Brisbane Roar’s journey back to the pinnacle of the Hyundai A-league has kicked-off with one of the longest and most advanced pre-seasons in the club’s history.
Returning to action for the first time since the off-season, players worked through a number of light training drills under the watchful eyes of the Roar coaching staff.
Refreshed from their break, the players quickly proved their eagerness to begin building success for the upcoming season.
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said he was pleased to see the positive attitude reverberating around his squad so early in the campaign.
“After they-ve been away for a couple of weeks, I think the staff and players were pretty keen to get back,” he said.
“I-m pretty happy everyone has come back in pretty good condition and the most important thing is the enthusiasm is there from day one.
“It-s a big season for us, we have to be successful and we want to be successful.”
Hoping to steal an edge on the competition, the Roar coaching staff have overhauled the club-s previous pre-season plan and drafted in a more advanced, in-depth schedule for the squad.
However, the new pre-season is not without its difficulties with the Roar beginning training much earlier than past campaigns.
But Postecoglou is confident he and his staff have found the right structure, and believes his squad will be ready to hit the ground running when the new season begins.
“We-ve obviously changed quite a few things around … it-s a longer pre-season and we want to make sure we do everything right,” he said.
“Everyone is happy with the way things have come together and everything seems to be in place.
“I-m really comfortable with the program we-ve put together and sure it will have us ready for round one.”
Joining Roar training for the first time were new goalkeepers Michael Theoklitos and Andrew Redmayne, while new left-back Shane Stefanutto restricted himself to light running.
Postecoglou said the new recruits have blended well into the playing group and hinted more signings could be on the way.
“They-re quality people as well as good players,” he said.
“All the new recruits I-m sure will help the group dynamics.
“And obviously we still have some signings to make which I-m working hard on at the moment.”
