Let’s farewell the season from hell with one final effort
What can you say about a season that promised so much, only to fizzle out to a frustrating end?
It’s safe to say that no one, least of all me, expected Brisbane Roar to be sitting 11th in the standings with only two games left to play.
At the start of the season, I confidently predicted Michael Valkanis’ team would make the finals.
And I have seen enough – including in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford – to suggest that the men in orange had the quality to finish in the top six.
But it would be equally safe to say that things haven’t exactly gone to plan since the turn of the year.
A solitary win in 2026 tells its own story, but it doesn’t tell the story of the calamitous run of misfortunes suffered since the calendar ticked over.
Like that classic episode of The Simpsons where Mr Burns loses eight of his nine ringers to a series of improbable circumstances when he’s trying to rig a company softball game, Brisbane Roar’s sustained run of misfortune almost defies belief.
It started with a rescheduled Round 20 clash in early January – the third of four A-League games played within the space of 10 days, which the club was requested to move to accommodate Melbourne City’s AFC Champions League Elite campaign.
The men in orange flew down to Melbourne, lost 1-0 in front of 3,683 fans at AAMI Park, saw captain Jay O’Shea limp off with a serious ankle injury that ruled him out for weeks, then flew home to lose 2-0 to Auckland FC three days later.
That came after 20-year-old winger Nathan Amanatidis tore his hip flexor tendon on national team duty with the Young Socceroos and key midfielder Milorad Stajic had collapsed to the turf with a serious hamstring injury at Coopers Stadium, but before teenage tyro Emmett Shaw – who recently celebrated his 17th birthday – suffered a back injury.
Recognising the need for reinforcements, the club brought home fan favourite Nick D’Agostino on loan from Norwegian club Viking – only for a player hoping to push his Socceroos credentials to suffer a serious knee injury in 1-1 draw with Perth Glory that the club was forced at the last minute to move to Kayo Stadium because an Ed Sheeran concert had already battered the Suncorp Stadium pitch.
That injury came after D’Agostino had thumped a header against the crossbar from point-blank range, but before goalscorer Chris Long had already limped from the field with an ankle injury that pretty much ended his season.
Yes, there have been some situations the team could have controlled better. How Adelaide United substitute Brody Burkitt floated home that hat-trick header in a 3-2 defeat to the Reds in January I will never know.
But the point is that everyone associated with the club is hurting from these results.
So, what is there left to do?
Firstly, if you’re anything like me, turn up at Suncorp Stadium for the game against Melbourne City on Saturday afternoon.
Why? Because we’re football fans. Our off-season is long enough without us choosing to stay away from games.
Secondly, because the club will still be playing finals football after Brisbane Roar’s Women’s team booked their spot in the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Coach Alex Smith and his team deserve huge praise for the way they’ve gone about their campaign, having sealed their spot in the finals with a gripping 2-1 win over Canberra United in the nation’s capital – which included a 95th-minute penalty save from goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln that had to be seen to be believed.
And lastly, because there’s a reason opposition fans taunt: “you only sing when you’re winning”.
Yes, this season hasn’t gone to plan. We all know that.
But if the mark of being a football fan is supporting your club through thick and thin, then Saturday’s clash with Melbourne City is a reminder of the latter.
Here’s hoping for some better luck next season.
Mike Tuckerman
About Mike Tuckerman: Mike is a freelance football journalist and long-time Brisbane Roar watcher. He has written for the ABC, The Guardian, Australian Football Weekly, Football Australia and theroar.com.au.
