Injury, suspension and international duty have forced Brisbane coach Frank Farina to look outside his depleted squad for the Roar’s upcoming preseason clash against North Queensland at Tony Ireland Stadium.
The Roar will play against local Brisbane Premier League side Rochedale Rovers next Wednesday, but Sunday’s match against the Fury remains their last serious warm-up before the Hyundai A-League season starts on August 8.
Brisbane will be without regulars Robbie Kruse (suspension), Massimo Murdocca (broken leg), Reinaldo (osteitis pubis and ankle) and Josh McCloughan (groin) while Luke DeVere, Mitch Nichols and Isaka Cernak are all in Argentina with the Qantas Young Socceroos.
Michael Zullo (shoulder), Charlie Miller (groin) and Danny Tiatto (back and hamstring) are all carrying niggles, meaning Roar Youth defender Daniel Bowles has been called into the squad alongside trialists Bob Malcolm and Chay Hews.
Scotsman Malcolm has been plying his trade with the club for around a month and according to local press has ostensibly stitched up a contract, but the appearance of 32-year-old Hews at training on Friday raised a few eyebrows.
Hews, currently on board with former NSL outfit the Brisbane Strikers, recently returned to Australia after a stint with Swedish club Västra Frölunda IF.
Farina, former captain/coach of the Strikers, was well aware of Hews’ talents and had no hesitation in asking Strikers’ coach and former Roar defender Stuart McLaren for the services of Hews in Townsville this weekend.
“Obviously with the injuries we’ve got, and a bit of a cloud hanging over a couple of the blokes like Zullo and Charlie (Miller)… we brought Chay in,” Farina said.
“I’ve known Chay for a long time, he’s a good footballer.”
Farina was coy when it came to Hews’ prospects of securing a contract with the club.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.
“I know what he can do, so just for this weekend I spoke with Stu and asked if he could trial with us and he had no problems.”
“We’ll wait and see, you never know.”
Farina was disappointed his club was carrying so many injuries close to the start of the campaign, but was confident that all bar Murdocca would be fit for the season opener against Gold Coast United.
“You’d like to have everyone on board…I would have preferred some of them to have a bit more game time than what they’ve got, but that’s life.”
“I hope that on August 8 we’ll have pretty much everyone on deck, apart from Massimo.”
Miller and Tiatto are expected to play 45 minutes against the Fury, while Farina is unsure about Zullo’s chances after the youngster’s shoulder suffered another knock on Friday at training.
“We’ll see with Michael, his shoulder is still a little bit sore, so we’ll see how he pulls up.”
“I think he pushed off and twinged it again, we’ll see how he is.”
Zullo cut a forlorn figure after the session, but there was at least one clear positive piece of news for the Roar with Reinaldo successfully completing training for the first time this season.
