Young Roar kick off their 2024 NPL Queensland campaign on the road against Brisbane City at Imperial Corp Stadium on Saturday evening.
Roar come into Saturday’s league opener off the back of a 3-1 win over SWQ Thunder in Kappa Pro Series action in Toowoomba last weekend.
The Roar’s youngest ever A-League Men’s goal scorer, Rylan Brownlie celebrated his 17th birthday with a hat-trick in Sunday’s win.
Along with Brownlie, Shae Cahill, Quinn MacNicol, Ryan Lethlean and Ayom Majok are players with A-League Men’s minutes this season to have played a part in the Roar’s Kappa Pro Series campaign so far.
After three rounds of action Young Roar sit level in third position with Sunshine Coast Wanderers and St George Willawong on three points in Kappa Pro Series Group B.
Young Roar finished ninth on the NPL Queensland ladder in 2023 in a season that saw the likes of Thomas Waddingham, James Nikolovski, Rylan Brownlie and Quinn MacNicol play key roles before going on to make their A-League debuts.
Brisbane City, who finished fourth in the NPL in 2023 are coached by former Roar defender Karl Dodd and include a number of former Young Roar players such as: Jackson Simpkin, Braydon Doolan, Oli Plusnin and Solomon Weldemariam as well as ex-Socceroo defender James Meredith.
Jack Benham, who scored a stunning long-range goal in City’s Elimination Final win over Lions last season and Zac Fowler joined the Young Roar ranks after impressing for the Azzurri in 2023.
Saturday’s NPL Queensland opener kicks off at Imperial Corp Stadium at 5:30pm and will be live streamed on FQTV & the Football Queensland YouTube channel followed by the U23 match at 7:30pm.
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Queensland 2024 – Round 1: Brisbane City v Brisbane Roar Academy
Imperial Corp Stadium, Newmarket
Saturday, 24 February
First Team: 5:30pm KO
U23: 7:30pm KO
BRISBANE ROAR NPL QUEENSLAND SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Lachlan Duke, Sean O’Connor, George Plusnin, Tyler Roche
Defenders: Cameron Anderson, Dylan Meinicke, Nathan Geyer, Eremugo Debele, James Murphy, Andrew McLeod, Isiah Quinn, Ethan Jones, Jac Parrot, Zane North, Kobi Griffiths, Lucas Herrington, Charlie Parkin
Midfielders: Noah McGrath, Riley Gill, Damon Gorrell, Jack Benham, Tinotenda Madau, Tate Baldwin, Edward Ince, Dominic Amaya, Caleb Butler, Declan Warnes, Rhys Williams, James Durrington
Forwards: Ivan Ozzi, Tuquiri Beckett, Ty Cobb, Kade McDougall, Zac Fowler, Forbes Porter
