Ange Postecoglou and the Brisbane Roar are looking to celebrate their long-awaited return to Suncorp Stadium with a first ever win against Gold Coast United on Saturday night.
The match will be Brisbane’s first real home game since January 7th, after severe flood damage to their Milton Road fortress forced matches against the Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart down the highway to the Gold Coast’s Skilled Park.
Regardless of the result, the all-conquering Roar will accept the Premier’s Plate at the game’s conclusion, but Postecoglou and his men are desperate to finish the regular season on the right note with three more competition points.
Having lost just once all season, Postecoglou says there is plenty of motivation to keep their record-breaking undefeated streak alive with a polished performance against a tough, finals-bound side, who are carrying plenty of incentive of their own.
“(Finishing with a win and only one loss for the season) would be the fairytale ending, but I’ve been around long enough to know that sometimes fairytales aren’t the reality of sports, so we’ve got to make sure we do our job,” he said.
“They’re going to be a tough opponent. They’re our rivals and we haven’t beaten them, so there’s plenty of motivation – no doubt.”
“We’re expecting a tough one and we want a tough one, to be honest. We need a tough game going into the finals – we need to be tested.”
“Especially for our supporters, I think (getting our first win against the Gold Coast) would cap off a pretty impressive season, if we could tick off that box, as well.”
The Suncorp derby is sure to be an emotion-charged affair with the club donating 5000 tickets to flood affected families, and the Roar, who have shown an admirable commitment to the community in the aftermath of the floods, are looking to make it a memorable night for their supporters and Queenslanders in general.
“We’re delighted to be back home. It’s been a weird old month,” said Postecoglou
“The most important thing for us was to get back on to our pitch and for our supporters to get back to our stadium and to watch us play.”
“The beauty of it is that it becomes a little bit of a celebration for us, but hopefully for the whole state and particularly Brisbane the city, that we get to lift the trophy on the day we return there.”
“I think it’s quite an important day and it has come together really well. We just have to play our part and play well, and if we do, I’m sure everyone will enjoy the day.”
