afford to play in, then yes... it's a success.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I haven't given Rocklea Showgrounds much thought, Marilyn, but it would be nice to see Brisbane Roar return to the city proper. That being said, it'll be hard to walk away from Redcliffe knowing how well Moreton Bay Council has treated the club this season.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Rocklea Showground to the nearest station = 500m QSAC to the nearest railway station = 4000m
Randy
Roar Rookie
this will be an interesting lesson for the 2nd Brisbane NRL team, which I believe would be a massive mistake to be based at Redcliffe and play most games at Dolphin stadium.
AndyAdelaide
Roar Rookie
https://www.ultimatealeague.com/records.php?type=att
Adam Cattell
Roar Pro
The owners own the land behind the dugouts.. I know there is scope to do something..a very small chance of this happening -but-maybe not complete pie in the sky
Ad-O
Guest
Easier for me to get to the Gold Coast, and there's a lot more pre and post game to be had there too.
Ad-O
Guest
You already got QE2 5mins up the street, no?
Ad-O
Guest
Attending live games just isn't part of the culture in Brisbane unless its State of Origin. The Broncos don't do anything particularly impressive with attendance either. I've seen cities of less than 200K in Europe and America sell out stadiums bigger than Suncorp on the regular, and do it in -20C weather. People will come up with all sorts of excuses but really its just a combination of laziness and a culture of watching on TV.
Ad-O
Guest
Couldn't agree more. There's a reason why most teams have their stadium in, or right next to, the CBD. Moving to Redcliffe is a move that may give the temporary appearance of success, especially with their recent upturn in form, but they are losing out on potential fans attending games and ultimately it signifies a drop in status for the team and the sport in Brisbane.
Ad-O
Guest
May as well, then we could get a team in Brisbane.
Ad-O
Guest
So there's less fans going to a smaller stadium (which is still only half full) paying less money at the gate at a location that may as well be on Mars for the majority of the city the team is meant to represent. And that's apparently a success.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Probably something to do with the QLD gov having control of stadiums with 15,000 capacity or over I'm assuming.