Our Young Roar will look to top-off a strong season by aiming to dethrone defending Foxtel Y-League champions Western Sydney on Friday afternoon.
The Young Roar have been the cream of the crop in their Conference A all season & Head Coach Drew Sherman is relishing the chance for his squad to test themselves against the Conference B Champions.
“It’s something that wasn’t an expectation at the start of the year, so it’s going to be a fantastic experience,” Sherman said.
“We’re playing the reigning Champion, and a team that has a good track record of playing young players in the [Hyundai] A-League in recent weeks.
“We are looking to demonstrate where our young players are at.”
The Young Roar booked their spot in the decider with a 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory last Friday — a result that was enough to see them top the Conference on goal difference.
The squad has found the right mix of fresh faces and experienced heads to provide leadership, which Sherman says provides a perfect balance for success.
“We have experienced heads in the group like Aaron Reardon, Jay Barnett, Dan Leck and Macklin Freke and we’ve found the blend of youth and experience has worked for us,” Sherman added.
“We have five players in our squad that are still schoolboys and actually need their school’s permission to play in this grand final.
“Players we have high hopes for the future and we’re keen to expose them to this type of challenge.”
The Wanderers have put together an impressive season themselves, winning six of their eight games, but did suffer a four-goal defeat at the hands of the Newcastle Jets just a matter of rounds ago.
Sherman says that Friday’s Grand Final is another valuable learning experience for his side, many of whom have progressed through the ranks of the BRFC Academy.
“This is the time of their development, learning to perform consistently, and learning to win when there’s a little bit of pressure,” Sherman continued.
“Regardless we [the coaches] are not focused on winning — that’s not our primary focus. For the players, we want them to be competitive and fight to make sure they put themselves in a good light.”
Many members of the Young Roar squad have had the chance to consistently train alongside Brisbane’s Hyundai A-League squad in recent months — an environment which Sherman believes is getting the best out of his players.
“It’s something we feel is unique in Australia and we’ve seen the benefits of that because we [the Young Roar squad members] have had more than 100 training sessions with the Hyundai A-League squad this year,” Sherman state.
“For us it has been a very successful campaign because we’ve been producing players for the first team and that’s our primary focus.”
Catch every minute of Friday’s Foxtel Y-League Grand Final LIVE on Fox Sports Ch 505, or on the MyFootball Live App.
MATCH DETAILS
Foxtel Y-League 2018/19 — Grand Final: Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Friday, 1 February (3:20pm KO QLD time)
YOUNG ROAR SQUAD
Goalkeepers: 1.Macklin Freke, 20.Lachlan Hunter
Defenders: 2.Emlyn Wellsmore, 3.Jordan Courtney, 4.Aaron Reardon, 5.Izaack Powell, 13.Tyson Martin, 22.Brodie Boyce
Midfielders: 6.Zac Duncan, 8.Oliver Duncan, 10.Bryce Bafford, 14.Jay Barnett, 21.Brandon McMorrow
Attackers: 7.Lleyton Brooks, 9.Mirza Muratovic, 11.Daniel Leck, 16.Eduardo Castaneda, 19.Cristian Aloisi
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