Brisbane Roar will face an exciting blend of youth, enthusiasm and talent when the squad clashes with a Brisbane Invitational XI for the final Queensland leg of the club’s Roar Roadshow tour.
Chosen from a select group of under-25 players plying their trade in the Veto Brisbane Premier League (BPL), the Brisbane Invitational side will be hoping to sweep reputations aside when they line-up at Underwood Park, Rochedale on July 6.
Invitational coach Tim Brown said the match represented a fantastic opportunity to shine for the next generation of Brisbane-s football superstars.
“The players are genuinely excited and who wouldn-t be?” Brown said.
“It-s a chance to play against full-time professionals which is always exciting and something the players should be excited about.
“There-s also not much representative football for players once they reach the age of 16, so this is an opportunity for guys who are a little bit older to still represent the Brisbane Premier League.”
Brown said his players would have to be ‘smart- against the experience of the Roar, but indicated his squad was not without its own arsenal of attacking might.
“We have a striker by the name of Joby Thorogood who has been scoring goals for fun in the BPL and two very young and exciting players from Rochedale (Jake McLean and James Donachie),” Brown said.
“We expect to defend, but hopefully put on a good show and show the crowd see some talent they didn-t know existed in the BPL.”
The Roar has worked tirelessly to engage the local football community in its pre-season tour while building a solid foundation of game time and fitness.
Travelling to clubs such as Brisbane Olympic, Brisbane City, Peninsular Power and regional areas Toowoomba, Ipswich and Gympie, the Roar have reinforced the strong foundation with South East Queensland-s football fraternity.
“A lot of the BPL clubs have played the Roar before, so this game is a chance for players from clubs such as Pine Rivers, Pine Hills and Souths to get a game against the more experienced professional players,” Brown said.
“We-re trying to build a pathway between the Roar and the BPL and this is another step showing the Roar is heading in that direction.”
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said he had been impressed by the quality of the Roar-s opponents in the pre-season tour and expected no different from the BPL-s young guns.
“All these games have been really good for us because they-ve been played in the right spirit,” Postecoglou said.
“Both our guys and the opposition have taken them seriously and given it their all.
“The invitational side have some players who have trained with us and will be keen to do well against their Hyundai A-League counterparts.”
Both Postecoglou and Brown expected a strong crowd for the clash with interest building around a clash pitting professional experience against youthful talent.
Brisbane clash with the Brisbane Invitational XI at Underwood Park on July 6, with gates opening at 4.30pm.
There will be a player signing session at 4.45pm before the main game kicks-off at 7.15pm.
Brisbane Invitational XI squad: Tom Carroll GK (Easts), Andrew Shephard (Pine Hills), Jake Mclean (Rochedale), James Donachie (Rochedale), Nick Waddell (Pine Rivers), Drew Jeskey (Wynumm), Joby Thorogood (Wynumm), Luke Wakefield (Wynumm), Cody Shorter (Souths), Luke Muir (Capalaba), Jono Viney (Capalaba), Matt Byrne (Capalaba), Keiran Ruddock (Olympic), Cameron Draper (Redlands), Brodie Kenyon (Taringa), Stephen Chester (Taringa), Scott Stewart (Mt Gravatt). Coach: Tim Brown
