Canberra United head coach, Robbie Hooker, believes the Queensland Roar has “more to lose” than his side in Saturday’s Westfield W-League Grand Finalat Ballymore in Brisbane.
Canberra come into the match as underdogs against a Queensland side that has won eight of ten games on their way to claiming the league championship in convincing fashion while United finished the season in third.
“I think Queensland probably have had their squad together for most of the year with a few add ins, and we’re a squad that’s been put together certainly at the last minute with a lot of players coming in for the game,” Hooker said ahead of the decider.
“I can’t recall one training session this year where we’ve had the starting eleven.”
“Queensland are undefeated at Ballymore…and the heat and humidity could play a factor because it’s certainly a lot more humid here than it is in Canberra, but with the forcast of a possible shower and a bit of wind around tomorrow hopefully that will be negated a little bit.”
Though, Hooker isn’t about to offer excuses and believes the Grand Final is anything but decided.
“If you can pick the best eleven players you certainly shouldn’t need to train much together to still perform well, but it’s the players that we’ve had to work with which have stepped up and bridged that gap which has made it possible for us to be [in the grand final].”
“The ‘Premiership’ is like the Cox Plate, the best horse usually wins, and the Grand Final is like the Melbourne Cup which is [won by] the best horse on the day.”
“If you look at it that way, the best team in the league… has probably got more to lose than us to be honest, but that’s not to say they can’t win and that’s not to say that we can’t win either.”
Despite going to extra time against Sydney FC in last weekend’s semi final, Hooker doesn’t believe that plays into the hands of Canberra United rather levels the playing field.
“It’s probably evened out a bit in terms of travel, a lot of us had to get up pretty early this morning, which is not part of the normal routine and get on a plane.
“Certainly the day off would have been a bonus earlier in the week but at this stage I don’t think Queensland will be affected in a negative way by the extra time or the day less recovery.”
Queensland will be wary though with their only loss this inaurugral season coming at the hands of Canberra United, 1-0, all the way back in Round Two but the past result means little during the finals.
“It’s ancient history to a certain degree, the starting team probably tomorrow will have four or five changes from the team we played Queensland [in round two] and I’m sure Queensland have four or five changes from that team on that day as well, so I don’t think that team will have much relevance to be honest on tomorrow’s game.”
With an impressive record away from home this season and another week of great training, Hooker is confident of claiming the inaugural Westfield W-League title despite the ‘underdog’ tag.
“We’ve done our home work and I think we’ve prepared in a way that’s going to, in horse racing terms, have us ready on the day.”
Saturday-s final between Queensland Roar v Canberra United will kick-off at 3.00pm AQST (4.00pm AEDT). Tickets for the match at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane, can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.au or phone 136 100. The match can also be seen live on ABC TV with coverage starting at 3.50pm AEDT (check local guides for more details).
