Brisbane Roar has signed one of the Hyundai A-League’s hottest properties in Ben Halloran to a three-year deal.
Brisbane Roar has signed one of the Hyundai A-League-s hottest properties in Ben Halloran to a three-year deal.
The pacy Halloran burst onto the scene this season with some sparkling performances for Brisbane-s former derby rivals.
The much sought after former Gold Coast United winger chose to sign for the back-to-back Hyundai A-League Champions yesterday, despite interest from several other clubs in the league.
However, the youngster said local ties and Brisbane-s developing football culture meant he would remain in Queensland.
“I have pretty strong ties with Brisbane, I lived for majority of childhood before I moved to the Gold Coast,” Halloran said.
“From a football standpoint Brisbane-s record stands for itself, they-ve been Champions for the past two seasons and play the best football in the competition.
“From my understanding the culture at the club is really professional and has European feel about how it-s run.
“The way Brisbane play is the way I like to play, they play a real possession style and always have the ball.
“Other teams play a lot more on the counter attack and it-s a lot more difficult to launch attacks on goal from so much deeper.
“I like to go forward and I like to see a lot of the ball in forward positions.”
While the chance to play an attacking brand of football next season was a big attraction for the 19-year-old, he also has one eye on the future.
Under the tutelage of Head Coach Rado Vidosic, assistant coach Ken Stead and experienced players Halloran is also looking to take his game to the next level
“An opportunity to be playing with players like Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha, who are proven European performers, is a fantastic opportunity,” he said.
“Playing alongside players like that can only help develop my game.”
For his part, Vidosic said the recruitment of a young player the calibre of Halloran was an important part of the ongoing development of Brisbane-s attacking, free-flowing style of play.
“Ben is very skilful, young and going to fit into our game plan perfectly,” Vidosic said.
“We want to refresh the team a little bit and get some different dimensions to our play.
“He fits perfectly in our plans and we believe with our way of training he-s going to develop even more and be an even more exciting player.
“The advice he-s got for his personal development it-s best to come to Brisbane because of the game we play.
“With us he-s going to continue his education, and reach his full potential much quicker.”
Halloran will join his teammates for the first time when they return to the training track on July 9, following the club’s off-season break.
