The New South Wales coastal town of Terrigal will become home away from home for the Queensland Roar as they prepare for the first leg of their minor semi final against Central Coast.
The Roar departed Brisbane airport on Tuesday, an earlier than first expected departure date for their Friday night blockbuster against the Mariners.
A hectic travel schedule was the reason behind the change in plan, with a number of players originally set to return home on Tuesday morning after being in Sydney on Monday for the finals launch and Hyundai A-League awards night.
Queensland will now spend the week preparing in Terrigal, a short drive from Bluetongue Stadium, and defender Andrew Packer believes the unique preparation was an advantage.
“It’s good to get there early, we get our mind on the job straight away and hopefully we can make the most of it,” Packer said.
“It’s something that gets us to focus a little bit earlier than what we would of if we were leaving the day before.”
“We can put the feet up knowing that we’re settled and ready to go.”
“We’ll have a couple of training sessions there, I think we’ll train on the pitch the night before and that sort of stuff makes a big difference when it comes to finals.”
Hyundai A-League action took a break last weekend after the regular season and while Packer saw the lack of game-time as a challenge, he believed the Roar had laid the right groundwork to triumph over the Mariners.
“Last week we took it easy a little bit, let the body recover from what has been a tough few weeks and I think that is really going to help us coming into this game.”
“Hopefully with the early preparation down in Terrigal, it’ll really show for us on Friday night.”
