As one of only two foundation players remaining at Brisbane Roar, midfielder Massimo Murdocca is eager to give his adopted hometown a well-deserved taste of Hyundai A-League grand final action.
In the six years the competition has been running, the decider has been held four times in Melbourne and once in Sydney, and Murdocca believed it was time was right for the Queensland capital to play host for the first time.
With the Roar taking on Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night in the second leg of this year-s major semi final, the chance to grab hosting rights have never been closer for the Brisbane club.
“It-s a bit responsibility for everybody,” Murdocca said.
“It-ll be massive, not only for Matty (McKay) and myself but for the whole squad to do something special for Brisbane.”
The 27-year-old has had to endure a stop-start season with several niggling injuries over the course of the year and while he had resigned himself to substitute status for the remaining of the campaign, he had faith in whatever decision reached by Head Coach Ange Postecoglou.
“It-s just about getting confidence and momentum now for myself,” Murdocca said.
“I should be coming off the bench again and I-ll get more confident with that and we-ll see where that takes me.
“If we win this weekend, it-s the grand final so it-ll be tough for me to start in the next couple of weeks.
“I-ll probably have to be a bench player for the rest of the year which is a bit of a disappointment.
“But that-s the way it goes and if that-s a sacrifice I have to make for the team to win the championship, I-ll be happy to do it.”
A veteran of three finals campaigns with the Roar, Murdocca was part of both teams that reached the Hyundai A-League preliminary final in both the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons.
After tasting defeat on both occasions, he was more eager than ever to make amends against Central Coast on Saturday.
“We-ve been here before and we know how important these games are,” Murdocca said.
“We-ve never been in the major semi final so it-s a bit different for a lot of us being in this situation.
“We don-t want to let it slip so we-re going to work extra hard this time.”
