Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Macarthur FC ensured Brisbane Roar have made their best start to an A-League Men season in 15 years.
Justin Vidic’s 95th minute winner ensured Michael Valkanis’ side have now picked up seven points from their opening three games, something that hasn’t been done at the club since the days of Ange Postecoglou.
So what’s been the key?
A-League Championship winners Erik Paartalu and Kosta Barbarouses dissected the Roar’s impressive start to the new campaign on the latest episode of A-Leagues: On the Whistle.
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“What I loved about the Roar last week, they scored in stoppage time, got themselves a point, and they go and get a late goal again and win the game, and that just shows me that things are right,” Paartalu said.
“The electricity is right in the dressing room. They have really good options, they have a different array of options up top.
“Sabit Ngor’s a great runner, can dribble, can shoot, can score. Nam Tae-hee ball to feet, [Tyrese] Francois can turn. I think they’ve just got a great balance and blend, and then where does it all start from?
“It’s Tate Russell, Joel King, Tommy Aldred at the back. Those three guys, who’ve got really high football IQ, I’d probably say that they didn’t have that a lot last year, apart from when you know Lucas [Herrington] left. It was was a big hole.
“That’s why they started to to ship goals, in my opinion. But I think they’ve just got a great balance to their squad.
“I can see a real team.
Last year was kind of like, are they like a real team or not? Because of the way they were acting, it was like no one really wanted to give them the time of day.
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“They almost got to that point again today with a couple of flashpoints, but they controlled it.
“They solved the problem and took three points home. It was a good performance.”
Vidic’s dramatic late winner took his goal tally to two for the season, half of what he managed in 23 games during the 2025/26 campaign.
According to four-time A-League champion Barbarouses the 22-year-old is showing real signs of promise this season, but believes a simple tweak to his game could see him go to the next level.
“I said last week that we don’t really want to see him in the pocket too much because we want to see him on shoulders and make the most of the service behind him,” Barbarouses said on the latest episode of On the Whistle.
“It looks like he’s doing that and he’s progressing every week. He’s on shoulders, he’s looking for that ball [in behind].
“I would just say there’s still a little bit of carry on in his game, which I’d like to see him sort of move away from.
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“If you want to be a complete centre forward, which he’s got the stature, the speed, it takes a lot of energy. So just use all your energy on the football stuff. Leave all the other stuff alone because it’ll drain you.
“The only one that’s sort of been able to do both that I’ve seen is Besart Berisha being able to wind up a whole back four and then produce the goods!
“So that’s a bit of a one in a million.
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“So look, he’s on the right path. I think with Valcanus, it looks like he’s got somebody that believes in him and and is letting him grow into himself as a player.
“He just needs to keep focusing on being on shoulders, getting in the box every time, gambling.
“Being a centre forward, you’ve got to just hit your zones every time. You might get the ball once, you might never get it. But you’ll get 10 goals like that. The ball popping out to you and nicking in like that.
“But he’s got good runs off shoulders like we saw today so he just needs to keep it going. He’s doing well.”
Next up for the Roar is a home clash against Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, November 21.
