Brisbane Roar’s star import Thomas Broich has challenged the Central Coast to record a victory on the scoreboard, after laughing off suggestions the Mariners scored a psychological win in their recent 2-2 semi-final draw at Suncorp Stadium.
Premiership winners Brisbane have the wood on runners-up Central Coast throughout 2010-11, returning three wins and two draws, but after the Mariners led until stoppage time in the second leg of their major semi-final, coach Graham Arnold claimed a psychological victory.
Arnold has since distanced himself from the comments, stating that he had been referring to a victory only for his side, who had proven to themselves that they could match pace with the Roar.
But the remarks undoubtedly left an impression on the Brisbane playing group, and after goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos last week returned fire by saying the Mariners were likely still ‘scarred’ by their 5-1 loss to the Roar earlier in the season, Broich became another to scoff at Arnold’s assessment.
“They are a good team. They almost beat us twice this year, so we have got to be aware of their qualities, but I think we’ve scored 14 goals against them already, so we should have a good chance to beat them, especially here at Suncorp Stadium,” said Broich.
“(The talk about a psychological win) was funny. If we get the championship, then they can still be psychological champions, I don’t mind that.”
“It’s all about the performance on the pitch. You can talk as much as you want, they haven’t beaten us once this year, so let them talk.”
“There’s a couple (of areas where we have the advantage). We’re pretty mobile, we create heaps of chances, score heaps of goals, our defence is pretty solid. We have a lot of qualities, plus we’re at home, so it’s going to be pretty tough for the Mariners.”
Meanwhile, substitute sensation Henrique sent a scare through the camp after being forced from the training paddock with a quad complaint.
But Postecoglou was adamant that the ‘Slippery Fish’, who scored Brisbane’s injury-time equaliser in against the Mariners, had taken an early mark as precautionary measure, and his availability for the decider was not in doubt.
“He felt a bit of a twinge in his quad, but it’s just precautionary. We don’t want to take any risks and we only had the last bit of training to go,” he said.
“No (it doesn’t require scans). He’ll be fine and training on Thursday.”
“At the end of the day, you train and you just have to train to the best of your ability. Those things can happen. It was the last little bit, if it was halfway through training he could have kept going, but we only had 15 minutes.”
