Brisbane Roar will welcome newly crowned Australia Cup champions Macarthur FC to Suncorp Stadium as they look to being their Isuzu UTE A-League season with a bang.
The Brisbane Roar kicks off their 2022/23 Isuzu UTE A-League campaign with a blockbuster Round 1 clash against Macarthur FC at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It is the first time the Roar has played at Suncorp Stadium since March 2020, when they beat Central Coast Mariners 1-0.
Returning to the hallowed ground that has played hosts many memorable moments in Brisbane Roar’s history, Head Coach Warren Moon says the team are looking forward to getting out there.
“It’s a magnificent stadium, it’s like a coliseum,” he said.
“You walk out there, and it just gives you a buzz just to be playing at such a magnificent venue.
“The boys are really excited to be back there; it means a lot to them,” Moon added.
It has been a positive off-season for the A-League Men’s team, having made it to the Australia Cup semi-final for the first time in the club’s history.
There have also been several new additions to the team from last season including the arrival of former Premier League and EFL Championship forward Charlie Austin alongside attackers Carlo Armiento and Joe Knowles.
While young gun Jordan Courtney-Perkins and fan favourite Riku Danzaki return to Queensland on a loan spell from their Polish and Japanese clubs with defender Anton Mlinarić putting pen to paper for a permanent deal with Brisbane Roar.
Moon says the addition of these six players will bring more competition for spots and more strength in the squad’s depth.
“What we’ve got is more players challenging each other to improve us,” Moon said.
“I think last year, that’s probably where with our injuries in our young list we lacked a bit of squad depth. I believe right now we have a far more balanced and quality in our squad which will hopefully translate into better performance this year.”
The last time the Roar took on Macarthur FC came in Round 24 last season, as the men from South Western Sydney scored a late goal through Jake McGing to win 2-1.
It saw the win:lose record move to 2-2 with the Roar picking up a victory earlier in the 2021/22 season against their NSW rivals.
This time around, the Bulls come into the match off the back of winning the Australia Cup final 2-0 over Sydney United last Saturday.
And with the likes of Ulises Davila, Daniel Arzani and Al Hassan Toure leading the way in attack for Macarthur, the Roar will be looking to keep the trio at bay on Saturday night.
“They’ve got one of the best players in the A-Leagues in Davila along with Arzani and Toure so straightaway they carry out an attacking threat,” Moon said.
“We need to make sure we get our jobs right defensively but on the flip side, we need to make sure we do what we do well and when we’ve got the ball, we capitalise on opportunities,” he added.
Catch all the action between Brisbane Roar and Macarthur FC live on Paramount+.
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League
Brisbane Roar v Macarthur FC
Saturday, 8 October 2022
Suncorp Stadium
KO: 4pm AEST
