They claimed to have lost $70k from the qualifying match.

This probably puts the stadium rental at somewhere between $100-$120k per match. Plus $5.75 per person who attends for travel tax

Murdocca tells Caletti how being small can be a big advantage

Midfielder Caletti, 18, is the former Australia under-17s (Joeys) captain who recently broke into the A-League with Brisbane Roar, the same club where Murdocca won two championships.

Caletti, who is listed at 162cm, has appeared in two A-League games and three AFC Champions League matches for the Roar and impressed with the level of his technical ability, the speed of his decision-making and his willingness to compete for the ball against bigger players.

He has been at a disadvantage in terms of his size since he started playing as a child, so he has been adapting to meet that challenge all along, but Murdocca, who was listed at 165cm and played in a similar position, says there is always more you can do.

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"I think with your low centre of gravity you naturally have better balance," Murdocca says.

"And if you work to further develop your leg muscles you'll have more strength to hold players off when you've got the ball.

"I had no trouble holding off players in my time in the A-League, because just naturally I've got very big quads and I started my gym regime quite early as a youngster and I really built up my legs.

"My quads are clearly bigger than the average person's, so that definitely helped me. It made a big difference, actually."

Apart from that, Murdocca says, it is important to go into games with a combative attitude and a belief that it doesn't matter if other players are bigger and taller than you.

"In all honesty, throughout my career, before games I never looked at opposition players and thought 'gee, they're huge'," he said.

"Once the whistle went and the game started I felt like I was as big as everyone else. I didn't think there were any physical disadvantages.

"I never feared anyone. If I had to go in for a challenge, I went in, if I had to jump for a header, I didn't worry about whether I was going to win it or not, I was going to jump and compete as hard as I could.

"I guess that's what my style was, I was combative and I challenged anyone. It didn't bother me to do that and I think it's going to be the same deal for young Caletti.

"He'll gain that respect if he keeps fighting for the ball and putting his body in there and challenging for everything.

"And since he's still only 18 he should naturally grow a bit more and get bigger and he can develop his strength. He can have positives about his game that other players don't have."

Murdocca, who finished his A-League career with Melbourne City at the end of the 2014-15 season and is now playing with Avondale in the Victorian NPL, at 32, said it was up to Caletti to use the strengths in his game to exploit weaknesses in his opponent's game.

"I worked really hard on improving my agility, my speed and my ability to get away from players," he said.

It's time for the A-League to take a leap of faith

The football media are turning. The fans are fed up. The mainstream media have barely noticed the sport, well, apart from that banner thing, but best we don’t get swallowed up by that again.

"You've got to know how to deal with players who might be bigger and stronger than you.

"I thought, 'OK, I'm short, so what can I do to be better than that guy', or whoever my opponent was. You just look at their weaknesses and make sure you've got the qualities in your game to take advantage of that.

"That's exactly what I did year in, year out to try and get better and to stay in the game and battle against these guys.

"My career went pretty well and I'm pretty proud of what I achieved in the A-League. I'm sure that young Joe, having made it this far at his young age, has got the right attitude as well."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/03/02/murdocca-tells-caletti-how-being-small-can-be-big-advantage

man brisbane hopes would be better if we didn't have all these injuries. 

I think the rumours about people from China looking into him were bogus anyway, Roar are stuck with him. In saying that he can improve and has looked very decent at times but very predictable as well. He can shoot from long range but just wish he would stop aiming them right at the keeper. Not good for the ACL but at least he is back for the finals. 

Oarsbeen playing really well of Kate do I'm happy he's with us next season, Holman on the ither hand needs a kick up the arse.

Interesting on Caletti. I would have thought that the realty of transposing Sydney FC to Serie A and them getting their butts kicked would suffice to say there's more to a footballer than their height. He has a bright future, and good on him.

No Oar or Kristensen......Yikes. and relying on...Holman and Arana,both very random players....I hope Ross Aloisi is doing extra defensive work,because the team we have available looks very suspect defensively.

@ crimsoncruso

Avraam looked very good last week, so he alongside North plus the usual LB/RB combo will be fine. DeVere back the following week so we're flying by the seat of our pants but should be okay defensively

One thing for certain is we are going to find out if our youth players are good enough .They will get a lot of game time.

I also thought Avraam looked quite good. A big solid defender that won't get out muscled to often. I saw a few of his two footed sliding tackles too - hopefully he doesn't mis-time any of those! :)

I only just noticed that it is a split round these two weeks. So WTF!
Why now? does anyone know why this round is a split round?

we never have a international break. Why not give teams like wsw, au and roar a break eariler on rather than now.

The split round is for the ACL teams - all three have a weekend off before playing next week.

But was it thought of before the season started or just brought in late because of the shit storm after the bad results? 

It's been planned for ages. They announced it preseason when the fixtures were released

Ok, just seemed a little suss with the timing. Just shows most didn't even know it was scheduled.

Looking for advice on purchasing tickets for Brisbane playing in Bangkok on the 26th April.
I have been to Ticketek, ACL homepage, Muangthong United homepage and can't see any info on purchasing.
Considering the size of the stadium I would like to get them in advance.
Cheers.

It is suss. they do a stupid split round. but they won't move a game within the 72 hour window or have rounds of for internationals. 

I don't see why it's "suss" when they announced it back in July?

Should they move games within the 72 hour window - yes

Should they have international breaks - yes

Should they provide more breaks like this for ACL participants - yes.

But none of that makes this "suss" when they said pre-season, when the fixtures were announced, that they had "introduced a split round to help teams in the ACL" how the hell is that "suss" guys???

I said it seemed a little suss, that was before I knew it was scheduled before the season started. 

All good Mr B. The only way the ffa would make a late change to help teams is if victory or Sydney were involved

Long injury list for Japan: Goalkeeper Michael Theo and fringe players Dane Ingham, Joey Katebian and Nathan Konstandopoulos joined injured quartet Tommy Oar (hamstring), Thomas Kristensen (quadriceps), Luke DeVere (calf) and Daniel Bowles (knee, season) in not travelling to Japan.

Can the Aloisi brothers fill in?

Just a random thought. We looked to be low in confidence all over the paddock against Kashima. Even after beating the Jets, we may struggle to get in the top half of the finals spots.

thats crazy

@ footballkingz

I don't know about confidence. Some of the football we played in windy/wet conditions was pretty good. We were just sloppy with turn overs and not clinical with finishing. I think we'll finish third in the ladder and might even make the final but besting Sydney with a lightweight striker and sloppy passing? Maybe not.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/brisbane-roar-logan-training-base-edges-closer-with-major-milestone/news-story/2771fd74ceba276a131278d4d6e1bfc3

Logan really cocked this up. Probably the biggest city in Australia without a stadium and they go and build a training base for another city's team.

Result of the A-League closed system.

lol because Logan and Brisbane are sooooooo far apart.

So what mate?

Queensland used to be New South Wales at one point.

Ludicrous statement, that's so what. And blaming it on a "closed system" ffs .... here's the thing that undoes your entire argument:

- Logan can still have a team
- Logan can still build a stadium
- Roar having a training base there won't stop it
- The Strikers already have a training base in Logan

This is good news for football and somehow you've managed to find something negative.