While the debuts of international attacking pair Issey Nakajima-Farran and Besart Berisha were highly-anticipated in the lead-up to season seven of the Hyundai A-League, the home debut of another Brisbane Roar striker flew somewhat under the radar on Saturday night.
While the debuts of international attacking pair Issey Nakajima-Farran and Besart Berisha were highly-anticipated in the lead-up to season seven of the Hyundai A-League, the home debut of another Brisbane Roar striker flew somewhat under the radar on Saturday night.
Unaware to many, James Meyer made only his fifth Hyundai A-League appearance for the club in the season opener against the Central Coast Mariners – but his first at Suncorp Stadium.
The 25-year-old made sure his limited appearances in last year-s campaign counted – netting four goals in four matches before a toe ligament injury abruptly ended his prolific first season in the competition.
However, due to the Brisbane stadium-s inability to host matches following the January floods and the relocation of North Queensland Fury-s home fixture after the effects of Cyclone Yasi, Meyer had only ever played “home” games at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast prior to Saturday night.
“It felt really good, it felt like I was debuting again,” he said.
“I had a feeling during the week that I may be starting and when the gaffer read out the starting eleven before the game, I was stoked.
“I even had the nerves leading up to it but just to finally play at Suncorp in front of all our fans was a great feeling and one I won-t forget”.
Meyer took the field at the top end of Head Coach Ange Postecoglou-s preferred 4-3-3 formation alongside new teammates Nakajima-Farran and Berisha.
With the support of attacking midfielders Thomas Broich and Mitch Nichols, both contenders for man-of-the-match accolades, Brisbane proved the attacking prowess that served them so well last year would continue as they attempted to defend their title.
The former Eastern Suburbs utility man predicted there was more to come from Brisbane and their new depth of goal-scoring stock.
“For our first game, I think it was a good start but there-s room for improvement,” Meyer said.
“We-ll definitely get better and the new boys, they-re great guys and great players, so we all get along well and I think that showed on the pitch.
“There-s always going to be room for improvement and we-ll keep pushing for that”.
Brisbane Roar-s next Hyundai A-League fixture is this Saturday, 15 October at Sydney Football Stadium against Sydney FC. Follow the match on the club-s Twitter feed.
