Brisbane Roar striker Nick Fitzgerald believes his side’s first away trip of the National Youth League season could not come at a better time.
Brisbane Roar striker Nick Fitzgerald believes his side-s first away trip of the National Youth League season could not come at a better time.
Following two home fixtures – a 2-0 win over Gold Coast United and a 3-1 loss to Adelaide United – Fitzgerald and the rest of the Roar Youth squad will travel south to take on Melbourne Victory at Kingston Heath, Cheltenham on Sunday afternoon.
A trip down away is exactly what Fitzgerald thinks will further enhance the team dynamic, after acknowledging that he and his teammates still have work to do understanding each other and each individual-s style of play.
“We-re doing pretty well and playing some decent football but we-re still getting used to each other,” Fitzgerald said.
“Some of us don-t know each other too well and we-re not on the same wave length yet but we-re working hard to get it right.
“It-ll be good to have an away trip with all the boys because I think that-s why the first team are so good, because they work well together and get along off the field as well.
“All the first team players are good mates so I think if we can have that in the youth team, that-ll help us on the field.”
Fitzgerald believes the balance is in place for the John Sime-coached team, who now just need to work hard on developing a fluid football style that works well for each player in the squad.
“Towards the middle of the season, I think, is when we-ll start really threatening,” he said.
“The team dynamic works out well – the older boys are there for the young boys, who all want to keep learning.
“Once they get a bit more experience in the youth league, there will be an even better balance in the team.
“It helps when you have players like Brattsy (Luke Brattan) and Jack (Hingert) playing as well but some of the young boys came on and did well on the weekend, like Ross (Archibald) and Jake (McLean), so we-ve got a good mixture throughout the team.”
Brisbane Roar Youth face Melbourne Victory Youth on Sunday 6 November at Kingston Heath, Cheltenham, kicking off at 4.00pm AEDT.
